Rating Environmental Solutions

The Impaakt Team

10 min Read Time | March 21st 2023

Key Takeaways

When rating the value, consider the absolute impact described - thus ask yourself: How positive do you consider impacts related to waste, water, energy efficiency, and digital innovations to be?

When rating the severity of a company’s impact, take into consideration how big, game-changing and how long-lasting the innovation or the solution is.

Environmental solutions are products/services offered by companies.. Therefore, this topic is part of their Core Business Analyses (CBI).

How do companies protect the environment through innovation?

Companies are addressing environmental issues through optimization and innovative solutions. These solutions include efficient management of energy, waste, water, and other resources, as well as the development of digital technologies to tackle environmental challenges.

At Impaakt, we capture the related impacts through the topic of Environmental Solutions.

👉 Note: Impact topics are a set of social and environmental impacts identified by the Impaakt Team to provide an additional layer of complex insight into measuring current impact. They range from general themes like Greenhouse Gas emissions and Job Creation to industry-specific topics such as Gentrification and Water Pollution. Check our Frameworks section for more information.

The main types of Environmental Solutions are:

Waste Efficiency 🚮

Linear waste models follow a "take-make-disposal" approach, leading to excessive waste and overexploitation of resources. Adopting circular economy models and efficient waste management methods can reduce both the burden on natural resources and emissions resulting from improper disposal.

Examples: Dow's industrial solutions address plastic waste and water scarcity; TOMRA's Reverse Vending Machines facilitate the collection of 40Bn used beverage containers globally


Energy Efficiency ⚡

Fossil fuels are the primary cause of climate change, causing 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions and leading to global warming, which in turn contributes to biodiversity decline and environmental disasters such as aquatic acidification, droughts, and storms. Fortunately, available innovations can help us reduce our natural gas and electricity consumption by over 25%.

Example: The nuclear and renewable energy infrastructure built by SNC-Lavalin offsets 72.5 mn t of CO2


Water Management Solutions 🚰

Freshwater represents less than 3% of the world's water supply, but its demand is increasing at twice the rate of population growth. This loss of water contributes to species loss and a decline in biodiversity. Technologies for water conservation, reduction, and wastewater treatment can increase water efficiency and reduce pressure on ecosystems.

Example: 80 Acres Farms' tech reduces agricultural water use by 95% while increasing yields by 300 times


Digital Environmental Solutions 💡

Manifold other threats are responsible for biodiversity loss: illegal poaching of rhinos led to a 96% population decline between 1970-1990; invasive species have been identified as the main cause of extinction in Guam and other islands while air pollution has been shown to affect birds’ health and population. Through digital means, companies can help control and track the sources of population decline.

Examples: Baidu and 33 Other Tech Companies Combat Wildlife Trafficking; SES has zero space debris, while pioneering space garbage management with cutting-edge tech

Sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
All 17 sdgs

Frameworks

SDG choice: Various SDGs can be treated within the scope of each solution/innovation.


Category: Solutions are companies' products and/or services.


Investment Leaders Group (ILG) Theme: R&D Solutions; Renewable Energy Solutions.


Sources: 1


Get familiar with the 5 steps to get started as an Impaakt rater

Before building skills for a specific topic, make sure to read our Knowledge Center: Rating for Impaakt. This resource outlines the 5 steps necessary to get started as a rater and provides key information about our metrics. By going through this guide, you will ensure that you are well-informed to provide accurate ratings on any given topic.

How to rate the topic:

Value


Value is the absolute impact the topic has on the planet or society.

To assess the value you need to think about how positive or negative you consider the topic and the impact described.

The value is linked to the topic treated and not to the company’s specific impact. Thus, the value should hold some consistency across industries.

👉When deciding your rating on the value, ask yourself:

How positive do you consider the solution or innovation described to be?

Note: Due to the nature of this topic, the value should be rated positive or strongly positive.

Severity

The severity is related to the company’s impact. It consists of three dimensions: Scale, Scope, and Irremediability.

Scale:


Scale is related to the complexity and profundity of the impact described.

When deciding the scale, answer the following questions:

  • Is the solution described unique and game-changing?

  • How much more efficient is the solution when compared to what's already available in the market?

👉Tip: scale is related to the extent of the impact. The scale is higher if the technology involved changes the way the industry/market operates on its basis, for example.

Scope:


The scope captures the range or extent of the company’s impact and it is related to the quantitative part of the analysis. For this topic, the scope is multi-dimensional and can be addressed from different angles considering what is disclosed in the analysis.

When deciding the scope, answer the following questions:

  • What is the reach of the solution?

  • Has the solution been applied worldwide or locally?

  • If related to biodiversity, how many species has it protected?

👉Tip: scope is related to the quantitative data in the note.

Irremediability:


Irremediability evaluates the impact of the company over time.

When deciding the irremediability, answer the following questions:

  • How long-lasting is the solution applied?

  • Did the solution completely solve the issue/problem?

👉Tip: irremediability is linked to the duration of the impact described. How permanent/reversible is the impact of this innovation/solution in the market?


Rating tips by experienced raters

Draw maximum benefits from "Environmental Solutions" with these helpful tips from our community:

    • Read through the analysis a couple of times. Focus on each section and try to understand how the introduction ties into the core of the analysis. This helps provide useful context for the analysis as a whole.

    • Reading the introduction is of paramount importance. Each analysis on this topic is pretty unique, and introductions tend to be tailor-made to the solutions offered.

    • The data points also help facilitate your rating efficiency. However, since the topic is quite qualitative in nature, reading and analyzing the core of the analysis should help you better.

    • The analyses try to capture the company's most widely used "game-changing" and/or revolutionary solutions and services. So further research on more solutions by the company or comparing those offered by competitors can help gauge the scope of the impact. But try not to overthink it too much and use the analysis as the basis for grading.

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