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Restore the Earth Foundation integrated International Integrated Reporting Framework into its platform

Posted 11 February, 2019

Restore the Earth Foundation has announced the latest update to the ‘Restore the Earth EcoMetrics platform’, for the first time integrating the International Integrated Reporting Framework. Announcing the launch of this new platform, Restore the Earth Foundation stated:

EcoMetrics is an innovative suite of analytic and reporting tools designed to forecast, assess and account for, in monetary terms, the Full Value of environmental, social, and economic impacts of natural capital and green infrastructure investments. Corporations, governments, and NGOs can use EcoMetrics’ data-driven insights for long-term scenario planning, tracking and evaluating project performance, financial decision making, and annual and sustainability reporting.

EcoMetrics has integrated into its platform the globally-recognised Social Value International’s (SVI’s) Social Value Principles and the International Integrated Reporting Council’s <IR> Framework, the most rigorous international methodologies and protocols for assessing and reporting environmental, financial, and social performance. All quantified market and non-market values are fully documented and third-party verified in a report ready for audit.

Restore the Earth Foundation’s CEO Marvin Marshall said, “Being at the forefront of the holistic integration of the SVI and <IR> Frameworks sets EcoMetrics apart as a new standard that corporations, governments, and NGOs can adopt across their natural-capital and green-infrastructure portfolios. We believe that this approach will accelerate the market for investments in natural climate solutions, unleashing a new era of environmental, social, and financial performance and reporting.”

Entergy Corporation, a leader in electric power production and retail distribution operation, has used the EcoMetrics platform to assess and valuate the funding of reforestation in the Tensas National Wildlife Refuge. According to EcoMetrics analysis, for every $1 Entergy invested, $36.00 of integrated environmental, social and economic value was created and accounted for, including: cleaner air and water, job creation, enhanced recreational opportunities, soil stabilisation, storm protection and flood control, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus offsets, and enhanced corporate social license to operate. These values can be accounted for on Entergy’s integrated reporting balance sheet.

“Restore the Earth’s EcoMetrics captures all of the returns from our investment in reforestation, not just the value of carbon sequestered,” said Steve Tullos, manager of corporate environmental initiatives for Entergy Corporation. “EcoMetrics also accounts for all the value created by restoration activity on behalf of the communities and the customers we serve. The hard data that EcoMetrics produces demonstrates that investing in reforestation is a cost-effective solution addressing climate change.”

Social Value International CEO Ben Carpenter commented, “By integrating the Social Value Principles directly into the EcoMetrics platform, Restore the Earth Foundation ensures that stakeholders have a strong voice at the table, and therefore are allies and interested parties in the results. The continuous learning that the SVI Principles promote means that EcoMetrics platform users will have the full complement of information needed to make mid-course corrections over the lifetime of a project, improving overall performance as a result.”

Restore the Earth Foundation’s President P.J. Marshall concluded, “By integrating the Social Value Principles with the <IR> Framework, EcoMetrics provides a ‘balance sheet’ approach to sustainability reporting that is sought after by corporate executives and investors. This opens the door to a new level of sophistication in corporate decision making on natural capital and green infrastructure investments, making the link between the ‘internal value’ created by such investments for a company and its shareholders, and the ‘integrated value’ created for external stakeholders and society at large.”

To learn more about the Restore the Earth EcoMetrics platform, download the whitepaper, Restore the Earth EcoMetrics: A New Standard for Valuing Natural Capital and Green Infrastructure at https://restoretheearth.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/REF-EcoMetrics-white-paper-FINAL.pdf

Restore the Earth makes the EcoMetrics platform available on a licensed basis to qualified partners. Contact Taylor Marshall, Director of Sustainable Programs at [email protected]