Assess Your Positive & Negative impacts

Reveal your societal and environmental footprint with our science-based tool — assess your performance vs. industry averages and peers with clarity and credibility.

Impacts organisations

PI’s Impact Accounting Framework 

Measure positive and negative impacts

Current and future impacts

Understand total current and future impacts

Use cases

  • Impacts, risk and opportunity (IRO) identification
  • Strategy definition
  • Setting Policies, Actions & Targets (PATs)
  • Reporting (CSRD/GRI/IFRS)
  • (Re-)financing

What sets us apart

Our science-based, impact-washing-free Impact Accounting Framework helps you identify both positive and negative impacts. It directs attention to what’s truly material — so you avoid underestimating risks, overestimating opportunities, or wasting resources on what doesn’t matter.

Materiality

How to use quantified indicators to measure impact materiality

our tools empower organizations to

Identify financial effects, risks and opportunities
tied to your material impacts
Measure current impacts on
Topics covered by PI's Impact Accounting Framework
FORECAST future impacts 
based on strategies, trends, and set targets
benchmark
against industry average and peers
cross-sectoral
applicable across all industries and value chains
ACT with confidence
based on data – not assumptions

The PI Impact Accounting Framework

Measuring your positive and negative impacts

Built on internationally recognized science and methodologies, the Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) enables you to quantify both positive and negative impacts — not just in theory, but in actionable, measurable terms. It covers the issues that matter most: climate, water, biodiversity, health, social matters, and net tax.

The Science-based Targets Path®…

  • The dashed line represents the science-based trajectory needed to meet global sustainability targets. Performance above the path delivers positive impacts, while performance below it results in negative impacts
  • Starting from today’s net global societal costs (a deficit), the path shows how we can move toward net societal benefits by 2050
  • Any organization can be mapped onto this curve — to see where it stands today, where it’s heading, and how to align with science-based targets across climate, people, and the economy

What's the added value?

The Science-based Targets Path® provides:

> A science-based target value for six topics and 14 indicators

> A clear trajectory from 2020 to 2050 (and beyond)

> Full value-chain coverage — from operations to upstream and downstream impacts

> Benchmark your performance against peers and industry averages — to see exactly where you stand and where to improve

> CSRD alignment — enabling fact-based, auditable, and legally sound materiality assessments across short-, mid-, and long-term horizons

Topics and indicators of PI's Impact Accounting Framework

Impacts are no longer abstract – they’re measurable

Regulations are evolving, stakeholders are watching, and climate urgency is real. Knowing your impacts isn’t just smart — it’s essential. Yet most tools stop at vague, qualitative insights that don’t drive decisions. Our Impacts Accounting Framework and Tool changes that without impact washing the results.

Whatever your sector or size, you gain a clear and comparable picture of where you stand, what’s required, and the path to creating positive impacts — turning impact data into real strategic action.

The topics included:

  • Climate
  • Water
  • Biodiversity (nature)
  • Health
  • Social matters
  • net Tax payments

In turn, each topic comprises of its own indicators (see slider right)

Indicators

PI’s Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) for climate allows you to clearly measure positive and negative climate impacts and account for them.
PI’s Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) for water allows you to clearly measure positive and negative water impacts and account for them.
PI’s Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) for biodiversity (nature) allows you to clearly measure positive and negative biodiversity impacts and account for them.
PI’s Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) for health allows you to clearly measure positive and negative health impacts and account for them.
PI’s Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) for social matters allows you to clearly measure positive and negative social impacts and account for them.
PI’s Science-based Targets Path® (SbTP) for tax (net) allows you to clearly measure positive and negative tax impacts and account for them.

PI's Science-based Targets Path basis

PI’s Science-based Targets Path® incorporates targets and data from authoritative sources such as IPCC, UNEP, Stockholm Resilience Centre, UN Sustainable Development Goals, ILO, IMF and OECD

Why use the path? The standardization is what makes our tool powerful: it translates global sustainability goals into concrete thresholds for individual organizations, so you can track where you are today, forecast your future, and take action with confidence.

Current and Future Impacts

Our tool assesses both current and future impacts — across climate, water, biodiversity, health, social matters, and tax.

> Current impacts show the actual effects of your organization in recent years
> Future impacts project performance based on trends, targets, and planned actions

All impacts are first quantified — in absolute values, percentages, or monetary terms (€/$) — and then translated into clear performance levels. This makes complex impact data understandable, actionable, and easy to benchmark.

PI's 4 Impact KPIs

CURRENT IMPACTS in %

Current Impacts show how your organization is performing today compared to the expected level for the current year.

They:

> Express performance as a percentage (−X% to +X%), with 0% = full alignment to the PI Science-based Targets Path®

> Apply impact weighting, so more severe outcomes (e.g. a fatality vs. an injury) carry greater influence

> Translate results into a star rating (★): 3★ = full alignment (0% deviation), 5★ = ≥100% positive deviation

> Highlight strengths and gaps, making it easier to focus on what matters most

> Provide topic-level scores and an overall weighted average, summarizing the overall impacts across six topics: climate, water, biodiversity, health, social matters, and net tax

> Cover any economic activity, enabling benchmarking across sectors

After quantifying Current Impacts, an organization’s sustainability performance is classified into three Impact Ambitions — high, medium, or low.

These ambition levels reveal how your performance compares to PI’s Science-based Targets Path® or to the global average, making it easy to see whether you are leading, aligned, or falling behind.

The CURRENT Impacts of the example organization in % divide the current performance by the expected SbTP one to derive the % alignment with the SbTP

CURRENT IMPACTS in monetary terms (€/$ per K€)

This KPI quantifies your organization’s net positive and negative impacts in money terms — the external costs or benefits your activities create for society.

It:

> Uses an open-ended scale, with 0 = full alignment to the PI Science-based Targets Path®

> Translates impacts into monetary units (€, $), reflecting externalities such as climate damage, water use, or social harm/benefits

> Aggregates results across all six topics — climate, water, nature, health, social, and net tax

> Provides both overall and topic-level results, weighted by impact severity

> Works for any business activity, enabling comparisons across sectors and value chains

This KPI complements Current Impacts (%), giving you one comprehensive, transparent measure of your current sustainability footprint. A positive value means you are performing above SbTP expectations; a negative value means you are falling short.

The CURRENT Impacts of the example organization show overall negative impacts of -44 €/K€ revenue (-41%), covering operations + upstream for all indicators of the six topics while estimating missing data to ensure a complete picture

FUTURE IMPACTS (NPI®) in %

The Net Present Impact® (NPI®) in % is a forward-looking metric that projects your organization’s future impacts, weighted by time. Like Net Present Value (NPV), it gives more weight to near-term actions than to distant promises without ambitious milestones.

It:

> Calculates discounted projected performance relative to the expected path set by PI’s Science-based Targets Path®

> Expresses results as a percentage (−X% to +X%), with 0% = full alignment

> Enables comparison across companies, investments, and products in any industry

> Supports target management — benchmarking goals against peers, spotting gaps, and setting Impact Ambitions (High, Medium, Low)

The NPI® in % is especially powerful for external communication — providing stakeholders with a credible, comparable view of your expected future impacts.

The Future impacts (NPI®) in % are calculated by dividing future impacts (NPI®) by the expected SbTP costs

FUTURE IMPACTS (NPI®) in $ or € and per K revenue

The Net Present Impact® (NPI®) in €/$ is a forward-looking monetary metric that projects your organization’s future net impacts, discounted to today — similar to Net Present Value (NPV). Like NPV, it gives greater weight to near-term actions than to distant targets without concrete milestones.

It:

> Discounts future impacts (e.g. 2025–2050) to present values in € or $

> Summarizes results in one monetary figure: positive = above the Path, negative = below, with 0 = full alignment to the PI Science-based Targets Path®

> Uses an open-ended scale, with no cap on positive or negative impacts

> Enables comparison across companies, sectors, products, or investments

> Supports target-setting and benchmarking, helping to spot gaps, assess alignment, and define Impact Ambitions (High, Medium, Low)

This KPI is particularly useful for sustainability planning and investment decisions. It translates long-term impacts into financial terms, making the scale and significance of alignment with the Science-based Targets Path® clear for financial stakeholders.

Impact ambition levels

Once Current and Future Impacts are quantified, results are classified into three Impact Ambition Levels — High, Medium, or Low.

This makes it possible to measure, compare, and align your organization’s activities with the ambition level you aim for, providing a clear benchmark for strategy and performance.

In addition, the Product Impact Ambition Levels complement the approach, if downstream impacts matter to your business model. 

Three Possible Impact Ambition Levels: High Impact Ambition (your impacts are net positive, your performance exceeds PI’s Science-based Targets Path®), Medium Impact Ambition (your impacts are net negative, but your performance is better than the global average/business-as-usual) and Low Impact Ambition (your impacts are net negative, your performance is below the global average/business-as-usual, but you are not the performance laggard of the respective industry); Existing Variations for No Impact Ambition: Impact-/Greenwashing (allegedly “positive” impacts) and No Impact Ambition (not known or don’t care)
Three Possible Product Impact Ambition Levels: High Product Impact Ambition (he impacts of your products are net positive: their net lifetime performance exceeds PI’s Science-based Targets Path®), Medium Product Impact Ambition (he impacts of your products are net negative, but their net lifetime performance is better than the global average/business-as-usual) and Low Product Impact Ambition (the impacts of your products are net negative, their net lifetime performance is below the global average/business-as-usual, but they are not the performance laggard compared to other products); Existing Variations for No Product Impact Ambition: Impact-/Greenwashing (allegedly “positive” impacts) and No Product Impact Ambition (not known or don’t care)

use cases

Through quantifying your organization’s Current and Future Impacts—whether overall, by segment, or by product—you gain foundational insights that extend well beyond compliance. This robust assessment tool helps you:

> Achieve compliance with CSRD, ISSB, and GRI reporting standards

> Identify risks, opportunities, and areas for strategic improvement

> Track sustainability performance and progress over time

Intention:

Integrate material Impacts, Risks & Opportunities into reporting & communication

Challenge:

Pinpointing which Impacts are truly material — the ones that drive Risks and Opportunities

Solution:

> Use science-based impact quantification to identify material Impacts, enabling proper risk & opportunity assessment, clear strategy definition, and compliant reporting.

Intention:

Conduct a CSRD-compliant Double Materiality assessment

Challenge:

Lack of understanding of the double materiality concept, its constituents, and ability to use science-based thresholds

Solution:

> Use science-based thresholds for objective, CSRD-aligned materiality determination

Intention:

Uncover data gaps and prioritize material impacts across your operations

Challenge:

Incomplete data, e.g., on upstream impacts

Solutions:

> Identify and estimate data gaps in your organization, portfolio, or projects on the KPIs of PI’s Science-based Targets Path® using PI’s Advanced Data Modeling offering, helping you in addition to identifying those estimates that should be replaced by primary data in the future (in conjunction with Supplier Impacts)

> Impacts: Understand your Current Impacts by calculating the Impacts in % and in $ or € for the most recent year

Intention:

Understand how you perform compared to peers and industry average

Challenge:

Lack of holistic assessment approaches and incomplete data

Solution:

> Impact benchmarks: Compare your impact performance to industry average and peers with holistic, context-aware benchmarking.

Intention:

Set science-based/informed targets for climate and other material impacts

Challenge:

Set context-based targets for climate and other topics (that make sense)

Solutions:

> Integrated target setting: Evaluate how current targets align with science-based paths using Future Impacts (%, €/$), benchmarking to inform ambition-setting

> Desired Impact Ambition and Strategic Ambition: Determine the Ambitions for your organization or venture that fits both your business strategy and your risk/opportunity profile

Intention:

Integrate ESG into Business Strategy, Model and Processes

Challenge:

Lack of standardized approaches that fit different business strategies and models

Solution:

> Integrated decision-making: Use Impact Ambition levels to drive ESG integration across your business strategy and operations

Intention:

Integrate ESG Impacts into your Financial Risk & Opportunity valuation and management

Challenge:

Lack of understanding and ability to quantify ESG&F risks & opportunities

Solutions:

> Quantify ESG-related risks and opportunities to inform strategic decisions and their anticipated sustainability outcomes.

> Strategic actions: Evaluate identified actions on their expected contribution to your Future Impacts as well as to your non-financial and financial targets

Intention:

Monitor the contribution of activities to manage Impacts, Risks & Opportunities (IROs)

Challenge:

Lack of methods to monitor the contribution of actions

Solution:

> Track how your actions affect sustainability performance and both financial and non-financial targets over time

Intention:

Communicate the sustainability performance of your products/services to your customers

Challenge:

Presenting complex sustainability performance information in a concise, compelling manner

Solution:

> Communicate your sustainability performance clearly and convincingly to customers

Intention:

Understand how your suppliers perform compared to each other and the industry average to inform your purchasing strategy

Challenge:

Lack of holistic assessment approaches and incomplete data from your suppliers

Solution:

> Assess supplier impacts in context to guide sourcing decisions and drive supplier performance improvement

Intention:

Understand the impacts of your customers and your contributions to them

Challenge:

Lack of holistic assessment approaches and incomplete data

Solution:

> Understand your downstream (customer-side) impact and use it to inform offering strategies

Intention:

Obtain a premium (greenium) through ESG financing

Challenge:

Lack of holistic, context-based ESG Impacts valuations of Investments

Solution:

> Demonstrate ESG value to reduce cost of capital or unlock green finance through evidence-based impact valuation

Impact solutions

Contact us to discover how to measure, forecast, and improve your Impacts

Let's talk

What Sets Us Apart

What sets us apart

Impact-washing free

Different scopes of assessment

Holistic framework approach

Data verification process

AI-supported data modelling

Our Science-based Impact Accounting Framework uniquely offers:

> Evidence-based assessments — rigorous, data-driven, and impact-washing-free

> Objective rules for material KPIs — ensuring clarity, comparability, and credibility

> A long-term vision — guiding organizations toward a sustainable market economy by 2050 and beyond

Assessment scopes

Impacts go beyond direct operations. Our tool lets you assess:

> Own operations
> Operations + upstream value chain
> Downstream value chain
> Entire value chain (upstream – downstream)

This flexibility ensures assessments are aligned with your sustainability strategy — whether focused narrowly on operations or across the full value chain.

Topics of PI’s Science-based Targets Path® include Climate, Water, Biodiversity, Health, Social Matters and Tax (net)

Holistic framework

The PI Science-based Targets Path® provides a holistic view of organizational impacts, covering six key sustainability topics: climate change, water, biodiversity (nature), health, social matters, and net tax. Together, these are measured through 14 science-based indicators such as CO₂e.

Each indicator is selected because it is:

> Science-based — linked to societal targets or derivable from historical values

> Relevant — directly connected to organizational, project, investment, or consumption activities

> Transparent — measurable along the value chain, preventing “outsourcing” of negative impacts

> Graded — providing performance levels beyond binary compliance

> Neutral — free from party-political bias

Rigorous data verification process 

Data integrity is essential. Our verification process ensures your impact assessment is as complete and reliable as possible:

> Check completeness — review all data provided and close gaps with robust estimation methods

> Assess reliability — evaluate internal controls and validate where external audits exist

> Ensure comparability — fill missing data points consistently so results remain fair and benchmarkable

This rigorous process gives you confidence that your results are trustworthy, transparent, and decision-ready.

AI-supported data modeling

Our tool uses AI-powered modeling to close data gaps and ensure completeness. By leveraging your CRM data, revenue, spend, and industry benchmarks, we deliver a reliable, comprehensive assessment — even when some inputs are missing.

This capability makes our framework uniquely powerful, offering a level of analysis and coverage rarely matched in the market.

Impact Materiality

Impact Materiality made measurable

Impact Materiality assessments are the basis of any sustainability strategy and governance. We combine quantitative approaches with feasible stakeholder input to assess the positive and negative impacts of your organization on society and the environment.

Our fact-based double materiality matrix shows how we can apply our science-based thresholds onto any impact materiality scale, giving you clear objective results on your impact material topics (C and A) as well as a fact-based process to determine your financial material topics (A and B).
The example shows how our fact-based impact materiality assessment can turn perception upside-down, saving you money, avoiding over- or under-estimating risks and opportunities.

Our methodology includes:

  • Scoring on a scale that you choose, where we map our science-based thresholds for climate, water, nature, and social topics to your chosen cut-off
  • Integration of stakeholder perception and expert input
  • Tailored approach that best fits the maturity of your impact materiality processes
  • Alignment with CSRD’s double and a useful input for IFRS’s single materiality requirements

This ensures that your impact materiality assessment is not just compliant (if relevant), but meaningful. It helps you prioritize actions, allocate resources, and communicate with confidence.

Under CSRD, not only missing out material impacts, but also the reporting on non-material topics is non-compliant. We help you get it right – what to focus on – and go beyond.