An initiative of Positive Impacts (PI) GmbH

Impact Points™

The performance metric for real-world impact.

Compare any product, company, or investment on a single, transparent impact scale — grounded in science, free from bias.

Impact Points scale examples
The metric

What are Impact Points?

Impact Points™ measure the real-world effects of economic activity on climate, water, biodiversity, health, social, and fiscal conditions.

Rather than using fixed letter grades or star ratings, Impact Points use an open-ended scale, because real-world impacts themselves have no fixed ceiling or floor. A highly destructive activity and a highly regenerative one must both be expressible on the same scale.

Impacts are evaluated relative to a science-based reference path: the PI Reference Path™. This translates internationally agreed sustainability targets into a comparable scale. Activities that move toward these targets receive positive scores; activities that move away receive negative scores. Zero represents performance precisely aligned with the reference path.

Applicable to
Products & services Companies & organisations Investment portfolios Projects & policies
Impact Points scale examples
The case for a new metric

Why it matters

Today’s sustainability information is fragmented. Companies report dozens of separate indicators. Investors rely on ratings that measure different things. Consumers encounter claims they cannot compare.

Impact Points translate all material impacts across categories and across time into a single transparent performance score. This makes it possible to compare a product with a company, a fund with a policy, or one investment with another, on a consistent and verifiable basis.

Because the scale is open-ended, it cannot be gamed by simply scoring above a threshold. Performance must improve continuously relative to science-based targets — aligned with what actually needs to happen in the world, not just with what regulators currently require.

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Impact categories: climate, water, biodiversity, health, social, fiscal
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Transparent, open-ended performance score
Comparable across any product, company, or investment
Who is this for?

Who can use Impact Points?

Impact Points are designed for anyone who wants to understand, communicate, or act on real-world impact performance.

Consumers

Ask the brands you buy from about the Impact Points of their products. The more consumers ask, the faster companies act.

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Companies & Investors

Impact Points can be applied to any product, service, or portfolio. We are currently running pilot projects with companies and investors who want to measure and communicate their impact performance.

Contact us to participate
Press & Researchers

For an introduction to the methodology and the science behind Impact Points, get in touch directly.

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Public Sector & Regulators

Impact Points can be applied to public spending, policy design, and procurement. Governments and public bodies can use the metric to validate sustainability targets, assess policy outcomes, and integrate impact performance into public decision-making.

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Interested in pilot projects, the methodology, or applying Impact Points in your work?

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