Policy Advocacy Toolkit

The Policy Advocacy Toolkit will provide practical, actionable guidance to help investors engage with policymakers and other stakeholders on the policies needed to support the transition to a resilient, net-zero and nature-positive economy.

Policy advocacy is an important complement to capital allocation and engagement with individual companies. Climate change and nature loss are systemic risks that cannot be diversified away, while the success of corporate transition plans often depends on enabling policy, infrastructure and market conditions. Investors therefore have a role to play in supporting and, where possible, accelerating effective policy action.

The Toolkit will be aimed primarily at asset owners, with dedicated guidance for asset managers. It will build on IIGCC’s existing resources, including the Net Zero Investment Framework 2.0, Climate Stewardship Toolkit (forthcoming) and Asset Owner Climate Stewardship Guidance, while providing more detailed and practical recommendations for investors at different levels of experience, resource and influence.

It will cover:

• how investors can identify and prioritise opportunities for policy advocacy;
• direct and collective advocacy, including investor statements, consultation responses, policymaker meetings and participation in coalitions;
• fiduciary duty, legitimacy and the relationship between policy advocacy and systemic risk;
• how asset owners can incorporate policy expectations into manager selection, mandates and monitoring;
• engagement with companies on their policy positions, industry associations and policy dependencies; and
• approaches to assessing contribution, outcomes and impact, supported by case studies from IIGCC and its members.

The Toolkit will include basic and advanced actions, enabling investors to start where they are and strengthen their approach over time. It will also address proportionality, governance, resourcing and jurisdictional differences, alongside nature-related policy issues such as land-use and deforestation regulation.

Primer: Policy Advocacy Toolkit

The first resource published on this page is the Primer: Policy Advocacy Toolkit. It sets out the rationale, proposed scope and structure of the Toolkit, and invites early input from IIGCC members on how it can best meet investors’ needs.

The Primer covers:

• why policy advocacy matters to investors;
• how the Toolkit will build on existing IIGCC frameworks and guidance;
• the topics and approaches it is expected to cover;
• the proposed asset owner and asset manager lenses;
• the planned development and publication timeline; and
• opportunities for members to contribute feedback, case studies and practical insights.

Contribute to the Toolkit

IIGCC welcomes early input from members on the proposed approach, intended audiences, case studies, topics and structure. Feedback will help ensure that the consultation draft reflects investors’ practical needs and the different circumstances in which they operate.

Members interested in providing input or holding an initial discussion are encouraged to contact:

Paddy Arber — parber@iigcc.org
Leo Donnachie — ldonnachie@iigcc.org