How benchmarking initiatives support investors with shaping companies' sustainability strategies

Investors value WBA’s ability to convene multistakeholder groups to tackle sustainability challenges These findings have increased our understanding of the mechanisms through which WBA’s outputs, including the publication and socialisation of methodologies and results, have contributed to investors’ own understanding and shaped the way they are engaging companies. [...] In addition, by acting as catalysts for change and convenors of multistakeholder groups and events, investors in collaboration with WBA create a space for sharing knowledge, provide guidance to companies and promote common standards in order to drive positive impact in the economy, environment and society. [...] WBA’s simplicity and transparency in which companies are scored helps investors to understand how to engage with companies on a sustainability topic and to distinguish between the ‘nice-to-haves’ versus ‘not doing enough’ of sustainability disclosures. [...] Across the interviews, it became clear that the use of WBA’s materials and engagement activities is the first step for investors, with further research needed on the measured changes made by companies in the portfolio of investors as a result of these actions. [...] While WBA has grown the number of investors using our materials and grown the Alliance, there is now an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the journey between investors using WBA’s outputs and the subsequent behaviour change of companies who have been engaged with.