Impact Dispatch - April 2026

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, April is a time when we look up to see the world around us. Not only is that highlighted by Earth Day, but in our communities as we see flowers blooming, green spreading across landscapes and the rise in temperature that reminds us summer is just around the corner.

While in some parts of the world, where we experienced historically cold winters, the record-breaking spring temperatures may feel like a cause for celebration, it's also a reminder that the climate around us is shifting rapidly. Everything from health and food production, to wildlife, livelihoods and our global economy is impacted by these unprecedented rising temperatures. This highlights the inevitable intersection of people, planet and the economy – the precise space where impact investors operate.

Impact investors are positioned to take an expansive view of risk and return, which allows them to recognize that nature is not merely a resource, but vital infrastructure for the world. When we protect air, land and water, we are protecting the livelihoods of millions of people whose jobs depend directly on our ecosystems, and the health of countless more.

Nature-based solutions are quickly gaining momentum as effective strategies for investing in a better future for people and the planet. The GIIN is approaching this through a series of virtual discussions on investing in climate solutions through sector- and theme-focused lenses. We’re partnering with the Nature Conservancy for the next session on May 14, focused on financing and measuring natural climate solutions.

Here are a few examples of where we’re seeing these solutions in practice:

• Agriculture and Forestry: The GIIN’s State of the Market 2025 reflected that more than half of investors made at least one investment in agriculture and forestry, and overall it represented 11% of impact AUM from the sample. Impact investments in sustainable agriculture and forestry help ensure clean soil and water, healthy, affordable food, address climate change and mitigate biodiversity loss through practices like regenerative agriculture and sustainable timber production.
• Oceans and Blue Economy: Our oceans regulate the climate and provide protein for a significant portion of the world’s population. Investments in lower-impact shipping and sustainable aquaculture and fishing practices are helping to protect our oceans while creating new markets and more sustainable businesses for coastal communities.
• Circular Waste Management: Global waste – now exceeding two billion tons annually – presents critical challenges to our environment, health and economy. Impact investors are meeting this head-on by funding circular design, strategies that extend and recover product value, effective waste systems and just, equitable supply chains helping to create localized circular economies that provide stable jobs and minimize ecological damage.

So as the weather shifts faster than our current infrastructure can handle, we can’t afford to view environmental and economic health as independent challenges. The most resilient communities and economies will be those that recognize nature as an essential asset and invest in protecting it.

• CenterNode Group, a new firm focused on the energy transition, has launched with $750 million in institutional capital from Liberty Mutual Investments and other institutional investors, per ImpactAlpha.
• Impact Investor reported the launch of a $220 million fund from Circulate Capital that’s backed by family offices, institutional investors and DFIs, aiming to “deliver two million tonnes of recycling capacity while preventing 30 million tonnes of unmanaged waste across South and Southeast Asia.”
• With LPs including the Environment Agency Pension Fund and the European Investment Fund (EIF), Paris-based Ardabelle Capital is targeting over €500m for its debut climate fund, via ImpactLoop.

• “But as extreme weather becomes more common, the price spikes once written off as temporary may be turning into something more lasting — a powerful new force that could further disrupt household and national budgets already beset by an affordability crisis,” via Bloomberg.
• New York City plans to invest $4 billion into affordable housing with pension fund capital, per Pensions & Investments.
• Caspar Vlaar, former investment committee chair at Dutch pension fund KPN Pensioenfonds, reflects on the firm’s impact journey, key to which was integrating impact across all asset classes while maintaining strict risk-return profiles that distinguish impact investing from charity.
• Data from the OECD - OCDE reports a record drop in official development assistance from wealthy nations of nearly 25%, driven by a $38 billion decrease in aid from the U.S.
• A 2026 Sierra Club analysis reveals that most U.S. public pensions are failing to protect retirement savings from climate-related financial risks, with only five out of 30 major funds setting clear, quantitative targets for climate solutions investments.
• The International Monetary Fund released its World Economic Outlook on the Global Economy in the Shadow of War, predicting an ongoing slowdown in global growth and an increase in inflation, both of which are expected to be more pronounced in emerging markets.
• Colombia and the Netherlands hosted the First International Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels this month.

• The GIIN West Coast Impact Forum was held in early April with 250 investors in San Francisco; read a recap of the event. Next up is the GIIN Impact Forum in Amsterdam and registration is now open.
• We co-hosted a session with the Skoll Foundation at Skoll World Forum focused on unlocking catalytic capital to address critical funding gaps in areas such as health, agriculture and food systems.
• GIIN CEO and Co-Founder Amit Bouri is a 2026 Public Voices Fellow. Led by the The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans and in partnership with The OpEd Project, the year-long fellowship provides the cohort with support, leadership skills and knowledge to ensure their ideas shape not only their fields, but also the greater public conversations of our age.
• As part of the GIIN’s climate work, we launched a series of virtual discussions exploring climate solutions through sector- and theme-focused lenses. These thematic tracks are designed to help investors move from fragmented approaches toward more coherent, pathway-informed strategies. The series continues on May 14 with a webinar on natural climate solutions, delivered in partnership with The Nature Conservancy.
• At DC Climate Week, Chief Network Officer Sean Gilbert joined leaders from Prime Coalition, CapShift and Ceres to examine what rigorous IMM looks like in practice and whether impact data is meaningfully informing capital allocation decisions amid political uncertainty.
• Senior Advisor Mirjam Garzon moderated a panel at Impact Summit Europe in Amsterdam, hosted by Phenix Capital Group, on the rise of new LP segments.
• Joohee Rand, Head of Secretariat and Director of Impact Principles, co-led a workshop at the Mission Investors Exchange 2026 National Conference in Atlanta on how to integrate IMM across every level of a foundation.
• A recent ImpactAlpha article highlights growing discussion around collaboration and consolidation in impact investing. With commentary from Amit Bouri, it reflects broader questions about how the field can build the scale, capabilities and rigor needed to address complex, systemic challenges.
• Amit Bouri was recently featured in The CEO Signal by SEMAFOR, highlighting how impact investing can help companies address systemic challenges while delivering financial performance and strengthening outcomes for communities and the broader economy.
• We published a new report, From Fragmentation to Insight: Why Data Convergence Matters for Scaling Impact, which outlines practical approaches to structuring impact data using a theory of change-based framework. The paper focuses on improving the usability, comparability and decision-relevance of impact data to support more rigorous analysis and strengthen capital allocation toward measurable outcomes.

• This year’s Investors’ Council Annual Meeting will be held in Toronto in May, gathering a subset of the GIIN’s membership base for three days of workshops and discussions.
• The GIIN will participate in Ecosperity Week in Singapore, contributing to discussions on sustainable finance and how capital can be directed toward solutions that support a more sustainable global economy.
• On May 19, Chief Network Officer Sean Gilbert will speak at the New Private Markets Impact Investor Global Summit in London, engaging with investors on advancing impact investing practices and strengthening the use of data and tools to inform capital allocation decisions.