The 2050 Foundation and Metrics Matter: building on a sustainable future

The 2050 Foundation believes that truly sustainable consumption and production are key to a bright future for people, the environment, and the planet. In this transition to a sustainable society, reliable metrics are an absolute necessity for the formulation of effective strategies.

However, the 2021 report of the 2050 Foundation observed that the lack of readily available and reliable metrics makes it virtually impossible for 2050 Capital (as an impact investor) and the 2050 Foundation (as a grant-maker) to select the most effective interventions without a dedicated research team. 

Despite access to ample financial resources, a deeply felt commitment, and supported by a board with a very strong quantitative academic background, the 2050 Foundation had to admit that it was not optimally equipped to make effective decisions. Therefore, the grant and investment policies of the 2050 Foundation explicitly focus on impact quantification. Read on and find out why these investments are so important and why our investment in Metrics Matter fits this strategy. 

Donations by the 2050 Foundation
From 2018 to 2020, the 2050 Foundation and 2050 Capital contributed to a guide for impact investors and philanthropists to assess and value the expected impact of organizations and/or projects. In the preface of this guide, we concluded that data and software solutions are required to implement impact quantification at the required scale.

The 2050 Foundation also observed that (false) claims of carbon and climate neutrality within the voluntary offset market, may have a negative counterfactual impact on climate change mitigation. The foundation has allocated 500,000 euro in research grants to establish the true price of compensated emissions.

Investments by 2050 Capital
In late 2019, 2050 Capital decided to only invest in software companies that have an exclusive focus on impact quantification. The reason? These software solutions are fundamental for the transition to a sustainable society, remain underfunded to date, and are investments with a high expected counterfactual impact.

2050 Capital expects that these investments will yield superior returns. Due to the increased regulation and awareness concerning environmental, social and governance issues (ESG), the importance of these solutions is expected to grow exponentially. These superior returns would, in turn, benefit the mission of the 2050 Foundation and contribute to a better and fairer world.

2050 Capital and Metrics Matter: a strong partnership
The most notable investment of 2050 Capital to date is the incorporation of Metrics Matter, a company dedicated to building the infrastructure required to exchange (ESG) metrics within the value chain on an unprecedented scale. Metrics Matter was created to play a pivotal role in the transformation toward a sustainable economy and takes that role very seriously. They support a wide and diverse array of global partners and provide them with secure and effective tools to exchange information for responsible growth. The partnership between the 2050 Foundation and Metrics Matter has an enormous potential and can lay the data-driven groundwork for a better and more sustainable future!