The Impact World this Week: 16 January 2026

Global: At least US$1.3tn in investment could be mobilised by 1,600 companies now to support the climate transition without having to wait for technological breakthroughs. That’s according to new data published by the World Benchmarking Alliance, a charity that assesses and ranks the world's most influential companies on their performance towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The charity benchmarked 2,000 companies’ impact (positive or negative) across seven areas: social, digital inclusion, food and agriculture, financial system, nature, urban and climate. The benchmarks include rankings, assessments, individual company scorecards and key performance data drawn from hundreds of indicators.

Mexico: Impact assets under management in Mexico reached between US$1.4bn and £1.7bn in 2024, which represents 25-30% of the total impact investing market in Latin America, according to the country’s first rigorous measurement of its market size published in December. El Mercado de Inversión de Impacto en México from the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, maps 130 organisations within the ecosystem, and analyses the strategies of 52 active investors. It claims to be the first country in Latin America to explicitly use the GIIN’s measurement methodology with the aim of providing data that can be compared internationally. Mexico’s unique structural advantages, such as its participation in US supply chains and links with the EU, say the authors, position the market for rapid growth. 

Colombia: The size of the impact investing market in Colombia totalled US$457m at the end of 2023, more than doubling the US$203m impact assets under management identified at the end of 2021. 2da medición del tamaño del mercado de Inversión de Impacto, was published by the country’s representative body for impact investors, Impacto Colombia, in December. “Colombia has proven to be fertile ground for impact investing, establishing itself as a regional leader and a recognised laboratory of innovation in Latin America,” stated the authors.

• Meet Colombia’s coffee entrepreneurs with a taste for positive impact in our Good Stories podcast

Movers and Shakers

• Jenny Knott, former CEO of Standard Bank, has been appointed chair of UK social investor Big Issue Invest. She succeeds Mark Porter, who departs after two years in the role.
• Andrew Croft is now managing director at Social Enterprise UK. He has previously been CEO of CAN, now called Canopi, which offers affordable workspace for charities and social enterprises, and worked for the Easy Group. Peter Holbrook becomes group CEO.