The Impact World this Week: 18 September 2026

UK: Civil society and impact economy ministers revealed

The responsibility for Civil Society and the Office for the Impact Economy will be split between two different ministers, an update of UK government ministerial briefs reveals. Vicky Foxcroft (pictured above, left), who joined the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) last summer as parliamentary under-secretary of state, has been confirmed as minister for youth, gambling, digital inclusion, civil society & loneliness.

Stephanie Peacock (pictured above, right), who had held the Civil Society brief since the arrival of Labour in power in July 2024, remains in the department as minister for sport, tourism, place and digital government. While she no longer looks after Civil Society, her responsibilities still include the Office for the Impact Economy.

Posting on Instagram, Peacock said: “I’m excited to continue our work on the Impact Economy, unlocking social investment all [a]cross the country, making it easier for philanthropists to give back to the communities that shaped them.”

The Office for the Impact Economy was created in November 2025 to provide a “central point of contact” for social investors, purpose-driven business and philanthropists to engage with government on the impact economy and help grow the sector. In July, it was moved from the Cabinet Office to DCMS, leading to fears that the impact economy agenda was being removed from the “heart of government”.

• Read more: Mixed reactions as UK’s Office for the Impact Economy is pushed out of the ‘heart of government’

Europe: EU-backed catalytic fund raises €21m

The European Catalytic Impact Investing Fund II (ECIIF II), a co-investment fund for impact ventures in Europe, has completed its first close at more than €21m, six months after its launch by FASE and Chi Impact Capital (CHI). It benefits from a €10m guarantee from Invest EU, a European Commission-backed programme, which means if investees default, Invest EU takes the hit first which protects the other investors. ECIIF II is the first impact fund to benefit from such a guarantee to date. This relieves pressure on ventures to perform fast growth and quick exits, which is often incompatible with impact models that focus on the long-term, and enables the fund to back more unusual, high-impact companies such as co-operatives or steward-owned businesses that are traditionally underinvested. Investors include impact fund B the Change Investments, several foundations including Eckenstein-Geigy Stiftung and Kommunale Stiftungen Münster, as well as Relaunch for the Future, a subsidiary of Belgium’s sovereign wealth fund.

• Read more: ‘We are acting as pioneers to develop the true capitalism 2.0’ – Markus Freiburg, new chair of Impact Europe

Global: Earthshot Prize reveals 2026 finalists

An Argentinian startup that detects wildfires faster than NASA, a women-driven heat resilience project in India and the city of Barcelona’s work on climate adaptation are among the 15 finalists of this year’s Earthshot Prize, announced today in London. The Prize, now in its sixth edition, is a global environmental award launched by Prince William to identify, celebrate and support solutions to repair the planet. The winners of each of the five categories – Revive our Oceans, Fix our Climate, Build a Waste-free World, Protect and Restore Nature and Clean our Air – will be awarded £1m each. All finalists will receive mentorship and technical support to help grow their solutions, and the winners will be revealed on 17 November in a ceremony in Mumbai, India.

Global: Social Enterprise World Forum announces host city and date for first SEWF Regional 2027

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will host the first of two regional Social Enterprise World Forum events to be held next year. The event in Malaysia will take place from 4-5 May 2027 and will be co-hosted by social enterprise Biji-biji Initiative with the Malaysian Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (KUSKOP) and Institut Keusahawanan Negara (INSKEN) at Asia School of Business. In June this year the organisers of the Social Enterprise World Forum announced that instead of holding its normal, biennial gathering, it would instead hold smaller, regional events in 2027, due to the ongoing war in the Middle East and global uncertainty. The host city of the second SEWF event, which will take place later in 2027, will be announced in the coming months. 

• Read more: Social Enterprise World Forum 2027 event switches from worldwide to regional due to 'global uncertainty'

UK: Raising capital directly from citizens saves local councils money – new report

Community Municipal Investments (CMIs), a form of local authority borrowing that enables councils to raise capital directly from citizens and mission-aligned investors, provide councils with cheaper borrowing costs than the benchmark average, according to a new study published by the University of Leeds and the Green Finance Institute. The report finds that 19 UK councils have raised more than £30m through CMIs at an average discount of 29 basis points (0.29%) on benchmark interest rates paid by councils. The study says that CMIs could help local authorities diversify funding sources, and that this form of borrowing strengthens the relationship between councils and citizens. UK households hold around £2.4tn in direct-to-consumer savings and investments, which exceeds local authorities’ borrowing needs, the report highlights. Unity Trust Bank is among financial institutions that have committed investment to CMIs alongside citizens, allocating £8m since 2025.

Scotland: Surf resort backed by the Scottish National Investment Bank wins international community impact award

Lost Shore, a surf resort outside Edinburgh funded in part by a £38.8m investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank, has won the Surf Park Community Impact Award at the 2026 Surf Park Summit in Virginia Beach, Virginia, US. The award recognises surf parks making a difference through youth outreach, inclusive access, workforce programmes and surf therapy. Since it opened in November 2024, Lost Shore has partnered with organisations including youth mental health charity the Wave Project and Inclusive Surfing Scotland to provide accessible access to surfing. In a post on LinkedIn, Lost Shore founder Andy Hadden said: “We’re creating a template for a multi [billion pound] sector of how waveparks can help their local communities in a meaningful way.”

• Read more: Riding Scotland’s community wealth building wave at Lost Shore

Global: A fifth of funders report allocating high share of capital to impact-first investing – new report

A new survey of 100 foundations, family offices and private wealth holders by major consultancy Boston Consulting Group shows a fifth of funders allocate a high proportion of their capital to impact-first investing (where capital allocators accept lower returns or higher risk on their investments to create impact and attract more investors to the field). The study, The Multiplier Effect of Impact Capital, shows three-quarters of respondents report high awareness of impact-first investing as a tool for impact, but grants remain the most used tool – with nine out of 10 respondents reporting “high awareness” of them and 65% allocating a large proportion of their capital to grantmaking to generate impact. 

Respondents report that lack of investment opportunities and difficulty of measuring impact are the main barriers preventing them to scale their involvement with impact-first investing. The study recommends actors across the impact investing sector share knowledge and expertise, increase transparency and establish common approaches and structures to facilitate the growth of impact-first investing.

Top image: Vicky Foxcroft MP and Stephanie Peacock MP (credit: House of Commons)