Avoided Emissions & Climate Investing: A Guide for Investors and Businesses
Achieving Net Zero requires more than just reducing an organization’s own emissions.
It also presents a powerful opportunity for businesses to drive innovation, gain competitive advantage, and unlock new growth pathways by investing in low-carbon solutions that enable others to decarbonize. This crucial impact, known as “avoided emissions,” is vital for identifying and scaling the transformative solutions needed for systemic change.
The challenge has been a lack of consistent methodological approaches for assessing these forward-looking impacts. This hinders investors from confidently scaling climate solutions and prevents companies from credibly communicating their contributions.
This guide is a collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development and Impact Convergence Forum and is a key outcome of a of a 1-year collaboration alongside Frame’s 2024-25 Content Working Group. It provides the latest and most comprehensive guidance in this critical area, aiming to “bridge the gap” between finance and the real economy.
This guide offers practical, forward-looking guidance to integrate avoided emissions analysis into mainstream business and investment practices, accelerating the low-carbon transition.
For Investors: Gain quantifiable evidence for investment screening, portfolio management, and fundraising. Direct capital towards optimal climate solutions and accelerate decarbonization
For Businesses: Turn climate action into an opportunity-led approach. Drive strategy, product innovation, and competitive advantage by demonstrating your positive climate impact.
What you will find inside:
Practical guidance for investors and businesses
A comparison of Project Frame and WBCSD methodologies
Insights into key methodological challenges like baselines, data, and attribution
Real-life case studies
Strategic recommendations for future standardization and transparent reporting to minimize greenwashing
About Project Frame
Project Frame is a nonprofit program convened by Prime Coalition, purpose-built to organize investors around forward-looking emissions impact methodology and reporting best practices.
Our mission is to mitigate climate change by demystifying climate investing and improving IMM to drive capital towards the best possible climate solutions while galvanizing a network around transparency, accountability and collaboration.
About the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is a global network of 250+ leading companies driving sustainability as a key driver of competitiveness.
With their members, WBCSD is transforming systems to deliver a net-zero, nature-positive, and equitable future — creating value for business and society.
About the Impact Convergence Forum
The Impact Convergence Forum for Private Equity (ICF) is a collaborative conversation group of firms with private equity impact strategies seeking to encourage convergence in impact measurement and management practices among LPs & GPs, ensuring high-integrity practice while enabling better decision-making.
