Impact Tokens: A blockchain-based solution for impact investing

The report explores how blockchain technology and 'impact tokens' can overcome systemic barriers in impact investing to better support the UN Sustainable Development Goals. It identifies five primary barriers to scaling impact investing—including lack of appropriate capital and insufficient impact measurement—and proposes that impact tokens can increase trust, promote inclusion, improve data collection, and incentivize sustainable behaviors.

• Impact investing is hindered by five primary barriers that prevent it from scaling to meet the financing needs of the Sustainable Development Goals: a lack of appropriate capital across the risk/return spectrum, the absence of a common market definition and segmentation, insufficient exit options, underdeveloped impact measurement practices, and a shortage of high-quality investment opportunities.
• A review of more than 200 active or developing projects indicates that impact tokens provide four main benefits: they increase trust between parties, promote social and financial inclusion, accelerate monitoring, reporting, and verification through better data collection, and incentivize behaviors that support sustainability.
• Blockchain technology enables the conversion of non-financial values, such as impact, natural capital, and data, into digital tokens that can be tracked and programmed via smart contracts to unlock investments for projects with positive social and environmental impacts.

APA

Guerdat,, D. U. (2019). Impact Tokens: A blockchain-based solution for impact investing. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/impact-tokens-blockchain-based-solution-impact-investing

Chicago

Guerdat,, David Uzsoki,Patrick. Impact Tokens: A blockchain-based solution for impact investing. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2019. https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/impact-tokens-blockchain-based-solution-impact-investing.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Guerdat, |first1=David Uzsoki,Patrick |title=Impact Tokens: A blockchain-based solution for impact investing |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=19 April 2019 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/impact-tokens-blockchain-based-solution-impact-investing |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{guerdat2019impact, author = {Guerdat,, David Uzsoki,Patrick}, title = {{Impact Tokens: A blockchain-based solution for impact investing}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2019}, month = apr, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/report/impact-tokens-blockchain-based-solution-impact-investing}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }