Global ESG Impact Forum (GEIF)

The Global ESG Impact Forum (GEIF) is a consortium of international business and government leaders, hosted by the George Washington University, seeking practical and actionable solutions to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) problems and challenges. The founder is: 

John Forrer

• Director, Institute for Corporate Responsibility
• Research Professor, Strategic Management and Public Policy, The George Washington University
• Fellow, One Earth Future Foundation
• Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council
• Senior Fellow, Canadian Center for the Responsibility to Protect, University of Toronto

Vision

The GEIF is devoted to the development and promotion of long-term ESG growth strategies and solutions that address global concerns and spur new investments in support of their implementation.

Mission

GEIF was created to provide technical assistance on adopting ESG practices, thought leadership in ESG strategies, and create investment opportunities in ESG projects.

Current Projects

1. Create a Market for Sustainable Peace Bonds: Sustainable Peace Bonds are a growing interest, paralleling Green Bonds. Sustainable Peace Bonds direct the deployment of raised capital to projects that build peace sustainably by reducing the drivers of conflict. The biggest success for Green Bonds has been the Green Bonds principles and similarly, we are working on the Sustainable Peace Bond Principles to support issuers in financing activities and projects only where empirical research has validated their efficacy in reducing violence.
    
2. Accelerating Financing for Affordable Housing (ASFAH) Project: Raising capital for affordable housing financing in emerging markets must comply with ESG standards. But the existing standards are most times impossible to achieve. GEIF is developing practical ESG practices that lower risks and increase access to capital. Through this project, GEIF aims to facilitate the integration of optimal ESG practices within financial institutions, enhancing accessibility to and reducing the capital costs associated with affordable housing projects, while also delivering case studies on best practices and providing training sessions from some of the global leading experts on our team.
   Learn More About the ASFAH Project
    
3. Corporate social media footprint standards: Awareness of the harm social media can inflict is growing. GEIF is developing reporting standards for corporations to include in their annual sustainability report and studying business models that support responsible social media.
    
4. ESG & Infrastructure: Infrastructure is at the heart of aiding the improvement of our environmental and social conditions. GEIF will advocate for ESG’s best practices and updated requirements to the Washington DC policy community.