Impact @ Impax 2020 is the firm's sixth report of this nature and for the first time has included net carbon metrics for its Global Opportunities portfolio and mapped it against the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It also included Impax's Sustainable Food and Water strategies for the first time.

"Impax's 2020 Impact report builds on six years of progress from when Impax produced its first Impact report in 2015, pioneering the measurement and reporting of positive environmental impact its investments," said Lisa Beauvilain, head of ESG and sustainability at Impax. "We are proud to have received this accolade and remain committed to quantifying and disclosing the environmental benefits derived from our portfolios companies and to continuously enhancing our methodologies and processes."

The report included independently assured figures for the net carbon impact of a total of seven Impax's investment strategies, which in aggregate represent approximately 80% of Impax's total assets under management.

In addition to net carbon impact the other key environmental metrics the report measured included renewable energy generated and volume of water treated, saved or provided, materials recovered and waste treated, and coal use displaced in Asian cities.

"Impax's reporting by strategy is clear, concise and shows the impact each strategy makes. Links to SDGs are valuable," said one Environmental Finance Sustainable Investment Awards judge. Another added: "The report is readable and 'exciting' from a commercial perspective as well and the case studies are good."