Sustainability Framework
Actors Across Layers
Who operates in the sustainability system, and where.
Different actors operate at different layers. Understanding where you sit, who else operates around you, and how different players interact is the first step to effective strategy.
IN THIS SECTION
Demand Side
Actors that create demand for outcomes and capital. They set targets, allocate funds, and procure credits or services, including institutional funding (e.g., pensions, insurers, endowments).
INVESTOR
Capital providers
Investors deploy capital seeking both financial returns and sustainability outcomes. Institutional funding sits here too (e.g., pensions, insurers, endowments), alongside asset owners and allocators. They operate primarily at L4-L5, responding to governance frameworks and influencing corporate action through investment decisions, engagement, and stewardship.
Examples: DFIs, impact funds, ESG funds, commercial banks, family offices
Key challenges:
- •Balancing fiduciary duty with impact objectives
- •Data quality and comparability across portfolios
- •Greenwashing risk and credibility
- •Measuring real-world outcomes vs. portfolio metrics
Where is your capital creating impact?
CORPORATE
Demand-side actors
Corporates sit at the heart of sustainability action. They set targets, develop transition plans, manage supply chains, and report to stakeholders. Their decisions ripple down through value chains to landscapes.
Examples: Brands, retailers, manufacturers, service companies, shipping lines, logistics operators, transport firms, miners & commodity producers
Key challenges:
- •Navigating competing frameworks and requirements
- •Building internal capability across functions
- •Supply chain visibility and influence
- •Moving from disclosure to genuine transformation
Do you understand your full exposure?
ASSET OWNER
Long-term capital allocators
Asset owners set mandates, define risk tolerance, and shape markets through allocation and stewardship. Their long horizons make them pivotal for nature and climate transition outcomes.
Examples: Pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, large family offices
Key challenges:
- •Balancing long-term risk with short-term performance pressure
- •Data gaps on nature-related exposure
- •Influencing managers through stewardship and voting
- •Regulatory scrutiny and fiduciary duty interpretation
How does your allocation strategy reflect nature and climate risk?
INSURER & REINSURER
Risk pricing & underwriting
Insurers translate physical and transition risks into price signals. Coverage requirements and risk pricing can accelerate resilience and improve corporate risk management.
Examples: Commercial insurers, reinsurers, brokers, catastrophe modelers
Key challenges:
- •Model uncertainty for nature and climate risks
- •Rising loss volatility and exposure aggregation
- •Regulatory capital requirements
- •Aligning underwriting with net-zero and nature goals
How do you price and reduce nature-related risk?
PHILANTHROPY & FOUNDATIONS
Catalytic capital
Philanthropy provides early-stage grants and first-loss capital that de-risk projects and build capacity, helping markets mature before commercial capital arrives.
Examples: Foundations, donor collaboratives, grant-makers, mission funds
Key challenges:
- •Sustaining funding beyond pilots
- •Measuring impact without excessive overhead
- •Coordinating with public and private capital
- •Avoiding dependency on grants
Where can catalytic funding unlock private capital?
PUBLIC GRANT & STATUTORY FUNDING
Government and multilateral funding
Public grants and statutory allocations direct taxpayer and donor-backed capital into research, innovation, and early project development. Statutory funding is a subset of public grants mandated by law or regulation. For guarantees and market de-risking instruments, see Public Finance (Connectors).
Examples: EU Horizon, NORAD, DFID/FCDO, USAID, statutory allocations, national research councils
Key challenges:
- •Short funding cycles vs long-term outcomes
- •Administrative and reporting burden
- •Fragmented programs and eligibility rules
- •Coordination with private capital
How do grant programs unlock impact and crowd in private finance?
Enablers
Actors that build the rules, trust, and capability. They set standards, verify claims, and help others implement.
CONSULTANCY
Commercial advisory
Consultancies help organisations navigate sustainability requirements. They advise on strategy, compliance, reporting, and implementation – translating frameworks into action.
Examples: ERM, Anthesis, Carbon Trust, shipping risk consultants, freight hedging advisors
Key challenges:
- •Keeping pace with evolving requirements
- •Moving clients beyond compliance to transformation
- •Demonstrating ROI on sustainability investments
- •Building deep sector expertise
Where do you add most value?
LEGAL & TRANSACTION ADVISORY
Structuring deals & compliance
Legal and transaction advisors design deal structures, contracts, and frameworks that align capital with sustainability outcomes and regulatory requirements.
Examples: Law firms, transaction advisors, investment banks, SPV structuring
Key challenges:
- •Complexity of blended finance structures
- •Evolving disclosure and liability risk
- •Aligning contracts with long-term outcomes
- •Balancing investor protections with project flexibility
How do you structure finance that balances risk, impact, and compliance?
STANDARD SETTER
Defining frameworks
Standard setters define the rules of the game – what counts, how to measure it, what "good" looks like. Their frameworks shape corporate behaviour and market mechanisms.
Examples: Verra, SBTi, SBTN, Gold Standard, GRI, ISSB
Key challenges:
- •Balancing rigour with accessibility
- •Ensuring real-world impact, not just compliance
- •Harmonising with other standards
- •Keeping pace with science and practice
How does your standard connect to outcomes?
CERTIFIER & VERIFIER
Validating claims
Certifiers and verifiers provide independent assurance that claims are credible. They audit, certify, and verify – building trust across the system.
Examples: Soil Association, SGS, Bureau Veritas, audit firms
Key challenges:
- •Scaling verification cost-effectively
- •Maintaining independence and credibility
- •Adapting to new standards and requirements
- •Technology integration (remote sensing, AI)
What trust do you enable?
INDUSTRY BODY
Professional networks
Industry bodies convene professionals, set sector standards, advocate for policy, and build collective capability. They shape how sustainability is practiced within sectors.
Examples: ISEP, IEMA, UKSIF, NFU, trade associations
Key challenges:
- •Representing diverse member interests
- •Driving ambition vs. lowest common denominator
- •Demonstrating member value
- •Influencing policy effectively
How do you shape sector practice?
Connectors
Actors that translate outcomes into investable or tradable value and move data and finance between supply and demand.
TECHNOLOGY & DATA
MRV & platforms
Technology and data providers enable measurement, reporting, and verification. They build the infrastructure for evidence-based sustainability – from satellite monitoring to blockchain registries.
Examples: Sylvera, Pachama, registry platforms, MRV tech, satellite providers
Key challenges:
- •Interoperability across platforms
- •Ground-truthing remote sensing
- •Data privacy and ownership
- •Business model sustainability
What gaps do you fill in the data chain?
RATINGS & INDEX PROVIDERS
Benchmarks & risk analytics
Ratings and index providers translate disclosures into comparable signals that influence capital allocation, cost of capital, and investor behaviour.
Examples: MSCI, Sustainalytics, S&P, Moody's, FTSE Russell
Key challenges:
- •Methodology transparency and consistency
- •Data gaps and reliance on self-reporting
- •Comparability across sectors and regions
- •Managing issuer and investor expectations
How do you make sustainability data decision-grade?
MARKET INFRASTRUCTURE
Exchanges, registries & clearing
Market infrastructure provides venues, registries, and settlement systems that make sustainable finance tradable, transparent, and scalable.
Examples: Stock exchanges, bond markets, registries, clearing houses
Key challenges:
- •Standardisation across products and markets
- •Interoperability between registries
- •Fraud prevention and market integrity
- •Access and cost for smaller participants
How do you ensure integrity and liquidity?
INTERMEDIARY
Market facilitators
Intermediaries connect producers with buyers, aggregate small-scale supply, develop projects, and facilitate market transactions. They bridge the gap between landscapes and corporate demand.
Examples: Carbon brokers, freight brokers, shipbrokers, FFA brokers, commodity derivatives brokers, aggregators
Key challenges:
- •Building trust on both sides
- •Managing quality and integrity
- •Achieving scale while maintaining impact
- •Navigating evolving market rules
How do you connect supply to demand?
PUBLIC FINANCE
Budget owners & development finance
Public finance anchors the system through budgets, subsidies, and policy-aligned investment. It can de-risk projects and mobilise private capital at scale. For grants and statutory allocations, see Public Grant & Statutory Funding (Demand Side).
Examples: Treasuries, ministries of finance, municipal authorities, development banks, sovereign issuers, export credit agencies
Key challenges:
- •Fiscal constraints and political cycles
- •Accountability and outcome tracking
- •Aligning funding with long-term impact
- •Coordination across agencies and jurisdictions
How do public budgets and guarantees unlock private capital?
REGULATOR
Mandatory requirements
Regulators set mandatory requirements, enforce compliance, and shape market conditions through policy. They translate scientific imperatives into legal obligations.
Examples: EU Commission, FCA, Defra, EPA, national governments
Key challenges:
- •Balancing ambition with feasibility
- •Enforcement and compliance monitoring
- •International coordination
- •Keeping pace with science and markets
How do you drive real outcomes?
RESEARCH & ACADEMIA
Knowledge generators
Research and academia generate the evidence base for sustainability. They develop methodologies, track planetary systems, evaluate interventions, and train the next generation of practitioners.
Examples: Universities, UNEP-WCMC, Stockholm Resilience Centre, think tanks
Key challenges:
- •Translating research into practice
- •Funding for applied research
- •Timelines vs. policy/market needs
- •Communicating complexity
How does your research reach practice?
Value Creators
Actors that generate real-world outcomes on the ground, stewarding land, ecosystems, and communities.
NGO
Non-profit advocacy & conservation
NGOs work across planetary foundations, landscapes, and ecosystem services. They advocate, conserve, build capacity, and often bridge gaps between producers, corporates, and governance systems.
Examples: FFI, WWF, Conservation International, local trusts
Key challenges:
- •Sustainable funding models
- •Scaling impact beyond project sites
- •Balancing advocacy with partnership
- •Demonstrating measurable outcomes
How do you translate mission to action?
GUARDIANS, CUSTODIANS & PRODUCERS
Stewards of land, water, resources & traditional knowledge
The foundational actors of sustainability. Indigenous communities protect planetary systems through traditional knowledge. Custodians steward landscapes and heritage. Producers manage land, water, and natural resources – together creating the foundation for all ecosystem services. Often undervalued in current systems.
Examples: Indigenous communities, traditional land managers, farmers, foresters, fishers, cooperatives
Key challenges:
- •Recognition of traditional knowledge and rights
- •Capturing fair value for ecosystem services
- •Meeting certification and traceability requirements
- •Balancing productivity with regeneration
Are you capturing value from all service types?
How Actors Interact
No actor operates in isolation. Understanding the relationships between actors reveals opportunities for collaboration and influence.
Pandion works as a hybrid partner across finance, revenue mechanisms, and sustainability delivery, translating between actors and helping teams see how the system connects.
Capital Flow
Investors → Corporates → Intermediaries → Producers
Capital flows down through the system, shaped by governance requirements and enabled by intermediaries who aggregate and de-risk.
Data Flow
Producers → Tech/Data → Certifiers → Corporates → Investors
Evidence flows up through the system – from landscape-level MRV through verification to disclosure and reporting.
Standards & Governance
Research → Standard Setters → Regulators → All Actors
Science informs standards, standards inform regulation, regulation shapes behaviour across the system.
Capacity Building
Consultancies + Industry Bodies + NGOs → All Actors
Enablers build capability across the system – training, advising, convening, and supporting implementation.
Find Your Position
Understanding where you sit in the system is the first step. The next is building the capability to act effectively.