Resilience and competitiveness
Capital directed at long-term outcomes strengthens the Belgian economy rather than exposing it to the costs of inaction.
What is impact finance
What is impact and sustainable finance?
Impact finance goes beyond avoiding harm. It mobilises capital to create measurable, positive outcomes for society, the environment and the economy.
The definition · intention, measurement, contribution
Most finance asks two questions of an investment: what is the risk, and what is the return. Impact and sustainable finance adds a third. It asks what the investment actually changes in the world, and it treats that answer as a criterion rather than a footnote.
That is the difference between avoiding harm and creating good. Screening out what is damaging is a starting point, not a destination. Impact finance mobilises capital deliberately, towards outcomes that can be measured, for society, the environment and the economy alike.
Sustainable investing and impact investing sit on the same spectrum. Sustainable investing is the broader category. Impact investing is its sharper end, where the intention is explicit, the contribution is traceable and the result is measured.
Why now · the strategic necessity
Closing funding gaps
Many enterprises building a more inclusive and ecological society still struggle to find finance suited to what they are trying to do.
Strategic autonomy
The energy transition and the infrastructure it depends on need patient capital raised and deployed close to home.
Sustainable agriculture
Food systems need investment that accounts for soil, water and livelihoods alongside yield.
Affordable housing
Housing that people can afford is a financing question as much as a planning one.
Where Belgium stands
14%
of Belgian assets under management are invested for positive impact today
€113–138B
managed by Belgian actors for positive impact
€101–124B
of that is sustainable investing
€7.4–9B
of that is impact investing, the sharper end of the spectrum
By 2030, IFB envisions 30% of all investments in Belgium directed towards positive impact. The distance between 14% and 30% is the work.
Questions and answers
What is impact finance?
Impact finance goes beyond avoiding harm. It mobilises capital to create measurable, positive outcomes for society, the environment and the economy, with impact treated as a deliberate objective rather than a by-product.
How is it different from sustainable finance?
They sit on the same spectrum. Sustainable investing is the broader category, around €101 to 124 billion in Belgium. Impact investing is the sharper end of it, around €7.4 to 9 billion, where intention, measurement and contribution are explicit.
Why is it needed now?
Because the gaps are immediate: resilience and competitiveness, unfunded enterprises, strategic autonomy in energy and infrastructure, sustainable agriculture and affordable housing. Each is a financing question before it is anything else.
Who is Impact Finance Belgium?
IFB is a membership organisation representing 65 members, spanning around 75% of the Belgian financial sector. It is the platform where impact-finance pioneers and major institutions meet, collaborate and develop impact and sustainable investing strategies.
What does IFB do?
IFB builds bridges between investors, entrepreneurs and policymakers, supports the growth of the sector, represents the community to policymakers and media, and shares knowledge through research, events such as the Belgian Impact Week, and capacity building.
What does impact finance look like in practice?
It looks like specific deals with named investors and investees. The case studies pair what is being financed with how the investor applies impact principles, across housing, energy, agriculture, education and financial inclusion.
In practice · what this looks like on the ground
Case studies
Belgian cases pairing what is financed with how the investor applies impact principles, across housing, energy, agriculture, education and financial inclusion.
Publications and research
The landscape studies, policy work and applied research behind the figures on this page.
