Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) has won ESG engagement initiative of the year for Asia for its Orange Seal, a certification recognising businesses driving gender equality and climate action.

IIX indicates that the Orange Seal is powered by the IIX Values database, which operationalises impact data and links gender and climate-focused outcomes to capital deployment, corporate partnerships, and consumer trust.

Enterprises that achieve and maintain this certification are included on IIX's Impact Partners platform, providing visibility to its investor community. This should unlock opportunities for unlocking capital, corporate supply chains, and the broader ESG-linked market.

IIX believes this verification framework adds an additional level of accountability to address concerns surrounding self-reported ESG claims, through enhancing the credibility and standardisation of impact disclosures. Certification is to be renewed annually.

To date, 141 enterprises operating across nine sectors have been awarded this certification.

The award's judges were pleased to see the Orange Seal focus on measuring specific and relevant aspects of ESG, adding value by standardising and certifying outcomes for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). With MSMEs making up 90% of businesses in Asia, the Seal provides opportunities to businesses that usually lack resources to access credible verification tools, its submission detailed.