ERI Institute, a leading global social impact research consultancy, has today released the results of a new first-of-its-kind global, comparative study into the biggest challenges facing humanity for impact investors. The research is paired with an extensive systems-based study to identify the primary drivers of five of these global challenges.

The research ranks the biggest challenges facing humanity on three different, unified axes to provide philanthropists, impact investors, and policymakers with the raw data to better focus their resources into those problems where they can make the biggest difference. These three axes are incidents per annum, annual severe harm, and annual death.

In the raw research, the team at ERI found:

• ‘Severe communicable diseases’ ranks the highest for incidents per annum (26,100,000 incidents)
• ‘Noncommunicable diseases’ lead to the highest number of global deaths (17,000,000 deaths)
• ‘Malnourishment’ ranks highest for annual severe harm (768,000,000 incidents)

Other noteworthy results from the research include the fact that ‘domestic violence against women’ ranked second for annual severe harm (103,000,000 incidents), underlining the scale of the problem globally. At the same time, ‘air pollution’ ranked second globally for causing the largest number of deaths annually (6,700,000 deaths), which has traditionally been seen as a silent, underreported cause of death.

The research is based on consolidated publicly available data from governments, intergovernmental institutions, and other organisations worldwide. ERI recognises that the data may be skewed by the fact that many governments in the developing world do not report and publish data systematically, which is particularly problematic in countries such as China and India.

ERI also undertook a comprehensive, systems-based analysis of five of the 30 global challenges to identify the most effective interventions to reduce harm from these specific problems.

This involved mapping and giving numerical weights to the various causes of the individual problems by calculating factors such as ‘dominance’ (the cause’s impact on the problem) and ‘centrality’ (the number of ways it causes the problem). This enabled the researchers to identify the causes that were the primary drivers of the problem, providing ERI with a targeted list of ‘pressure points’ where impact investors should focus their efforts if they are serious about solving the problem.

In the research, ERI identified the following:

• When it comes to reducing the harm from natural disasters, focusing resources on alleviating climate change and improving disaster response capacity will have the biggest impact.
• In the case of non-communicable diseases, focusing resources on human behaviours (exercise, adequate sleep, and healthy diet) and reducing exposure to air pollution will have the biggest impact.
• If you’re focused on reducing extreme poverty, focusing resources on tackling the problem of low wages will have the biggest impact.

This research exercise doubles up as a case study in how decision-makers can leverage the 30 global challenges and ERI’s systems-based analysis to inform their philanthropic and investment allocation decisions.

Gilad Tanay, founder and chairperson at ERI Institute, said: “Too often, investors start with an idea and measure its impact afterwards. Instead, we built this tool to shift the perspective – beginning with the most urgent global challenges and designing an investment roadmap to maximize impact from the outset.

“By applying this lens to impact investing, we are showing investors how venture capital can not only be a business opportunity, but a game-changer in addressing systemic issues.”

Lionel Kaufmann, Chairman at güil Mobility Ventures, said: “At güil, we want to leave the world a better place than we found it. Mobility is central to our investment thesis and this tool demonstrates that mobility is not just a sector – it is a transformative force that can drive global change while generating substantial returns for investors.”

NOTES FOR EDITORS

güil mobility ventures

güil mobility ventures is the corporate venture capital of the Kaufmann group, that invests globally in early-stage transportation startups. güil mobility ventures partners with entrepreneurs and management teams who want to change the world through transportation.

The firm employs a strategic investment approach combined with hands-on go-to-market support to ensure that its portfolio companies scale effectively while driving real-world impact.

ERI Institute

ERI Institute is a globally recognized research and consultancy firm dedicated to maximizing economic and social impact through data-driven strategies. As the creators of the Impact per Dollar™ methodology, ERI pioneered a structured approach to quantifying the effectiveness of investments in solving the world’s most pressing challenges. This proprietary framework ensures that capital is directed toward interventions with the highest measurable impact.

ERI collaborates with investors, corporations, non-profits, and public sector organizations, applying its cutting-edge analytics and system-based thinking to help clients deploy resources effectively and scale meaningful solutions.

Press contact

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