In October, we convened the Perseus User Needs & Impact Advisory Group, co-chaired by Sage and Icebreaker One.

Date: 21st October 2024 10:00-11:30 BST

Location: online

Co-Chairs: 

  • Duncan Oswald, Sage
  • Gavin Starks, IB1

Secretariat: IB1

Meeting Aims

  1. Provide an update on ongoing work 
  2. Sign off outputs from the working groups 
  3. Update on what’s still to come this year after the meeting

Summary:

  • Members were asked to vote on 5 voting items with a view to endorse each to take to membership: 
    • AG1, WG4 Ecosystem map 
    • AG1, WG2 User needs
    • AG1, WG3 Assurance 
    • AG1, WG1 Product opportunities 
    • AG1, WG5, Future innovation cases 
  • It was noted that key questions were raised in regards to the ecosystem map: 
    • There are many different actors in the chain here, is this list complete?
    • Are the definitions broadly correct?
    • Is there anything missing? 
    • Any questions for clarification?
      • It was agreed that landlords need to be added to the energy value chain list of actors in the ecosystem map, to capture the asset manager and landlord administering part of the relationship with the SME tenant.
  • It was noted that it is essential for AG1 to identify the frequently asked questions regarding user needs, given the complexity of aligning the diverse requirements of all the organisations involved.
  • It was noted that Perseus is being discussed with government and a summary proposal is being prepared for them to look at. 
    • Common areas of value are:
      • Risk reduction
      • Unlocking access to green finance
      • Reducing green “hushing”
      • Solidifying the data flow across the entire market, creating a potential corp tax benefit 
  • It was noted that the MRV (measurement reporting verification) aspect is important for Carbon Accounting Platforms, enabling tracking of impact once finance has flowed and the ability to demonstrate value in terms of money in, CO2 out.
  • It was noted that the goal of the assurability framework is to define how assurance should work, enabling companies to arrange their own assurance in accordance with the framework
  • Guaranteeing data accuracy was discussed and it was noted that the assurability framework will provide each Perseus member with confidence that a layer of pre-competitive calculations has been done in the same way. Linked to the work of AG3, the Perseus contract will create a contract of liability around this process. 
  • It was noted that a future phase of work will look at a common definition of assurance, for example self-assurance for loans up to a certain size.
  • It was noted that, regarding future use cases, members were asked: 
    • What is one thing that everyone needs to create more impact?
    • What are views on use case prioritization?
    • There was a call to banks to connect with their product teams to review and validate WG5s future use cases

Voting outcomes will be updated shortly.

Next meeting: 2025 date TBC

Formal records are maintained by the secretariat. These are confidential to the Advisory Group Members.