Altiorem

As at 2025 there were 56 stewardship codes worldwide, 49 of them jurisdiction-specific across 24 jurisdictions and six continents, yet the field has not agreed what stewardship is ultimately for. Codes and practitioner guidance converge on process: written policies, prioritisation by severity, escalation, contribution reporting. Legal scholarship published in 2026 questions whether shareholder pressure alone shifts corporate behaviour at all.

Altiorem has rebuilt its chatbot, Alma, indexing over 113,000 pages of research to allow professionals to commission automated briefing notes and analysis. This update accompanies new research on energy efficiency for data centres, human accountability for AI bias, and the CPA-Zicklin Index of corporate political accountability. Regional developments featured include Gabon’s $200 million biodiversity conservation programme and China’s 15th Five-Year Plan targeting 25.8% forest coverage by 2030, alongside analysis of record green bond issuance in 2026.

Most listed equity managers now have a target. Fewer have a plan that shows how it will be met. By January 2024, 264 Net Zero Asset Managers signatories had had their targets reviewed. Method is no longer the hard part.

Responsible investment in Aotearoa New Zealand is being tested in practice. The RIAA Conference Aotearoa NZ 2026 brings the country’s investors, advisers, issuers and policymakers together for a single day on what implementation actually looks like: SDG-aligned claims that stand up to scrutiny, the capital behind electrification, modern slavery without a legislative baseline, defence and dual-use technology, the ethics of artificial intelligence, and the systemic risks no portfolio can diversify away. These specially curated companion resources have been recommended by the conference speakers and the Altiorem team.

Rising climate premiums on commercial real estate insurance and the limitations of shareholder-driven corporate social responsibility are analysed in the latest research. Legal developments include New Zealand’s legislation protecting emitters from climate lawsuits and a Nigerian court order regarding oil spill remediation. The collection also covers the ASEAN sustainable finance market, a playbook for blended finance, and the implications of the ACCR v Santos greenwashing ruling.

This issue covers new governance research on artificial intelligence's role in sustainability transitions from the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, alongside the ILO's 2026 global youth employment outlook. Legal and regulatory developments feature prominently, including South Africa's Constitutional Court overturning Shell's Wild Coast exploration rights and the SEC's decision to permanently end its no-action role in shareholder proposal disputes.

Responsible investment has moved well beyond principles and pledges. Today’s challenges require practical capability and informed judgement. The RIAA Conference is a must-attend event for finance, sustainability and industry practitioners who want to focus on the key themes for responsible investment in 2026 and what implementation really looks like. Designed as an immersive, hands-on experience, the program focuses on the systems that underpin strong financial performance, and will help you understand how climate, nature, technology, governance and regulation intersect. 

These specially curated companion resources have been recommended by the conference speakers and Altiorem team.

The article explores how businesses can draw inspiration from nature’s intelligence to drive sustainable innovation. It clarifies the concept of materiality in climate disclosures, distinguishing key ESG elements and offering practical guidance for reporting. By aligning business strategies with natural systems, organisations can better manage risks, enhance resilience, and create long-term value.

This month’s sustainability roundup captures a shift from framework development to real-world application, where climate and nature risks are increasingly embedded across financial systems, legal accountability, and decision-making. It highlights how intensifying physical climate signals, evolving disclosures, and maturing litigation are converging with insights on sovereign risk, energy systems, and corporate strategy. Together, these developments show how sustainability is moving beyond principle—being tested, priced, and enforced across markets, regulation, and the real economy.

This article examines why current climate frameworks persist despite widespread professional skepticism, highlighting institutional incentives and “preference falsification” as key drivers. It calls for more open, cross-sector dialogue focused on diagnosing real problems and unlocking practical, system-level solutions.

This final article in a three-part series explores how to navigate resistance to systemic change. Drawing on personal experience, it outlines a framework for resilience—building alliances, embracing interdisciplinary thinking, and storytelling—empowering leaders to persist through setbacks and turn persistent “no” into transformative, collective “yes.”

This second article in a three-part series reframes climate change as volatility rather than warming. Drawing on finance and systems thinking, it explores how risk pricing, redesigned economic incentives, and nature-based solutions can build resilience, urging leaders to manage climate as the ultimate systemic risk.

Written by Ken Coulson, a former global finance executive turned sustainability strategist, this first article in a three-part series explores humanity’s origins as a cosmic accident. It reframes Earth’s natural systems as a fragile inheritance under threat, urging a shift from extraction to stewardship through a unifying cosmic perspective on climate, responsibility, and systemic change.

This article argues that modern investment strategies fuel economic extraction while often underperforming simpler alternatives. It calls on investors to realign portfolios with productive, community-oriented investments that generate real economic and social value.

This article examines how Australian organisations are approaching the first year of mandatory ASRS climate disclosures. It highlights common implementation patterns, areas of misallocated effort, and emerging practices that prioritise financially material, decision-useful climate reporting.

The article argues that today’s rapid global crises (political, ecological, and social) are the visible outcomes of long-building systemic pressures. Using complexity science and systemic risk analysis, it highlights how understanding these deep drivers can help societies both anticipate crises and accelerate positive, transformative change.