Altiorem

How Anandini Agrawal, a student at Ashoka University, co-founded India’s first student-led impact finance initiative, established the International Network of Students in Impact Finance (INSIF), and built RISE Capital, Asia’s first undergraduate-led impact investment fund.

Youth-led social movements and their historical role in driving divestment campaigns provide a backdrop for current challenges in intergenerational wealth transfer.

New research in the library this week includes a new framework by Marsh on the insurability crisis and a report which explores how AgFinTech is being utilised across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Trends and recommended reading include the articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil's response to mining threats and the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group's findings on the lack of AI governance among major asset owners.

This issue examines the economic impact of data centre expansion on electricity grids and the business case for resilient agriculture in the food industry. It highlights findings from Transport & Environment regarding the discrepancy between official and real-world emissions for plug-in hybrid vehicles. Further research explores worker voice in corporate governance, the rise of index-based ownership, and the SEC’s examination priorities for 2027.

Katie and Brian Boland of the Delta Fund argue that ESG, win-win and the Paris goals changed the story but not where the money went, and set out five truths, from a world past 2°C to AI and inequality, that philanthropy and impact investing can no longer ignore. Republished with permission.

IGCC’s Climate Finance and Investment Summit 2026 brings institutional investors, policymakers and industry together on 24–25 November 2026 to ask whether climate is rising or falling on the investment agenda in a more fragmented, geopolitically charged world. These companion resources have been specially curated for each summit session.

Shareholder resolutions at Commonwealth Bank of Australia highlight the challenges of achieving deforestation-free finance within the Australian banking sector. The research also examines the launch of a $30 billion investment platform by Indonesia’s BPI Danantara and a legal complaint alleging environmental breaches in the EU-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. Further analysis explores the dependency of PFAS manufacturers on AI expansion and the foundations for a scalable First Nations investment market.

Critical tipping points for the Amazon rainforest are examined amidst Brazil’s presidential election and rising deforestation rates. This update features an analysis of the SEC investigation into Climate Action 100+ and the launch of a new organisation to recognise sustainability competencies in Malaysia. It also details Nest’s £3.5 billion shift to an active emerging markets ESG strategy. Additional coverage includes the launch of SBTN 2.0 and a review of South Korea’s mandatory ESG disclosure framework alongside FAO research on the financial returns of One Health.

Research this week examines the climate investment trap in Africa, where high capital costs threaten green electricity production despite massive projects like the Scatec solar system in Egypt. The collection also features an analysis of greenwashing as aspirational signalling from the European Corporate Governance Institute and a CFO guide from the TNFD for integrating nature-related risks. Additional updates cover the expansion of the UN Human Rights database concerning West Bank settlements and the performance of Uruguay’s sovereign sustainability-linked bonds.

Alexander Pui and Shiori Fukuhara argue that a single global average temperature hides how severe warming already is locally, that climate scenarios and stress tests compound the underestimate, and that fixing the language of climate risk is the practical place to start.

Research explores the intersection of artificial intelligence and ESG analysis alongside new reports from the CFA Institute on systemic risk and the Rhodium Group on clean tech competition between the US and China. The collection includes updates on the Canadian financial industry's $500 billion investment pledge and legal developments regarding Indigenous rights in the Amazon. Further analysis examines circular economy implementation in India and the impact of the EU Forced Labour Regulation on global supply chains.

Research from the Transition Plan Taskforce provides a framework for climate transition disclosures, while studies from the US Census Bureau and Columbia University analyse the impact of AI and automation on workforce dynamics. The issue highlights the World Bank mobilising $22 billion in private capital for Africa and examines the health impacts of industrial pollution from Sasol's Secunda operations. Additional insights cover why agricultural finance should recognise healthy soil as a financial asset and the legal implications of forestry debris for directors' duties.

Oliver Campbell finds seven principles of long-term investing in Dolly Parton's own words, from enduring volatility to backing management teams who build something worth outliving them.

Part two of Alexander Pui and Bruce Buckley's ENSO series: rising volatility, climate whiplash, and a region-by-region outlook for rainfall, temperature and typhoons across Asia-Pacific. Republished from the Actuaries Institute.

Actuaries Alexander Pui and Bruce Buckley explain how El Nino events are declared and predicted, why forecasts break down in autumn, and what ENSO really does to rainfall, flood and bushfire risk. Republished from the Actuaries Institute.

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.