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Research
We summarise credible research and reports on sustainable finance and ESG issues. Our summaries, along with our AI ChatBot saves members time reading large reports, to focus on knowledge building and action.
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Understanding climate finance for resilient infrastructure
This expert guide outlines the rationale, tools and barriers for mobilising climate finance to deliver resilient infrastructure. It examines adaptation and mitigation finance, funding gaps, economic benefits, and stakeholder roles, supported by case studies demonstrating blended finance, insurance and public–private approaches in developing and developed contexts.
Building consensus on societal wellbeing: A semantic synthesis of indicators to move beyond GDP
Analyses 213 wellbeing indicators using semantic modelling to identify conceptual overlap and optimal design beyond GDP. Finds strong thematic convergence and diminishing returns beyond roughly 20 components. Proposes a synthesised 20-component indicator to support international consensus on measuring sustainable and inclusive wellbeing.
Integrating human rights due diligence (HRDD) in finance and investment
Guide outlining how investors integrate human rights due diligence (HRDD) into ESG processes, particularly listed equities. It explains regulatory drivers, investor risks and opportunities, practical integration steps, barriers and case studies, emphasising saliency, stewardship, remediation and governance to manage human rights risks and align with evolving global standards.
Total Impact Portfolio: Constructing an investment portfolio with an impact lens
This guide outlines constructing a Total Impact Portfolio (TIP), integrating risk, return and impact across all asset classes. It explains double materiality, portfolio design steps, responsible investment strategies, measurement frameworks and barriers. Case studies illustrate Australian and international asset owners embedding impact within governance, allocation and performance management.
The economics of water scarcity
This BIS working paper analyses water scarcity’s macroeconomic effects using panel data for 169 countries (1990–2020). It finds higher water stress is associated with lower GDP and investment growth and higher inflation. The paper discusses sectoral impacts, pricing, infrastructure and climate scenarios, highlighting implications for economic policy and central banks.
Restoring human progress: Winning citizens’ support for actions on climate and nature
This report argues that despite widespread concern about climate and nature, durable policy support depends on restoring belief in human progress. Drawing on surveys and literature, it proposes three principles: deliver meaningful sectoral gains, play to national strengths, and make progress visible to build optimism, agency and sustained public backing.
Ecological design thinking for a circular economy: The impact of the forest metaphor for circular business
Evaluates a forest-metaphor learning tool for circular economy education through comparative workshops in 2023 and 2025. Survey results show the tool deepened understanding, generated more concrete insights and increased productive tension with existing business models, supporting conceptual change and more fruitful engagement with circular business thinking.
Making the case: Macroeconomic risk & portfolio impact: A tool for system-level investors
Provides system-level investors with practical language, research and engagement tools to address macroeconomic and systemic risks. Argues diversified portfolios depend primarily on overall market performance, which is shaped by social and environmental externalities, and supports stewardship actions to protect long-term portfolio value.
Recalibrating climate risk: Aligning damage functions with scientific understanding
This report argues climate damage functions systematically underestimate risks by relying on smooth, GDP-centred models. Drawing on expert elicitation, it highlights nonlinear, cascading and tail risks, tipping points, and limits to growth. It recommends recalibrating modelling and financial supervision towards precaution, systemic resilience and transparent uncertainty.
Starting and transitioning into sustainable finance careers
This guide outlines pathways for starting or transitioning into sustainable finance careers. It explains ESG integration, sustainable and impact investing, sector roles, required skills, barriers and transition strategies, supported by Australian context, expert insights and case studies from Pollination and Aware Super.
One Earth: The risk of a hothouse Earth trajectory
This commentary assesses risks of a self-reinforcing “hothouse Earth” trajectory driven by accelerating warming, feedback loops and tipping points. It reviews evidence on climate sensitivity, overshoot scenarios and cascading tipping elements, warning that current emissions pathways heighten irreversible risks and require urgent mitigation and precautionary governance.
Hong Kong taxonomy for sustainable finance (phase 2A)
Phase 2A of the Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance sets out detailed criteria for classifying environmentally sustainable activities, aligned with international taxonomies. It covers additional sectors, technical screening thresholds, and transition activities, aiming to enhance transparency, comparability and capital allocation towards climate mitigation and adaptation in Hong Kong.
The macroeconomic impact of climate change: Global vs. local temperature
This paper estimates that global temperature increases have far larger macroeconomic damages than local measures suggest. Using time-series evidence and a neoclassical growth model, it finds a 1°C rise reduces world GDP by over 20% long term, implying substantial welfare losses and a high social cost of carbon.
Methodological assessment of the impact and dependency of business on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people (business and biodiversity assessment)
The IPBES Business and Biodiversity assessment evaluates how businesses depend on and impact biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people, reviews measurement approaches, and outlines options for action to manage risks and align business practices with biodiversity outcomes, supporting Target 15 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Developing survey methods for collecting individual policy narratives: A case study of climate change narratives using an engaged convenience sample
This study tests open-ended survey methods for eliciting individual climate policy narratives using the Narrative Policy Framework. In a small, liberal US sample (n=88), problem-focused questions generated more complete narratives. Narrative elements varied by ideology, education and media use, supporting the ‘homo narrans’ assumption.
Nature-based risk assessment: Integrating project-related finance
Guidance from UNEP FI and the Equator Principles on integrating project-related finance into nature-based risk assessments. It outlines frameworks, governance and disclosure expectations to help financial institutions identify, assess and manage biodiversity, water and pollution-related risks at project and portfolio levels.