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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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Finance for war: Finance for peace: How values based banks foster peace in a world of increasing conflict

Merian Research
The report analyses global financial links to arms production, showing significant funding for weapons despite rising conflict. It contrasts this with values-based banks, particularly GABV members, which largely exclude arms financing, arguing divestment supports peace, reduces risk, and aligns finance with social and environmental objectives.
Research
27 February 2024

Integrating nature & biodiversity into investment: An asset owner perspective

Pensions for Purpose
The report examines how asset owners integrate nature and biodiversity into investment. Based on interviews with 20 global asset owners and managers, it finds growing recognition of financial materiality, limited governance and data maturity, early TNFD adoption, and reliance on climate-aligned ESG processes.
Research
30 January 2025

Repurposing power markets: The path to sustainable and affordable energy for all

International Finance Corporation
IFC’s report argues that repurposing power market designs is critical to achieving affordable, reliable and sustainable electricity. Drawing on global data, it finds competitive markets attract private capital, improve access and accelerate renewables, while recommending tailored reforms guided by innovation, integration and institutional strength.
Research
22 November 2024

Stakeholder engagement and science-based targets for nature

Science Based Targets Network (SBTN)
This report provides guidance for companies on integrating affected stakeholder perspectives into science-based targets for nature, emphasising Indigenous rights, equity, and due diligence. It outlines who to engage, how to engage, and how to evaluate engagement across the SBTN five-step process.
Research
24 October 2024

A roadmap for upgrading market access to decision-useful nature-related data

Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)
The TNFD roadmap outlines actions to improve market access to decision-useful nature-related data. It proposes data principles, pilot testing and a potential Nature Data Public Facility to address data quality, comparability, cost and accessibility for corporate reporting, target setting and transition planning.
Research
30 October 2024

Powering up the global south: The cleantech path to growth

Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)
The report argues the Global South is rapidly adopting cleantech as its cheapest growth pathway, driven by low energy access, limited fossil resources and abundant renewables. Falling costs, electrification and Chinese supply underpin accelerating solar and wind deployment, with fossil fuel demand for electricity expected to peak by 2030.
Research
14 October 2024

Developing an approach to nature risk in financial services

Climate Financial Risk Forum (CFRF)
The report outlines how financial institutions can assess and manage nature-related risks by integrating climate–nature interactions, systemic risk concepts and TNFD-aligned approaches. It highlights data gaps, tipping points, and scenario analysis to support prudent risk management and strategic decision-making.
Research
23 October 2025

From risk to resilience: Integrating adaptation into finance

Climate Financial Risk Forum (CFRF)
The report outlines practical frameworks for integrating climate adaptation into financial decision-making, linking physical risk assessment to credit, investment, sovereign risk and financial products. It promotes the ABC framework, data transparency and adaptation-inclusive transition plans to improve resilience, pricing and capital allocation.
Research
21 October 2025

Heterogeneity in corporate sustainability initiatives and stock returns

The study shows only transformative sustainability initiatives predict higher future profitability and generate positive abnormal stock returns. Advocacy, preparation and standard ESG ratings do not. Markets initially mispriced transformative actions, but learning gradually eliminated the alpha by 2022.
Research
2 October 2025

A review of the link between sustainability performance and company valuation

World Business Council for Sustainable Development
The report reviews recent evidence on links between sustainability performance and company valuation, finding growing but uneven market recognition. Strong strategies can improve resilience, EBITDA and capital costs, while inaction raises long-term financial risk amid evolving disclosure and regulation.
Research
11 December 2025

A risk professional’s guide to physical risk assessments: A GARP benchmarking study of 13 vendors

Climate Financial Risk Forum (CFRF)
GARP benchmarks 13 vendors’ asset-level climate physical risk models, finding wide dispersion in hazard and damage estimates due to differing data, assumptions and methods. The report stresses due diligence, transparency and improved asset data when selecting vendors.
Research
23 October 2025

The (mis)use of scenarios in fossil fuel and industry climate disclosures

Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility
The report analyses climate disclosures by investor-owned carbon majors, finding widespread misuse of climate scenarios to claim Paris alignment. Common issues include outdated scenarios, opaque assumptions and misleading aggregation, which obscure transition risks and may misinform investor decision-making.
Research
28 March 2025

Banking on business as usual: The energy finance imbalance

Reclaim Finance
The report assesses energy financing by 65 major banks (2021–2024), finding fossil fuel finance more than double sustainable power supply. The energy supply financing ratio stagnates around 0.42:1, far below net-zero benchmarks, with regional disparities and weak translation of climate commitments into financing shifts.
Research
29 September 2025

On the horizon: Climate-induced inflation and the price of food

The Autonomy Institute
This report analyses climate-driven food price inflation in the UK, linking global heat and drought shocks to rising import costs. It projects 25–34% cumulative food inflation by 2050, with disproportionate impacts on low-income households and increased poverty risks.
Research
17 July 2025

The global human impact on biodiversity

Global meta-analysis of 2,133 studies finds human pressures consistently shift community composition and reduce local biodiversity across terrestrial, freshwater and marine systems, but do not cause uniform biotic homogenisation. Impacts vary by pressure, organism group and spatial scale, informing conservation benchmarking.
Research
26 April 2025

Historical redlining and cumulative environmental impacts across the United States

This study analyses 202 US cities, linking historic redlining to higher present-day cumulative environmental burdens. Using EJScreen data and modelling, it finds redlined neighbourhoods face significantly greater combined pollution exposures, particularly from traffic, hazardous waste and wastewater sites, with strongest disparities in western regions.
Research
30 December 2025
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