Library | ESG issues
Agriculture, Forestry & Other Land Use
Land use for agriculture, forestry, and related activities plays a critical role in food security, biodiversity, and climate impact. As a major contributor to global emissions, land use faces challenges such as resource depletion, waste, and chemical overuse, which threaten ecosystems and long-term productivity. Sustainable practices are essential for maintaining soil health, ensuring food supply, preserving forests, and supporting farmers and rural communities. Effective land management can mitigate environmental and social risks while creating opportunities for innovation and long-term economic stability.
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Traceability Tools Navigator
The Traceability Tools Navigator, developed by Preferred by Nature and WWF, allows users to compare digital tools for supply chain monitoring. It provides a standardised framework to evaluate traceability and risk assessment capabilities for forest-risk commodities.
Collective power: The struggle for protection for land and environmental defenders
Global Witness reports that 124 land and environmental defenders were killed in 2025, bringing the total since 2012 to 2,375. Colombia remains the deadliest country. The report advocates for collective protection mechanisms and highlights the criminalisation of Indigenous communities resisting land grabs in Peru and Indonesia.
Warming and vegetation greening drive recent surge in flash droughts
This research identifies a global shift in flash drought drivers from precipitation deficits to a compound effect of warming and vegetation greening. Anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing has triggered a surge in these rapid-onset events since 2017, exposing approximately 650 million people and significantly reducing terrestrial carbon productivity.
The Global Forest Goals report 2026
The Global Forest Goals Report 2026 assesses progress towards 26 targets. While protected areas and management plans have expanded, the world remains off track in halting deforestation and eradicating poverty. The report recommends scaling up innovative financing and strengthening cross-sectoral governance to preserve vital forest ecosystems by 2030.
EU’s deforestation footprint highlights need for EUDR
Trase’s assessment reveals the European Union was exposed to 112,500 hectares of annual deforestation between 2021 and 2023. While palm oil exposure fell 91% since 2014, cocoa and cattle remain significant risks. Effective EUDR implementation is vital to sustain progress, particularly as re-export modelling identifies Germany as highly exposed.
Indonesia’s 2026 fires: mapping exposure to bond issuers
This report maps the exposure of bond issuers to Indonesia’s 2026 fires and subsequent regulatory actions in Indonesia and Singapore. It categorises companies by operational or commercial exposure, highlighting potential financial risks from production losses, certification disputes, and tightening credit conditions for entities linked to transboundary haze.
Scaling tropical forest finance: Perspectives from the Amazon Basin, the Congo Basin, and Borneo
This research identifies a USD66.8 billion annual gap in tropical forest finance by 2030. It evaluates the Tropical Forest Forever Facility as an innovative model for predictable payments for standing forests and recommends landscape-scale approaches and direct funding for Indigenous Peoples to secure biodiversity and climate stability.
Mobilising private finance for nature: Learning from large-scale nature investment vehicles
This report analyses 54 nature investment vehicles to evaluate their effectiveness in mobilising institutional private capital. It identifies sector concentration in forestry and agriculture and highlights gaps in marine ecosystems. The findings emphasise the necessity of blended finance and technical assistance to scale nature-positive investments effectively.
Smallholders and the European Union Deforestation Regulation: Challenges, implications, and pathways to compliance
This report examines challenges faced by smallholders under the European Union Deforestation Regulation. Based on a survey of 333 producers, it identifies land tenure, compliance costs, and technical gaps as major barriers. It recommends coordinated support from governments, the private sector, and sustainability organisations to ensure inclusive market access.
Guidance on the identification and assessment of nature-related issues: The LEAP approach series
The Guidance on the Identification and Assessment of Nature-related Issues: The LEAP Approach series, published by the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), provides a structured methodology for organisations and financial institutions to identify, evaluate, manage and report nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities.
A protein transition for Thai meat producers: A win-win for Thailand’s climate goals and the companies’ net profits and value
This report analyses the business case for transitioning four major Thai meat producers to plant-based proteins. It demonstrates that a 100% transition by 2050 could reduce emissions by 73%, save 8,375 square kilometres of land and increase net profits by 65% compared to traditional animal-based production models.
The UK’s bioeconomy: A case for building growth, resilience and sustainability
This report evaluates the UK’s £325 billion bioeconomy, which supports 6.4 million jobs but underperforms in growth. It advocates for a coordinated policy and financial architecture to link frontier innovation with established industries, enhancing productivity, national resilience, and the transition to a nature-positive, sustainable economy.
Gender equality: SSI report (Sustainable and Resilient Value Chains series)
This research examines how voluntary sustainability standards and private sector initiatives address gender equality in agricultural value chains. Applying the Sustainable and Resilient Value Chains framework, it evaluates efforts across five commodities and recommends a 'smart mix' of solutions to transform structural inequalities and empower women producers.
Nature stress test: Assessing exposure of five African banking systems
This report evaluates nature-related financial risks for banking systems in Ghana, Mauritius, Morocco, Rwanda, and Zambia. It demonstrates that an orderly transition to nature-positive practices significantly reduces profit and credit losses. Key sectors like agriculture and mining are most vulnerable, requiring coordinated regulatory and financial action.
Nature Stocktake
The Nature Stocktake by BankTrack evaluates 30 global banks on their biodiversity commitments and exclusion policies. It provides finance professionals with comparative data on bank alignment with the Global Biodiversity Framework and exposure to forest-risk commodities.
Food, land, and money: The case for ending the Agribusiness Financial Complex and funding the Peoples’ Food Web
This report examines the 'Agribusiness Financial Complex', where global finance and industrial agribusiness prioritise shareholder profit over food security. It analyses the top 100 agrifood companies, highlights the environmental and social harms of financialisation, and advocates for a transition to a decentralised 'Peoples' Food Web' through agroecology.
