Library | ESG issues

Climate Change

Climate change, driven by human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is increasing global temperatures and extreme weather events. Major GHGs like carbon dioxide and methane primarily come from burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and agriculture. Key sectors contributing to emissions include energy, industry, transport, buildings, and land use, making mitigation and adaptation essential for environmental and economic stability.

Team Altiorem recommends

Framing and language for effective climate conversations

Finance relevance: Broader finance community
Expert guide
11 June 2024
Refine
Resource type
Sustainable Finance Practices
ESG issues
SDGs
SASB Sustainability Sector
Finance relevance
Asset Class
Location
TAG
940 results
REFINE
SHOW: 16

A method to identify positive tipping points to accelerate low-carbon transitions and actions to trigger them

The report proposes a methodology to identify “positive tipping points” that can accelerate low-carbon transitions. It outlines a framework to assess their likelihood, drivers and proximity, and identifies actions that could trigger self-reinforcing decarbonisation processes to help achieve Paris Agreement climate goals.
Research
7 August 2025

Science in the courtroom: Evidentiary needs in climate litigation

Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment
This guide outlines how climate science evidence is used in climate litigation. It explains evidentiary standards, types of scientific evidence and litigation strategies, and provides guidance for courts and litigants on presenting and assessing climate science to support legal claims related to climate change impacts and responsibility.
Research
10 March 2026

Emissions gap report series

United Nations Environment Programme
The Emissions Gap Report is an annual report series by the United Nations Environment Programme that assesses the gap between projected global greenhouse gas emissions and the reductions required to meet the Paris Agreement temperature goals. The series reviews emissions trends, national climate commitments and mitigation policy progress.
Benchmark/series
4 November 2025

Climate-related risks and opportunities and the disclosure of material information

Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB)
This educational material explains how entities apply AASB S2 to identify and disclose material information on climate-related risks and opportunities affecting cash flows, access to finance and cost of capital. It outlines concepts such as value chains, dependencies and impacts, and provides a four-step process for assessing and reporting material climate-related information.
Research
4 March 2026

The slow forces behind this year’s fast crises

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.
Article
11 March 2026

Mandatory Climate Reporting in Australia: A Practical Guide for 2026

Altiorem
Australia’s mandatory climate reporting regime began implementation from 2025, aligned with ISSB IFRS S2 standards. This guide explains regulatory expectations, governance responsibilities, emissions data requirements and practical steps organisations should take in 2026 to establish compliant climate disclosures, integrate climate risks into financial reporting, and prepare for assurance and regulatory scrutiny.
Research
11 March 2026

Investor action plans (ICAPs): Expectations ladder

The Investor Agenda
The report outlines the Investor Climate Action Plans (ICAPs) Expectations Ladder, a framework enabling investors to assess and strengthen climate strategies. It sets tiered actions across investment, engagement, policy advocacy, disclosure and governance to support portfolio decarbonisation and alignment with net-zero pathways.
Research
1 July 2023

Singapore-Asia taxonomy for sustainable finance

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
The report outlines the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance, a science-based classification framework defining green, transition (amber) and ineligible economic activities. It provides technical screening criteria—primarily for climate change mitigation—to guide financial institutions, investors and policymakers in directing capital towards environmentally sustainable and low-carbon transition activities across Singapore and ASEAN.
Research
29 December 2023

Disentangling materiality and climate reporting

This article explains how the concept of materiality applies in AASB S2 climate disclosures and why it is often misunderstood. It distinguishes between material information, climate risks, emissions reporting, and ESG double materiality assessments, offering practical guidance for preparing compliant climate reports.
Article
10 March 2026

A climate-aligned financial system: Leverage points for transformation

This study models the financial system’s role in climate transition using participatory system dynamics with Dutch financial actors. It identifies reinforcing feedbacks like learning, technological lock-in, finance culture and passive investment and proposes seventeen policy and institutional interventions to redirect capital towards sustainable assets and align finance with Paris Agreement goals.
Research
23 February 2026

Scaling up green investment in the global south: Strengthening domestic financial resource mobilisation and attracting patient international capital

SOAS University of London
This report examines why capital flows ‘uphill’ from emerging and developing economies and argues that scaling green investment requires stronger domestic financial resource mobilisation. It recommends developing local currency bond markets, empowering national development banks, reforming multilateral development banks, and establishing a climate finance facility to attract patient international capital.
Research
25 October 2024

Sustainable Finance Roundup February 2026: Disclosure, Carbon Trade, and Transition Economics

This month’s sustainability roundup traces a rapidly evolving landscape in climate governance and industrial transition, highlighting the convergence of ISSB-aligned disclosure standards and emerging carbon trade measures alongside shifting cost curves in transport and critical minerals. It underscores how tighter emissions accounting and border policies are embedding carbon competitiveness into capital allocation, while advances in electrification, AI-driven power demand and expanding legal accountability are integrating climate and nature risk into mainstream financial decision-making.
Article
3 March 2026

From bonds to blended Finance: How a diverse range of financial instruments are financing climate adaptation and resilience

World Resources Institute
Analyses 162 cases (2015–2025) of 11 financial instruments financing climate adaptation. Finds blended finance most prevalent, with instruments mainly supporting ex-ante risk reduction. Adaptation finance is largely pooled and increasingly multicountry. Use varies by income level, highlighting growing innovation to mobilise capital for resilience.
Research
19 November 2025

Understanding climate finance for resilient infrastructure

Altiorem
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.
Research
3 March 2025

Restoring human progress: Winning citizens’ support for actions on climate and nature

University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)
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.
Research
5 February 2026

Recalibrating climate risk: Aligning damage functions with scientific understanding

Carbon Tracker Initiative
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.
Research
29 January 2026
PREV
1 of 59
NEXT
Join or sign in to use Alma, Altiorem’s AI Agent. While the Altiorem library is free, Alma is exclusive to paying subscribers.