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.
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Combined climate stress testing of supply-chain networks and the financial system with nation-wide firm-level emission estimates
This study utilises comprehensive Hungarian firm-level data to stress-test the economy and banking system against carbon pricing shocks. While direct impacts at €45/t appear minimal, supply chain contagion significantly amplifies losses, potentially by 4000% if essential inputs cannot be substituted. This highlights critical risks in systemic supply network dependencies.
Tackling the transformation: The challenges of operationalizing corporate sustainability goals and how to overcome them
ERM’s Transformation Survey analyses global corporate progress in operationalising sustainability goals. It finds stronger performance on social issues than climate or nature, identifies weak sustainability-linked incentives as the main barrier, and highlights underinvestment in training, incentives, and ESG data systems.
Corporate sustainability reporting
This conceptual paper examines corporate sustainability reporting, distinguishing investor-focused sustainability-related financial disclosure from broader impact reporting. It argues investor interests are imperfectly aligned with societal goals and concludes that complementary financial and impact reporting standards are needed to support accountability, capital allocation and sustainability transition.
Globally representative evidence on the actual and perceived support for climate action
Using a survey of 130,000 people across 125 countries, the study finds strong global support for climate action, but widespread underestimation of others’ willingness to act. This perception gap may hinder cooperation; correcting it could materially strengthen climate action.
Leveraging physical climate risk data
The report outlines data requirements for assessing physical climate risks, highlighting gaps in hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and adaptation information. It reviews emerging tools, stresses limitations in insurance and asset-level data, and recommends capacity building, collaboration, and improved data systems to enhance financial sector climate-risk analysis.
International round table: Financing climate action at city level
This report synthesises discussions from an international round table on financing city-level climate action, highlighting how local governments overcome fiscal constraints through tailored funding scales, partnerships, innovative revenue mechanisms, and long-term approaches to deliver major decarbonisation programmes across Europe and North America.
Good practice case studies in scope 3 data collection
The report presents practical case studies on Scope 3 data collection, covering supplier, upstream, downstream and employee engagement. It outlines hybrid methodologies, use of primary and spend-based data, and emphasises collaboration, pragmatism and incremental improvement to support credible emissions measurement and reduction.
Escalation: The destructive force of Australia's fossil fuel exports on our climate
The report finds Australia’s fossil fuel exports significantly escalate global warming and domestic climate risks. It highlights missing policy restrictions, growing harms to people and systems, and urges an orderly, cooperative and just phase-out with regulatory reforms and international engagement.
Assessment of the biodiversity impacts and dependencies of globally listed companies
The report assesses biodiversity impacts and ecosystem service dependencies of 2,369 globally listed companies using multiple footprinting tools. It finds impacts highly concentrated among few firms, driven mainly by climate change, pollution and land use, with food, energy and chemicals sectors prioritised for investor engagement.
A just world on a safe planet: A Lancet Planetary Health–Earth Commission report on Earth-system boundaries, translations, and transformations
The Lancet Planetary Health Earth Commission report quantifies eight safe and just ESBs for biosphere, climate, nutrients, freshwater, and aerosols. Seven ESBs transgressed globally. Defines safe and just corridor for minimum resource access amid transformations to avert harm to health and planet.
The impact of climate conditions on economic production: Evidence from a global panel of regions
The paper links subnational economic output with climate data, showing temperature increases reduce productivity levels, especially in hotter regions, without affecting long-run growth. End-century warming could lower global output by 7–14%, indicating larger climate damages than many models estimate.
Climate change impacts increase economic inequality: Evidence from a systematic literature review
This systematic review of 127 studies finds consistent evidence that climate change worsens economic inequality, disproportionately affecting poorer countries and households. Impacts arise across sectors and regions via channels such as reduced labour productivity and agricultural losses, with strong agreement that effects are regressive.
Global warming has increased global economic inequality
The report assesses historical warming’s effects on national income by combining climate model counterfactuals with temperature–growth estimates. It finds warming has likely reduced GDP in warmer, lower-income countries and moderately benefited some cooler, higher-income economies, contributing to increased between-country economic inequality since 1961.
The Other Half of the Transition: Why Livestock Deserves as Much Attention as Energy
This article highlights the major climate impact of livestock and explains why the absence of clear roadmaps, metrics, and financing strategies has left the sector far behind the energy transition. It proposes policy reforms, mitigation hierarchies, and justice-centered pathways to unlock effective and equitable change.
The transition finance playbook: A practical guide for financial institutions
A practical guide outlining how financial institutions can scale transition finance through governance, eligibility criteria, portfolio segmentation, due-diligence enhancements and engagement. It highlights Canadian market context, barriers, and actionable “top tips” to support credible decarbonisation, stewardship and collaboration across the financial system.
Institute for Sustainable Finance (ISF)
Institute for Sustainable Finance (ISF) at Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, is Canada’s first multi-disciplinary hub aligning finance with environmental sustainability. It conducts research, publishes policy guidance, and runs education and collaboration programmes to help policymakers, investors, and firms integrate climate risk, nature, and ESG considerations into capital allocation and regulation.
