Library | ESG issues
Community Development
Community development is a process where individuals and groups collaborate to create a more inclusive society by addressing shared social and economic challenges. It empowers communities to take collective action, ensuring equitable access to resources and opportunities. Examples include investments in affordable housing, infrastructure such as roads, libraries, and parks, and initiatives that support local businesses and workforce development. Strong community development enhances economic resilience, social cohesion, and long-term value creation, influencing corporate and investment strategies.
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Toward a more human pace for data center development
This research examines the environmental and social impacts of rapid data centre expansion in the United States. It highlights how generative AI infrastructure disproportionately burdens marginalised communities through pollution, increased utility costs, and resource depletion. The authors call for a "more human pace" centred on environmental justice.
Leveraging copper for economic transformation: Policy choices for value addition in Zambia
This report examines strategies for Zambia to add value to its copper resources. It identifies expanding smelting and refining as immediate opportunities to increase annual exports by USD 3.7 billion by 2030. Success requires addressing binding constraints, primarily unreliable electricity, high finance costs, and trade logistics inefficiencies.
Unlocking catalytic capital in Australia
This report examines the role of catalytic capital in Australia, exploring how flexible, risk-tolerant investment can mobilise private capital for social and environmental impact. It defines the current market, identifies barriers to growth, and provides case studies of successful deployment across philanthropic, government, and institutional sectors.
Community energy: Hope and headwinds
This report examines the Australian community energy sector, highlighting growth to over 126 projects by 2023. It explores the tension between strong community motivations and significant economic headwinds, such as scale diseconomies and market volatility. Key findings emphasise technical expertise and de-risking strategies as essential for success.
Exploring guarantees for resilient and low-carbon cities: Part 2: De-risking urban climate finance series
This report examines how guarantees can unlock private climate finance for cities. It identifies barriers to uptake in emerging markets, such as high costs and complex structures. Proposed solutions include strengthening governance, standardising products, and expanding regional facilities to mobilise the USD 4.3 trillion required annually by 2030.
Just transition metrics benchmark
Just Transition Metrics is a benchmark series developed by Shift in collaboration with multiple organisations. It provides a foundational, sector-agnostic set of quantitative metrics designed to assess the 'justness' of companies' climate-related transition plans, covering workforce, communities, and value chain impacts.
Global report on internal displacement series
The Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID) is an annual benchmark series published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). It tracks the scale, drivers, and geography of internal displacement worldwide, covering both conflict- and disaster-driven movements across countries and regions.
Governance: Hard to build, easy to erode: Global trends, business implications and the role of employer and business membership organizations
This report analyses global governance trends from 1996 to 2024, revealing widespread stagnation and persistent risks of backsliding. It highlights the critical link between stable institutional governance, increased foreign direct investment, and the necessary role of business membership organisations in sustaining long-term policy reforms.
How poverty fell
Global extreme poverty fell mainly within cohorts, with substantial household churn and varied exit pathways. Sector shifts, migration, occupation changes and women’s labour force participation contributed unevenly; most households exited poverty without these changes.
Transforming the urban climate project preparation ecosystem: Emerging findings on how enhanced collaboration can deliver greater coherence, efficiency and impact
The report examines weaknesses in urban climate project preparation and argues that stronger coordination between cities, financiers and support organisations could improve coherence, efficiency and project impact. It identifies structural and operational barriers and proposes collaborative reforms to strengthen climate finance delivery.
Building the financial case for urban adaptation: Guidance and case studies
C40 and Rebel outline how cities can structure urban adaptation projects to attract private finance, using ten case studies. Bankability depends on revenue logic, risk allocation, public de-risking, early financier engagement and credible monitoring.
Hedging ambiguity with pro-social preferences: An illustration from green finance
The paper argues that pro-social preferences can offset ambiguity aversion in green finance by acting as a behavioural hedge. Using ambiguity-based investment models, the authors show socially motivated investors may accept uncertain green assets, lowering effective hurdle rates and supporting private capital flows into sustainable projects.
Tackling governance and financing for sustainability transitions
The report argues current financial systems misallocate capital towards resource-intensive activities, hindering sustainability transitions. It recommends policy, governance and financial reforms to redirect investment towards resource efficiency, low-carbon development and equitable transition pathways, particularly in resource-dependent economies.
Driving positive social change through co-operatives and mutual enterprises (CMEs)
This guide explains how co-operatives and mutual enterprises can support social change through democratic governance, member focus and long-term value. It argues they can improve stability, competition and sustainability in finance, while noting challenges including regulation, capital raising and market awareness.
Nourish and flourish: Water solutions to feed 10 billion people on a livable planet
This World Bank report outlines transforming agricultural water management to feed 10 billion people sustainably. It introduces a water-food nexus framework, highlights inefficiencies in current systems, and emphasises data-driven, service-oriented irrigation and financing reforms to improve productivity, resilience, and environmental outcomes.
Sustainable Finance Roundup March 2026: Markets, Climate Risk, and the Transition in Practice
This month’s sustainability roundup captures a shift from framework development to real-world application, where climate and nature risks are increasingly embedded across financial systems, legal accountability, and decision-making. It highlights how intensifying physical climate signals, evolving disclosures, and maturing litigation are converging with insights on sovereign risk, energy systems, and corporate strategy. Together, these developments show how sustainability is moving beyond principle—being tested, priced, and enforced across markets, regulation, and the real economy.
