Library | ESG issues
Corporate Strategy
Corporate strategy involves the comprehensive plan a company employs to achieve its long-term objectives, encompassing decisions on resource allocation, market participation, and competitive positioning. Integrating sustainability into corporate strategy enables organisations to create long-term stakeholder value. This approach offers advantages such as enhancing brand value, meeting consumer demands, increasing efficiency, attracting top talent, and opening new market opportunities.
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Industrial policy via the IPO market
This research examines how China uses initial public offering regulations as an industrial policy tool. Between 2002 and 2022, favoured industries saw significantly higher listing activity and proceeds. These firms command a persistent valuation premium, as investors treat government support as a durable fundamental rather than temporary sentiment.
National development banks: Policy integration for climate
This research analyses the integration of national development banks (NDBs) into climate policies across 103 economies. It highlights that only 17.5% of countries explicitly reference NDBs in climate commitments. The report provides recommendations for governments and NDB leadership to strengthen institutional alignment and improve climate finance effectiveness.
Venture capital backing and ESG disclosure in private firms
This research examines the association between venture capital backing and voluntary ESG disclosure in U.S. private firms. It finds that VC-backed firms develop disclosure gradually through professionalisation. Conversely, non-VC-backed firms exhibit strategic disclosure increases immediately before initial public offerings to reduce information asymmetry.
Artificial intelligence adoption in Chinese enterprises: Productivity effects, workforce implications, and policy challenges
This research explores artificial intelligence adoption within Chinese enterprises using qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys. It identifies significant productivity gains, various organisational models, and workforce impacts, including income anxiety and skills gaps. The report highlights the human–AI collaboration paradigm and offers policy recommendations for skills development and governance.
The governance of dual-class firms
This research examines the governance of dual-class firms, documenting a significant rise in their prevalence among US initial public offerings between 2000 and 2025. It identifies that these structures are increasingly concentrated in founder-led, venture-backed technology companies, while empirical evidence suggests they do not necessarily lead to CEO entrenchment.
The business case for science-based targets: Corporate insights on the value of science-based targets for nature
This report examines the strategic value of science-based targets for nature. Drawing on insights from early adopters across diverse sectors, it identifies six key business benefits, including protected revenue and enhanced credibility. It outlines a structured approach for organisations to manage environmental impacts while future-proofing operations against regulatory shifts.
Sustainability or strategy: Bridging the gap between climate change and long-term value creation
FCLTGlobal research identifies a significant gap between corporate climate commitments and long-term business strategies. Analysing the world’s 100 largest companies, the report introduces a Conversation Guide to help organisations integrate climate transition planning into core value creation, capital allocation, and risk management to build investor trust and resilience.
The impact of patient capital
This research examines how investor patience influences venture capital strategies and startup outcomes. Using a 2014 Chinese reform and a survey experiment, it demonstrates that longer-horizon investors, such as insurers, lead funds to adopt longer holding periods and earlier-stage investments, significantly improving portfolio innovation and successful exit rates.
The SDG partnership guidebook: A practical guide to building high-impact multi-stakeholder partnerships for the Sustainable Development Goals
This guidebook provides a practical framework for building high-impact multi-stakeholder partnerships for the SDGs. It details the partnering lifecycle, essential building blocks like trust and governance, and strategies for business engagement and system transformation. The resource helps organisations become fit for partnering to maximise collaborative value and impact.
Fast tracking nature: Leveraging climate maturity for nature transition
This report examines how 750 global companies can leverage established climate maturity to accelerate nature-related transition planning. Findings reveal a significant gap, with 69% possessing climate transition plans compared to just 2% for nature. It identifies four pathways—reporting, risk management, value chain mapping and technical synergies—to bridge this divide.
Using firm-level and integrated data sources for enterprise policy development: With illustrative country analysis of firm resilience
This report examines the use of firm-level and integrated data sources, including enterprise surveys, household surveys, and administrative records, for enterprise policy development. It features case studies from Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil, analysing firm resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic through various indicators such as productivity, informality, and workforce restoration.
A practitioner's guide to impact vehicle structuring
This guide provides a six-step roadmap for designing and structuring impact investment vehicles. It offers practical frameworks for assessing market gaps, establishing partnerships, and defining investment and impact strategies. Featuring seventeen global case studies, the report emphasises mobilising domestic capital and using blended finance to address underserved social and environmental needs.
State of sustainable business 2026
This 2026 research identifies a shift toward a pragmatic era in corporate sustainability, dominated by regulatory compliance. Key findings reveal a disconnect between sustainability teams and executives, stagnant budgets, and a focus on direct operations. AI adoption is rising for reporting, though formal governance remains nascent.
Old workers, young machines: Can AI and automation offset population ageing?
This report assesses the capacity of artificial intelligence and robots to automate ageing workforces across 135 economies. While automation could offset demographic pressures, its effectiveness is limited because ageing often occurs in sectors with low automation potential, such as health and agriculture, particularly in several fast-ageing advanced economies.
Powering up: Business perspectives on electrification
A global survey of 1,994 business leaders across 18 markets reveals overwhelming support for clean electrification. While 90% expect largely electric operations by 2035 to improve energy security and competitiveness, 72% believe government policy is moving too slowly, citing grid constraints and high upfront costs as significant barriers.
Asking better questions on nature: For chief financial officers
This guide helps Chief Financial Officers integrate nature-related issues into financial decision-making. It outlines how to identify dependencies, assess risks and opportunities, and respond to evolving disclosure expectations. The report emphasises nature as a core driver of performance, resilience and long-term value creation within the TNFD framework.
