Library | ESG issues

Environmental

The environmental pillar in ESG (environmental, social, and governance) assesses an organisation’s impact on the planet. It includes issues such as climate change, biodiversity, waste management and water management. Strong environmental practices help businesses reduce risks, comply with regulations, and drive long-term sustainability.

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Climate resilience, desertification and applied innovation report: A strategic framework for applied innovation in arid and climate-vulnerable regions

Israel Innovation Authority
This 2026 report establishes a strategic framework for climate resilience in arid regions. It examines technological solutions in water, agriculture, and energy, highlighting Israel's innovation ecosystem and Azerbaijan's renewable energy transition. The document advocates for integrated systems, cross-border cooperation, and robust governance to combat global desertification and land degradation.
Research
17 September 2026

The Quadripartite Joint Offer: A call for targeted One Health investment

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations
This advocacy document calls for targeted investment in the One Health Joint Plan of Action. The Quadripartite collaboration proposes a Joint Offer to support at least ten countries over five years, strengthening governance, multisectoral coordination, and sustainable financing to prevent and control global health risks effectively.
Research
26 September 2025

Financial and economic returns to investing in One Health: Evidence and future directions

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations
This research examines the financial case for investing in One Health to mitigate global health threats. It highlights how integrated approaches reduce costs and improve efficiencies. Through various global case studies, the report demonstrates significant economic returns and provides a strategic blueprint for future sustainable investment.
Research
6 November 2026

Embracing carbon uncertainty in portfolio construction

Bank for International Settlements
This research introduces a framework for decarbonising sovereign bond portfolios using 'carbon returns'—treating emissions as random variables rather than deterministic values. By applying a modified Hierarchical Risk Parity algorithm with Expected Shortfall, it effectively balances financial and environmental goals, mitigating climate-related tail risks both in-sample and out-of-sample.
Research
16 June 2026

Energy transition index series

World Economic Forum
The Energy Transition Index is a benchmark series providing a structured, data-driven framework to assess national energy systems and track transition progress across 120 countries. It evaluates performance through security, equity, and sustainability lenses, alongside transition readiness factors, helping decision-makers identify gaps and understand the conditions required for resilience.
Benchmark/series
18 June 2026

UDB Currency Risk-Sharing Facility: Instrument design report

Climate Policy Initiative
The UDB Currency Risk-Sharing Facility manages foreign exchange risks for climate lending in Uganda. By combining partial hedging with tail-risk guarantees, it offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional instruments. This facility enables affordable local-currency financing while protecting the bank's balance sheet against significant Ugandan shilling depreciation.
Research
19 May 2026

Carbon Impacts Tracer

The Carbon Impacts Tracer is a scientific tool that links CO2 emissions from specific fossil fuel projects and companies to global warming impacts. It enables users to quantify climate consequences such as heat stress, crop loss, and coral degradation.
Online tool/database

Adaptbase Search

Adaptbase Search is an AI-powered knowledge base that structures climate adaptation data from global city plans. It allows finance professionals to track urban resilience investments, benchmark city responses to climate hazards, and verify adaptation claims through a standardised knowledge graph of actions and outcomes.
Online tool/database
1 September 2026

Realities of artisanal and small-scale copper and cobalt mining in Lualaba province, DRC

International Peace Information Service (IPIS)
IPIS and IBGDH mapped 51 artisanal copper and cobalt mines in Lualaba, DRC, employing an estimated 109,000 miners. The study finds few viable designated zones, cooperative elite capture, tension with industrial concessions, unsafe conditions, child labour and extortion by state agents, and recommends creating legal spaces for artisanal miners.
Research
21 September 2026

Early VfM adaptation toolkit: Delivering value-for-money adaptation with iterative frameworks & low-regret options

Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)
This 2014 DFID toolkit by Watkiss, Hunt and Savage guides advisers in designing value-for-money climate adaptation programmes. Using iterative frameworks, it sequences no- and low-regret options across six steps: risk identification, theory of change, option selection, prioritisation, programme design and economic appraisal, with Ethiopian case studies.
Research
25 July 2014

Innovation, business cycles, and the climate transition

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
This research documents that non-green innovation is procyclical, while green innovation is countercyclical. This divergence is driven by green technologies' backloaded profit structures and the reduced cost of skilled R&D labour during downturns. The study highlights that innovation subsidies are significantly more effective when implemented during economic contractions.
Research
16 September 2026

Economics of demand-side and supply-side climate policies

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
This research evaluates demand-side and supply-side climate policies, recommending a portfolio that combines carbon use and extraction pricing to mitigate emissions leakage. It emphasises transmission reform, innovation support, and green industrial policies while analysing the domestic and global distributional consequences for low-income and major fossil fuel producing nations.
Research
23 September 2026

Developing regional climate resilience investment plans and project pipelines: Implementation guidance to support regions through the Adaptation Investment Cycle

This guidance outlines the six-phase Adaptation Investment Cycle for European regions to develop Climate Resilience Investment Plans. It details how to address financing barriers, conduct economic appraisals, and structure bankable project pipelines, aiming to bridge the adaptation funding gap through strategic public and private sector engagement.
Research
10 September 2026

Guidebook: Mobilising private sector finance for climate change adaptation

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
This guidebook provides a structured framework for designing and financing climate change adaptation projects in India. It addresses barriers to private sector participation, offers methodologies for risk and impact assessment, and explores diverse funding mechanisms, including blended finance, green bonds, and catastrophe insurance, to bridge the significant adaptation funding gap.
Research
1 March 2019

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.
Research
13 June 2026

From planetary hazard to financial stability: Disentangling climate risk and institutional responsibility

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
This report identifies the misalignment between institutional mandates and climate risk expectations. It distinguishes between planetary, economic and financial risks, outlining six distinct responses. The authors argue that current frameworks distract from real-economy decarbonisation and shift climate costs onto public balance sheets, requiring clearer policy distinctions and instruments.
Research
1 June 2026
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