This briefing examines human rights risks from AI-based technologies in the ICT sector, outlines business, legal, and financial implications, and provides investor-oriented guidance grounded in international standards to support rights-respecting AI development, deployment, and oversight.

The report sets a pragmatic policy on defence investments for Towards Sustainability-labelled funds, permitting defensive, non-lethal and dual-use activities with strict ESG due diligence, while excluding weapons producers. It affirms defence funding as primarily a government responsibility.

The report outlines the EU’s White Paper on European Defence and the ReArm Europe Plan, targeting defence readiness by 2030 through closing capability gaps, strengthening the defence industrial base, and mobilising over €800 billion via public, EU, and private funding mechanisms.

Bpifrance’s European Defence Bond Framework defines principles for issuing use-of-proceeds bonds financing eligible defence-sector projects, mainly SMEs, to support European sovereignty. It details eligibility criteria, exclusions, ESG safeguards, governance, reporting, and proceeds management, while stating the bonds are not ICMA-aligned sustainable instruments.

SIPRI maps the global footprint of the 15 largest arms companies, identifying 400 majority-owned foreign entities. International presence aligns with geopolitical ties and major arms markets. US and European firms dominate; Chinese and Russian companies show limited overseas reach.

The guidelines define ethical criteria for observing or excluding companies from Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global. They cover prohibited products, unacceptable conduct, coal thresholds, governance roles of the Council on Ethics and Norges Bank, and transparency requirements for decisions and reviews.

The 2021 Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards establishes technical requirements and testing procedures for restraining and killing traps used to capture specific wild mammal species. It aims to ensure humane trapping practices through standardised certification, testing methodologies, and threshold injury scores, whilst providing for periodic review and multilateral cooperation amongst signatory nations.

The report outlines the Council on Ethics’ 2018 work advising Norges Bank on exclusions and observation under ethical guidelines. It covers assessments of human rights, environment, climate, corruption and weapons sales, resulting in multiple company exclusions, observations and revocations, alongside ongoing sectoral investigations.

The NATO Innovation Fund advocates removing financial exclusions on defence to bolster European security. The report recommends reforming procurement for rapid dual-use technology adoption and implementing a ‘Responsible Use Framework’ to ensure ethical development of emerging capabilities like AI and autonomous systems.

The report analyses global financial links to arms production, showing significant funding for weapons despite rising conflict. It contrasts this with values-based banks, particularly GABV members, which largely exclude arms financing, arguing divestment supports peace, reduces risk, and aligns finance with social and environmental objectives.

IFC’s report argues that repurposing power market designs is critical to achieving affordable, reliable and sustainable electricity. Drawing on global data, it finds competitive markets attract private capital, improve access and accelerate renewables, while recommending tailored reforms guided by innovation, integration and institutional strength.

This report provides guidance for companies on integrating affected stakeholder perspectives into science-based targets for nature, emphasising Indigenous rights, equity, and due diligence. It outlines who to engage, how to engage, and how to evaluate engagement across the SBTN five-step process.

The TNFD roadmap outlines actions to improve market access to decision-useful nature-related data. It proposes data principles, pilot testing and a potential Nature Data Public Facility to address data quality, comparability, cost and accessibility for corporate reporting, target setting and transition planning.

The report outlines how financial institutions can assess and manage nature-related risks by integrating climate–nature interactions, systemic risk concepts and TNFD-aligned approaches. It highlights data gaps, tipping points, and scenario analysis to support prudent risk management and strategic decision-making.

The report outlines practical frameworks for integrating climate adaptation into financial decision-making, linking physical risk assessment to credit, investment, sovereign risk and financial products. It promotes the ABC framework, data transparency and adaptation-inclusive transition plans to improve resilience, pricing and capital allocation.

The study shows only transformative sustainability initiatives predict higher future profitability and generate positive abnormal stock returns. Advocacy, preparation and standard ESG ratings do not. Markets initially mispriced transformative actions, but learning gradually eliminated the alpha by 2022.