Library | ESG issues
Governance
The governance pillar in ESG (environmental, social, and governance) refers to the systems, policies, and practices that ensure an organisation is managed responsibly and ethically. It includes issues such as board structure, reporting & disclosures, shareholders & voting, and risk management. Strong governance reduces risks, enhances trust, and supports long-term business sustainability.
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Tracking methane action in the dairy and coffee sector
This benchmark series evaluates the progress of leading dairy and coffee companies in addressing methane emissions. It assesses corporate targets, disclosure practices, and reduction strategies within the food sector. The research provides a comparative analysis of industry performance against global climate commitments to encourage transparency and accountability.
Women's empowerment principles series
This series examines how businesses integrate women’s empowerment and gender equality across leadership, workplaces, marketplaces and communities. It uses the Women’s Empowerment Principles Gender Gap Analysis Tool to assess corporate policies and practices, support benchmarking and identify opportunities for businesses to strengthen gender equality approaches over time.
Global sustainable investment review series
This benchmark series provides a factual mapping of the state of responsible and sustainable investment across major global financial markets. Produced biennially, it offers regional insights and policy recommendations to help finance professionals navigate evolving regulatory frameworks, standardised methodologies, and the transition to a net-zero economy through international cooperation.
ICMA's guidance handbooks series
This guidance series provides a comprehensive set of questions and answers regarding the application of the Green Bond Principles, Social Bond Principles, Sustainability Bond Guidelines, and Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles. It serves as a benchmark series for the sustainable bond market, promoting transparency and standardisation across various financial debt instruments.
Corporate Health Check 2026: The annual state of Earth-positive business action
The CDP 2026 Corporate Health Check, produced with Oliver Wyman, demonstrates that environmental leadership aligns with financial performance. While a 15% leadership cohort achieves 4% annual emission reductions, a major gap persists in adaptation finance. The report identifies four key levers for building resilience and capturing emerging commercial opportunities.
Mobilising capital for India’s critical minerals sector
This report examines financing challenges in India's critical minerals sector across upstream, midstream, and recycling segments. It evaluates the National Critical Mineral Mission's role in addressing capital gaps and suggests de-risking projects to ensure commercial viability and support India’s energy transition goals through strategic policy and international partnerships.
FCLT Gold Standard: Information and resources
FCLTGlobal’s Gold Standard provides criteria for asset owners, asset managers and companies to support long-term value creation. It outlines recommended practices across governance, incentives, engagement, metrics and future success, including long-term performance measurement, aligned remuneration, sustainability reporting, carbon pricing, diverse decision-making and investment in innovation.
Regenerative agriculture: Moving from ambition to credibility
This report evaluates regenerative agriculture commitments across 78 global agri-food companies. While disclosures have increased, quantified targets have declined to 28%. Significant gaps remain in financial support for farmers and pesticide reduction targets, with the pork and poultry sectors largely overlooked in transition planning.
Mainstreaming just transition finance: Lessons from emerging best practice
This report examines the integration of just transition principles into private finance. It highlights structural barriers, including the lack of robust business cases and quantifiable evidence. Recommendations include embedding just transition into existing regulatory frameworks, strengthening the evidence base for commercial benefits, and aligning private incentives with national commitments.
Assessing climate finance quality in practice: Lessons from six cases
This research report analyses six case studies to determine what constitutes high-quality public climate finance. It introduces a two-pronged framework assessing design, delivery, and results. Findings emphasise context-specific calibration, the importance of building enabling environments, and identifying data gaps that hinder systematic reporting across public climate finance providers.
Cyber risk stress testing for banks
This report examines cyber risk stress testing for banks, contrasting system-focused and firm-focused approaches. Drawing on exercises by the Bank of England, the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, and the European Central Bank, it outlines scenario design, operational resilience, and the role of disclosure in establishing best practices.
Gaining ground: State of private investment in nature 2026
This report analyses the growth of private investment in nature between 2016 and 2025, documenting a fivefold increase in annual capital deployment to $14 billion. It highlights the shift towards institutional-grade natural capital and recommends clearer policy drivers and standardised metrics to unlock investment and bridge the $700 billion finance gap.
Profits and social impacts: Complements vs. tradeoffs for lenders in three countries
This research examines the tradeoff between lender profits and social impact using machine learning across three countries. It demonstrates that algorithmic targeting significantly boosts profit margins in South Africa and the Philippines but may reduce financial inclusion for women and low-income borrowers unless balanced strategies are implemented.
The price and distributional impact of flood risk disclosure: Evidence from US housing platforms
This research quantifies the impact of property-level flood risk disclosure on US housing prices and demographics. Homes labelled with 'extreme' risk saw a 3.3% price discount. Disclosure caused significant resorting, with lower-income, older, and FHA-financed buyers increasingly purchasing high-risk properties primarily due to reduced transaction prices.
Global Forest Review
The Global Forest Review is an online resource by the World Resources Institute providing annual data on global forest loss, deforestation drivers, and carbon stocks. It helps finance professionals assess environmental risks and track supply chain exposure to deforestation-linked commodities.
Global Climate Finance Architecture
Climate Funds Update tracks the complex global climate finance architecture, monitoring multilateral, bilateral, and regional funds. It provides critical insights into how international capital is channelled toward climate action in developing nations, supporting ESG analysis and investment context.