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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Extreme heat risk governance: Framework and toolkit
This report presents a comprehensive framework and toolkit to help governments and stakeholders manage extreme heat risk. It provides actionable guidance, a maturity assessment tool, and strategies to operationalise governance and develop effective heat action plans across multiple sectors and timescales.
The State of Sustainable Finance (2025-2030) Global Architecture, Jurisdictional Approaches and Emerging Trends
This report examines global sustainable finance architecture and institutional shifts from 2025 to 2030. It assesses regulatory approaches across nine major jurisdictions, highlighting the European Union as the benchmark. The analysis identifies structural trends, including transition finance scaling, nature risk integration, and the harmonisation of sustainability reporting.
Food systems and antimicrobial resistance: Impacts on food safety, animal production and trade
This report examines the impact of antimicrobial resistance in food systems on public health, animal production, and international trade. It highlights the role of food-borne pathogens and commensal bacteria in transmitting resistance, evaluates risk analysis models, and recommends enhanced surveillance, antimicrobial stewardship, and standardisation of global trade regulations.
Market-shaping states: A new theory of public sector capacities and capabilities
This report introduces a market-shaping theory of the public sector, arguing that governments must act as proactive co-creators of public value. It presents a three-layered framework of structural capacities, organisational routines, and dynamic capabilities to help states navigate socio-technical challenges, steer innovation, and drive sustainable societal transformations.
Aligning transition planning and financial planning: A guide for finance teams
This guidance assists finance teams in integrating transition planning into their organisation's core financial processes. It outlines steps to prepare, assess current positions, prioritise actions, and embed sustainability strategies into medium-term financial planning. The report provides practical frameworks for financing, improving decision-making, and monitoring progress towards climate resilience.
Leaning on uncertainty: Are European countries overrelying on carbon removals to reach climate targets?
This report analyses the climate strategies of six European countries and the European Commission, revealing a risky overreliance on unproven carbon dioxide removal technologies. It highlights fragmented planning, absent feasibility assessments, and policies contradicting scientific advice, warning that current approaches threaten effective climate action.
Mobilising trade associations as a force for good: A playbook for companies
This playbook outlines a five-step framework for companies to manage their indirect policy engagement through trade associations. It provides guidance on articulating science-based climate policy priorities, assessing association alignment, engaging to drive improvement, and rigorously reviewing memberships to ensure they support corporate sustainability targets.
Corporate Engagement Guide: Addressing Deforestation in Australia
This corporate engagement guide provides institutional investors with a step-by-step pathway to address deforestation within Australia's largest listed supermarkets and banks. It evaluates the current progress of major companies and offers actionable guidance to implement robust deforestation-free commitments, safeguard financial stability, and mitigate systemic economic risks.
Fiscal policy and transition risk
This report uses an environmental dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model to analyse how climate policies interact with pre-existing labour and capital taxes. It finds that transition risks depend on policy design, financing choices, and financial frictions, highlighting critical differences between carbon taxes and abatement subsidies.
Flood risk, insurance, and housing in the United States
This research provides household-level estimates of flood risk exposure across socioeconomic groups in the US. It reveals that high-income households own a disproportionate share of floodplain property wealth, whilst a vulnerable subset of low-income, uninsured homeowners faces severe financial risks from flood damage and rising insurance premiums.
Frontier AI auditing: Toward rigorous third-party assessment of safety and security practices at leading AI companies
This report proposes a rigorous framework for third-party auditing of frontier AI systems to verify safety and security claims. Addressing the opacity of current self-assessments, it advocates for structured AI Assurance Levels, deep access to non-public information, and continuous monitoring to enable confident deployment and standardisation across the industry.
Tax Incentives in national investment laws: Bridging the gap between tax and investment policy-makers
This report analyses how tax incentives are embedded and governed within national investment laws across emerging markets and developing economies. It highlights coordination gaps between investment and tax authorities, the dominance of tax holidays, and the need for stronger anti-cumulation safeguards to prevent unintended revenue losses.
Cracking the credit code: Alternative data and AI for financial inclusion
This report explores how alternative data and artificial intelligence are redefining credit scoring to enhance financial inclusion for women and underserved borrowers. It analyses market trends, evaluates the risks of algorithmic bias, and provides actionable recommendations to scale responsible, inclusive credit access across emerging markets.
Pipe dreams: How oil and gas fail to deliver economic development in Africa
This 2026 report analyses the economic impact of oil and gas extraction across 13 African nations. Finding that fossil fuels exacerbate poverty, vulnerability, and corruption rather than delivering sustained growth, it advocates for a rapid, just transition to decentralised renewable energy to ensure future economic stability and development.
A systematic review of the voluntary governance landscape for an urgent, high-integrity, and equitable transition to net zero
This systematic review analyses 36 voluntary governance documents to assess how well they guide non-state entities towards an urgent, high-integrity, and equitable net-zero transition. It identifies consensus areas, like science-based targets, alongside critical gaps in operational detail, equity, and accountability, highlighting the need for robust standards and regulation.
Off the books: Inside Australia's hidden system of migrant worker exploitation
This report analyses the systemic underpayment of temporary migrant workers in Australia. Surveying almost 10,000 individuals, it reveals two-thirds receive less than their legal entitlements. Employers frequently utilise insecure structures, such as misclassified independent contracting and casual work, to evade their responsibilities under the Fair Work Act.