This article explores the growing interest in deep-sea mining as a source of critical minerals for clean technologies, detailing how it works, its potential economic benefits, and the significant ecological and governance risks it poses. It also examines ongoing international regulatory disputes and alternative solutions such as recycling and circular mineral economies.

This article analyses how Canada’s Pathways Alliance representing 95 % of oil sands output frames its net-zero commitments. Reviewing 183 public communications, it finds widespread indicators of greenwashing, including selective disclosure, unverifiable claims, and poor accountability. The study urges broader scrutiny of coordinated industry communication across digital and public relations platforms.

This month’s sustainability roundup traces a rapidly evolving landscape in climate finance and accountability, spotlighting the weaknesses exposed by Hurricane Melissa’s disaster-risk finance system alongside new policy frameworks now reshaping sustainable investment. It highlights how vulnerable nations continue to bear the costs of climate impacts, how regulatory reforms such as Australia’s 2035 emissions target and global disclosure regimes are embedding accountability, and how renewed scrutiny of carbon markets is driving the search for credible, incentive-based pathways to real decarbonisation.

The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) is an international benchmark series that integrates economic and environmental data to measure the interdependence between nature and the economy. It provides a consistent statistical framework for assessing natural assets, ecosystem services, and environmental impacts to support sustainable policy and decision-making across nations.

Climate Action 100+ (CA100+) is an investor-led initiative engaging the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitters to advance climate governance, set science-based emission targets and enhance climate-related disclosures. It collaborates with global investor networks to promote net-zero alignment, transition risk management and sustainable asset value preservation.

Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) is an investor-led initiative providing publicly accessible data and assessments on how companies, banks and sovereigns are managing and aligning with the transition to a low-carbon economy.

The Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC)’s fourth annual report surveys Asian investors managing USD 7.9 trillion to assess their progress on net-zero investment strategies. It highlights growing commitments to emissions measurement, climate solutions, and stewardship, while identifying data gaps, limited policy clarity, and inconsistent methodologies as persistent barriers.

The State of Climate Action benchmark series tracks global progress toward limiting warming to 1.5°C. Produced by Systems Change Lab and partner organisations, it translates the Paris Agreement into measurable sectoral targets and indicators, offering an annual assessment of the pace and scale of climate action across major emitting sectors and finance systems.

Climate Champions is a global initiative advising the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) High-Level Champions and mobilising non-state actors in campaigns such as Race to Zero and Race to Resilience to drive net-zero emissions, resilient infrastructure and sustainable finance.

Bezos Earth Fund (BEF) is a philanthropic initiative committed to mobilising US $10 billion by 2030 to tackle climate change and protect nature. It supports grant-making across areas such as conservation, decarbonisation, sustainable food systems and environmental justice, collaborating globally to drive systemic change and scale innovation.

The report analyses post-2015 trends in carbon dioxide emissions using Bayesian probabilistic models. Despite a 25% drop in global carbon intensity since the Paris Agreement, economic growth offset these gains, increasing total emissions by 5.6%. Projections indicate a 2.4 °C temperature rise by 2100 and only a 17% chance of staying below 2 °C.

This month’s sustainability roundup covers Australia’s new 2035 emissions target, ASIC’s final climate disclosure guidance, and Fortescue’s revised transition plan. It also examines global developments, from ISSB reporting updates and TNFD nature disclosures to Woodside’s gas extension, rising physical climate risks, and evolving ESG policy debates shaping corporate and investor responses.

This report summarises recommendations from Canada’s Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance to mobilise private capital for low-carbon, resilient growth: improve market clarity and standards (incl. TCFD), build national climate data (C3IA), and develop financing solutions such as green and transition instruments, infrastructure investment, and building retrofits, supported by enabling policy.

Mark Carney’s “tragedy of the horizon” warned that markets would act too late on climate risks. A decade later, this article argues that framing climate change as a financial risk has misdirected efforts—what’s needed now is coordinated action to create investable markets, especially in emerging economies.

This report proposes using firm-level emission futures contracts to better measure and incentivise real environmental impact from ESG investing. It finds that current backward-looking ESG ratings fail to predict emission reductions and may misallocate capital to higher-polluting firms. Market-based, forward-looking emission futures could improve measurement, incentives, and investment impact.

Oxford University Press (OUP) is a global academic and educational publisher. It operates as a department of the University of Oxford, producing textbooks, scholarly works, English language resources and reference works. OUP emphasises digital innovation, sustainability commitments, and broad international reach in research and education.