Library | ESG issues
Human Rights
Human rights are the basic freedoms and protections every person holds regardless of nationality, status or circumstance. For financial institutions the central reference is the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which set out a responsibility to respect those rights through due diligence across operations, supply chains and investment portfolios. Adverse impacts such as forced labour, displacement of communities and unsafe working conditions carry legal, reputational and financial consequences, and increasingly fall within mandatory due diligence law.
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SIPRI Arms Transfers Database
The SIPRI Arms Transfers Database tracks international transfers of major conventional weapons from 1950 to the present. It helps finance professionals assess geopolitical risk and monitor the global defence market through consistent data on arms flows and procurement.
Pure dynamite: How Bolsonaro’s government (2019-2022) mineral policy set up a climate and anti-indigenous bomb
This report analyses Brazil's mineral policy under the Bolsonaro administration from 2019 to 2022. It details how deregulation, lobbying, and legislative changes facilitated industrial and illegal mining, leading to environmental degradation and human rights violations. It provides a timeline of events and suggests measures for policy reform.
TRF Insights: Rising pressure, rising needs: A TrustLaw rapid member survey
This report examines the evolving legal needs of civil society organisations globally. Based on a rapid survey of TrustLaw members, it assesses the impact of funding cuts and restrictive regulations on non-profits and social enterprises, highlighting the growing demand for pro bono legal support.
Poverty and Inequality Platform
The Poverty and Inequality Platform is a World Bank tool providing interactive global data on poverty rates and income distribution. It offers harmonised datasets and inequality metrics essential for ESG analysis and emerging market risk assessment.
Global Internal Displacement Database
The Global Internal Displacement Database provides validated data on people displaced by conflict and disasters worldwide, assisting in the assessment of sovereign risk and social stability.
Forests & Finance Coalition
Forests & Finance is a database tracking billions in capital flows to forest-risk commodity companies. It provides transparency on financial links to deforestation and human rights risks.
Mining and money: Financial faultlines in the energy transition
This report highlights how global finance enables destructive transition mineral mining. Between 2016 and 2024, banks provided USD 493 billion in credit despite weak ESG policies. Case studies in Indonesia, Brazil, DRC, and Australia reveal widespread environmental damage and human rights abuses, necessitating urgent regulatory and institutional reform.
FPIC-360° Tool
The FPIC-360° Tool, developed by Equitable Origin, is a digital platform designed to facilitate and monitor Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes. It helps developers and investors manage Indigenous rights-based engagement and mitigate social risks in energy and infrastructure projects.
Advancing rights-based and community-led conservation in Africa: Evidence, lessons, and recommendations
This research examines rights-based and community-led conservation in Africa, demonstrating that community management on lands under customary tenure is essential for biodiversity. It identifies key success factors, evaluates formal and informal initiatives, and provides recommendations for governments to integrate these approaches into national biodiversity strategies and financing plans.
Traceability
The Accountability Framework provides guidance on supply chain traceability to ensure products are free from deforestation and human rights abuses. It outlines traceability requirements for different supply chain actors, defines four approaches for controlling product origins, and provides tools for companies to assess and report on their ethical commitments.
The petrochemical blind spot: Plastics, fertilisers and bank profits
This research report explores the petrochemical industry’s environmental and human rights impacts, documenting how European banks provide billions in financing to major chemical firms. It highlights the sector’s role in driving fossil fuel demand and recommends that financial institutions implement robust plastics policies and cease financing industry expansions.
Indigenous rights and Canadian pension funds
This report evaluates 11 Canadian pension managers on their alignment with Indigenous rights and free, prior and informed consent (FPIC). It identifies significant policy gaps and material financial risks, recommending that funds adopt UNDRIP-aligned frameworks and refuse to invest in major projects lacking the explicit consent of impacted communities.
Human rights and conflict in mineral supply chains: An Investor Guide
This research explores human rights and conflict risks in mineral supply chains, focusing on artisanal and small-scale mining. It outlines demand surges for critical minerals, the limitations of current regulatory frameworks, and provides guidance for investors to implement heightened due diligence and promote responsible sourcing practices across global portfolios.
Shifting ground: Human rights, Chinese investment and the rush for transition minerals
This report analyses 326 allegations of human rights and environmental abuses linked to Chinese overseas transition mineral investments between 2023 and 2025. It identifies Indonesia as the primary hotspot and highlights critical risks in extraction and processing, while offering recommendations for governments and companies to ensure a just transition.
Life cycle assessment for cotton (country averages, organic, regenerative, recycled)
This research provides regional life cycle assessment data for cotton cultivation and recycling across key global regions. It identifies environmental hotspots, such as nitrogen fertiliser emissions and electricity consumption, while integrating additional sustainability criteria like soil health, biodiversity, and human rights through an LCA+ approach.
Water atlas: Data and facts about the basis of life 2025
This report analyses the global water crisis, examining the impacts of climate change, pollution, and industrial demand. It highlights the strain from agriculture and digitalisation, explores the failure of privatisation, and advocates for sustainable governance and ecosystem restoration to ensure water security and human rights are protected globally.
