Library | ESG issues
Law, Regulation & Compliance
The evolving legal and regulatory landscape financial organisations regarding Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations comprises both voluntary frameworks and mandatory regulations. Voluntary initiatives, such as the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), provide guidelines for companies to disclose climate-related financial risks and opportunities. In contrast, mandatory regulations like the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) require financial market participants to disclose how they integrate ESG factors into their investment decisions.
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The state of the climate series
This benchmark series provides concise annual assessments of the global climate, using consistent scientific indicators to monitor environmental conditions, human pressures, and system responses. It is designed to support structured analysis and comparison over time for researchers, policymakers, and finance and sustainability professionals.
Peoples' climate vote series
The Peoples’ Climate Vote is a global survey series capturing public perspectives on climate change, policy priorities and collective action. Led by international institutions, it provides a consistent framework to understand how people experience climate impacts and how they expect governments, businesses and global actors to respond.
State of the global climate series
The State of the Global Climate is an annual benchmark series produced by the World Meteorological Organization that synthesises authoritative observations across the climate system, including the atmosphere, oceans and cryosphere, to provide a consistent, comparable evidence base for global climate monitoring, policy analysis and long-term assessment.
State and trends of carbon pricing series
The State and Trends of Carbon Pricing series provides an annual, global overview of carbon pricing policies and carbon markets. It reviews the development and structure of carbon taxes, emissions trading systems, and crediting mechanisms to support policy, regulatory, and market analysis.
Measuring companies’ environmental and social impacts: An analysis of ESG ratings and SDG scores
This study compares ESG ratings with SDG scores across major providers. It finds little correlation. SDG scores align with investor exclusions and EU Taxonomy assessments, while ESG ratings largely measure financial risk exposure, not real-world environmental or social impacts.
Climate risk self-assessment survey series
This series presents APRA’s Climate Risk Self-Assessment Surveys, which review how APRA-regulated entities approach governance, risk management, metrics, targets and disclosure of climate-related financial risks. It provides a consistent, periodic view of industry practices and alignment with prudential guidance over time.
Climate fiduciaries: part II – the duty of even-handedness
This article explores the fiduciary duty of even-handedness and its implications for climate-aware pension fund investing, focusing on emerging legal challenges in Australia and Canada. It argues that unmanaged climate risk may breach trustees’ obligations to act equitably across generations, particularly where younger members bear disproportionate long-term harm.
Directors’ duties navigator: Climate risk and sustainability disclosures series
This is a series of legal and governance primers examining directors’ duties and corporate disclosure obligations in relation to climate and sustainability risks. It provides jurisdictional analysis and practical guidance to support board oversight, risk management and reporting as regulatory and market expectations evolve.
The i-frame and the s-frame: How focusing on individual-level solutions has led behavioral public policy astray
The report argues that behavioural public policy has over-emphasised individual-level (“i-frame”) solutions, often aligning with corporate interests and weakening systemic reform. It contends that structural (“s-frame”) interventions, alongside institutional changes in research and policy design, are necessary to address entrenched social and economic problems effectively.
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) is a federal department advancing sustainable development of Canada’s energy, minerals, forests and earth sciences. It delivers research, data, policy and tools on climate change, clean energy, critical minerals and resource efficiency, supporting evidence-based decision-making by governments, industry and the public across domestic and international contexts.
Open Land Contracts Database
OpenLandContracts.org is an online, searchable repository of publicly available contracts and related documents for large-scale land, agriculture, forestry and renewable energy investments. It provides full texts and annotated summaries of key social, environmental, fiscal and operational terms to support analysis, comparison and transparency.
Roadmap development tool for adopting ISSB Standards
IFRS Foundation Sustainability Disclosure Standards Roadmap Development Tool is an online resource supporting jurisdictions in planning adoption of IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards. It outlines key steps, policy choices, timelines, and implementation considerations to support consistent, decision-useful sustainability reporting aligned with financial markets.
IPE Green supply chain
The Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs Green Supply Chain Supplier Database tracks environmental compliance of Chinese suppliers. It consolidates government violation records and corporate disclosures to support supply chain due diligence, risk screening, and ESG assessment by investors and companies.
Financial Rights Legal Centre
Financial Rights Legal Centre is an Australian consumer advocacy organisation providing free legal advice, research and policy analysis on financial services. It focuses on banking, insurance, credit and debt, supporting consumer protection, fair regulation, and improved access and affordability within Australia’s financial system.
Consumer Action Law Centre
Consumer Action Law Centre is an independent Australian consumer advocacy organisation advancing fair markets and consumer rights. It delivers legal assistance, policy advocacy, and research on financial services, energy, housing, and essential services, working with regulators and communities to improve consumer protection and economic justice.
Climate fiduciaries: part I – the climate prisoner’s dilemma
This article explores how climate change is reshaping fiduciary duty for pension funds, through court cases, legal analysis, and the concept of systemic risk. It introduces the “climate prisoner’s dilemma,” arguing that climate-aware investment may be shifting from discretionary to obligatory for long-term fiduciaries.
