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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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.
Minerals Intelligence Network for Europe (Minerals4EU)
Minerals4EU was a European mineral intelligence platform providing harmonised spatial and statistical data on mineral occurrences, mines and resources across EU member states. It featured a web portal, a European Minerals Yearbook and supported decision-making on raw materials supply and policy through integrated, interoperable data.
Nature Enters the Boardroom: Why Directors Are Paying Attention
Drawing on Australia’s first national study of board-level engagement with nature, this article shows how directors are treating nature as a material governance and financial issue. It highlights how boards are extending climate governance systems to manage nature-related risks, adopt frameworks like TNFD, and build resilience and long-term value despite policy uncertainty.
The twin transition century
This paper argues that Europe’s green transition depends on aligning digital transformation with sustainability goals. It outlines how digital research can both reduce its own environmental footprint and enable climate action, calling for long-term, interdisciplinary research investment and coordinated EU policy.
Engaging the ICT sector on human rights series
This is a series of sector-wide risk assessment briefings for the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. It examines salient human rights issues linked to ICT business models and technologies, providing a consistent analytical framework to support investor assessment, engagement, and governance analysis across multiple thematic areas.
How the circular economy can revive the sustainable development goals: Priorities for immediate global action, and a policy blueprint for the transition to 2050
This report argues that embedding circular economy principles within the Sustainable Development Goals could revive stalled progress. It outlines five global policy priorities and proposes a 2050 blueprint linking circularity, inclusive growth, trade, finance and standards to post-2030 development agendas.
New approaches and challenges regarding trade, climate action, and the WTO
The report analyses how WTO trade rules can support climate action. It assesses tools such as border carbon adjustments, standards, subsidies and technology policy, identifying legal gaps, development impacts and the need for coordinated reforms to align multilateral trade governance with climate objectives.
Defining climate finance justice: Critical geographies of justice amid financialized climate action
The article defines “climate finance justice” as a framework for analysing how financialised climate action shapes equity, power, and outcomes. It critiques climate finance mechanisms, including UNFCCC processes and voluntary carbon markets, and argues for justice-centred approaches that address historical responsibility, governance, and uneven impacts.
Jurisdictional snapshot: People’s Republic of China
China is developing unified national sustainability disclosure standards aligned with ISSB Standards. Led by the Ministry of Finance, the Basic Standard (Trial) was issued in November 2024, with climate disclosures proposed in 2025. Application is initially voluntary, with phased expansion and potential mandatory adoption by 2030.
China coal action plan offers roadmap for coal phase-out
The report analyses China’s first quantitative coal power decarbonisation plan, outlining emissions-reduction targets to 2027 via co-firing and carbon capture. It finds retrofitted coal increasingly uncompetitive versus renewables with storage, raising risks for new coal investments and strengthening the case for no-new-coal commitments.
