Library | ESG issues
Long-termism
Long-termism prioritises enduring strategies over immediate gains, ensuring sustainable development and resource availability for future generations. Corporations and investors are encouraged to consider the long-term consequences of their decisions, moving beyond short-term profit motives to incorporate sustainability and intergenerational impacts. A long-term approach can enhance financial resilience, mitigate risks, and generate more stable and sustainable returns over time.
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Measuring what matters: Australia's first well-being framework
Measuring What Matters is Australia's first wellbeing framework, published in July 2023 by the Commonwealth of Australia. It seeks to deepen our understanding of how Australians are faring beyond traditional economic indicators. The framework includes 50 wellbeing indicators under the themes of healthy, secure, sustainable, cohesive, and prosperous societies.
Climate scorpion – the sting is in the tail: Introducing planetary solvency
The report explores the risks and impact of climate change on a global scale. The report emphasises the need for a realistic risk assessment urgently and laying out a blueprint on developing a Planetary Solvency framework.
Transformational investment: Converting global systemic risks into sustainable returns
This report explores transformational investment while arguing that the global economy is under threat from long-term systemic risks. Rich Nuzum, President of Investments and Retirement at Mercer, called on institutional investors to help mitigate the risks through "long-term thinking" and "constructively tackling complicated problems".
200 and counting: Global financial institutions are exiting coal
Financial institutions (FI) across the world are increasingly recognising the risks and opportunities connected to coal, and many are reducing their exposure to the industry. The number of FIs withdrawing from coal is rapidly increasing, and this report catalogues the global trend towards coal withdrawal.
Biodiversity risk: Legal implications for companies and their directors
The report analyses the legal obligations of company directors with regards to biodiversity risk. The report examines emerging disclosure standards, provides a jurisdictional spotlight, and includes case studies to illustrate the corporate interface with biodiversity.
Corporate resilience and response to COVID-19
This paper explores COVID-19's impact on corporate resilience and the effectiveness of corporate responses. Analysis of 2,000 companies shows that firms that invested in stakeholder relations performed better. The study reveals machine learning-linked big data provides new means to measure corporate responses and crisis management.
Investing for the common good: A sustainable finance framework
This essay provides a new framework for sustainable finance. The author argues that sustainable finance considers financial, social, and environmental returns in combination and develops guidelines for governing sustainable finance. Major obstacles are short-termism and insufficient private efforts.
Road to resilience: An investor action plan for an adaptive and sustainable economy
This paper presents a strategy to manage economic and environmental stability in response to physical climate risks. This aims to bring awareness and understanding of physical climate risks and highlights the importance of innovative solutions toward a sustainable low-carbon economy.
Environmental risk analysis by financial institutions: A review of global practice
This report examines how financial institutions tackle environmental risk, with an emphasis on credit and market risks. The study highlights examples of successful risk mitigation and draws attention to gaps in practice, particularly around modelling approaches and short-term decision-making.
Delivering through diversity
This report shows that strong financial performance correlates with greater representation of women and ethnically/culturally diverse individuals in the leadership of large companies. Companies that invest in inclusion and diversity not only align with social justice but may also achieve competitive advantage and growth.
Looking for something that isn’t there: A case study of an early attempt at ESG integration in investment decision making
This report explores the challenges of incorporating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues into investment analysis and decision-making. Through a case study of an early attempt at ESG integration in an equity investment team, the authors highlight fundamental discontinuities between financial and ESG accounting inscriptions, and question the adequacy of current regulatory efforts.
FERC's failure to analyze energy market forces: Risks to ratepayers, landowners and the overall economy
This report shows the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is failing to analyse vital energy market forces that should underpin assessment of new interstate gas pipelines. The research shows FERC’s decisions regarding these pipelines can impose unjustified costs on captive customers in the form of expensive and long-term contracts, and harm landowners and the wider economy.
Climate horizons
This report explores how Australian companies and investors should manage and disclose climate-related risks and opportunities. It suggests scenario-based analysis is a key tool for this, which can be consistent with Australia's international climate commitments and the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board's Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
Growth-positive zero-emission pathways to 2050
This paper presents pathways to achieving growth positive zero-emission targets by 2050. The report concludes that significant action is required globally to achieve the low-carbon transition required to limit temperature increases to 1.5 °C, including the refashioning of multiple fundamental socio-economic systems and the international co-operation of decision-makers.
Climate endgame: Exploring catastrophic climate change scenarios
This report explores the potential for worldwide societal collapse and human extinction due to anthropogenic climate change. It argues that this topic has not been given enough consideration despite existing evidence of catastrophic outcomes. The proposed research agenda seeks to understand the likelihood and mechanisms of such events and their implications for policy.
Right direction, wrong equipment: Why transition risks do not fit into regulatory stress tests
The authors of this report explore the challenges of integrating climate-related risks into regulatory stress tests. They demonstrate that supervisory risk assessment frameworks struggle to capture long-term systemic risks, and offer recommendations for developing a 'long-term risk;' supervision 'infrastructure.'
