Library | ESG issues
Planetary Boundaries
The planetary boundaries framework outlines nine critical Earth system processes that regulate global stability and resilience. Exceeding these boundaries due to human activity risks irreversible environmental change, necessitating aligned strategies to mitigate impacts and safeguard long-term ecological balance. This framework can be used as a tool for assessing the environmental risks of companies and investments, helping financial institutions evaluate exposure to ecological degradation, align with sustainability goals, and drive capital toward businesses that operate within safe environmental limits.
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National ecological footprint and biocapacity accounts series
This series provides consistent national and global accounts of ecological footprint and biocapacity, tracking resource demand and regenerative capacity over time. It supports comparative analysis across countries and years, using harmonised methods and internationally sourced data to inform sustainability assessment and policy analysis.
Nature-related risk and financial implications for investors
This investor briefing examines how nature-related physical, transition and system-level risks translate into financial risks for investors. It outlines macroeconomic and company-level impacts, and describes how institutional investors can integrate nature considerations into investment strategies, stewardship and policy engagement.
Footprint data foundation
Footprint Data Foundation (FoDaFo) is a not-for-profit organisation that governs the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts. It ensures ecological footprint data are accurate, transparent and independent, supporting researchers, policymakers and sustainability practitioners with robust environmental accounting used globally.
Sustainable Finance Roundup January 2026: Geopolitics, Energy Transitions, and Systemic Risk
This month’s sustainable finance article roundup examines a landscape increasingly shaped by geopolitics and climate risk, as near-term fragmentation, energy security, and affordability pressures collide with intensifying long-term threats from climate change, biodiversity loss, and water stress. The works featured analyse how these dynamics are reshaping capital allocation, disclosure, and resilience planning, demonstrating the growing need for sustainable finance to integrate geopolitical risk with real-economy transition.
The global tipping points series
The Global Tipping Points Report is a research series examining Earth system tipping points and positive tipping dynamics. It synthesises interdisciplinary evidence on systemic risks, governance considerations and pathways for transformation, supporting decision-makers in understanding non-linear climate and environmental change across global systems.
Planetary health check series
The Planetary Health Check is an annual benchmark series providing a consistent, science-based assessment of the Earth system. It applies the Planetary Boundaries framework to monitor planetary stability, resilience, and life-support functions, supporting comparability over time and informing policy, finance, and strategic decision-making and Planetary Boundaries Science is a research lab within the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), focused on advancing scientific understanding of the planetary boundaries framework. It does not operate as an independent organisation and should be covered under PIK’s institutional profile.
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.
Systems-informed stewardship part I: Reshaping sustainable and impact finance through systems thinking
This article introduces systems thinking and explains how it is reshaping sustainable and impact finance by addressing interconnected systemic risks like climate change and inequality. It outlines four emerging applications; from systemic risk management to systems-informed stewardship, highlighting the implications for investors’ roles, tools, and decision-making.
Global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security: A national security assessment
This UK national security assessment finds global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse pose high risks to food security, economic stability and geopolitics. Degradation is widespread, with potential ecosystem collapse from 2030–2050, intensifying migration, conflict, supply chain disruption and strategic competition without decisive intervention.
State of finance for nature 2026: Nature in the red: Powering the trillion dollar nature transition economy
UNEP’s State of Finance for Nature 2026 finds global finance remains heavily skewed towards nature-negative activities. In 2023, US$7.3 trillion harmed nature versus US$220 billion for nature-based solutions. Meeting Rio Convention targets requires more than doubling nature investment by 2030.
NatureAlign
NatureAlign is a decision-support tool by Nature Finance that helps financial institutions identify, assess and respond to nature-related risks and opportunities by aligning portfolios, strategies and governance with nature-positive outcomes.
Doing business within planetary boundaries
This report argues that corporate reporting must incorporate absolute, location-specific environmental impacts aligned with planetary boundaries. It proposes science-based disclosures and the Earth System Impact score to improve assessment of cumulative nature-related risks, support credible investment decisions, and enhance comparability beyond carbon-focused metrics.
Time to plan for a future beyond 1.5 degrees
The report argues that limiting warming to 1.5°C is no longer realistic and may hinder preparedness. It calls for acknowledging higher warming scenarios, accelerating mitigation, and adopting disruptive policy, financial, and governance approaches to manage climate and nature risks in a likely 2°C-plus world.
A roadmap for upgrading market access to decision-useful nature-related data
The TNFD roadmap outlines actions to improve market access to decision-useful nature-related data. It proposes data principles, pilot testing and a potential Nature Data Public Facility to address data quality, comparability, cost and accessibility for corporate reporting, target setting and transition planning.
Developing an approach to nature risk in financial services
The report outlines how financial institutions can assess and manage nature-related risks by integrating climate–nature interactions, systemic risk concepts and TNFD-aligned approaches. It highlights data gaps, tipping points, and scenario analysis to support prudent risk management and strategic decision-making.
Distinguishing among climate change-related risks
The report distinguishes planetary, economic and financial climate risks, clarifying their differing scopes, timeframes and responsible actors. It argues that conflating these risks weakens policy and investment responses, and calls for clearer delineation to improve risk assessment, accountability and targeted climate action.