Library | ESG issues

Pollution

Pollution is the contamination of the environment by chemical, physical, or biological agents that alter its natural characteristics. Long-term pollution exposure can cause severe health and environmental impacts. Sustainability efforts focus on reducing pollution by minimising waste, promoting recycling, and converting waste into useful materials. Investors can engage with companies to encourage pollution reduction initiatives, adoption of cleaner technologies, and transparent reporting on environmental impacts.

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IPE Green supply chain

Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE)
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.
Online tool/database

Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE)

Issue Focused NGOs & Think Tanks
Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs is a China-based environmental non-governmental organisation promoting pollution transparency and corporate accountability. It operates public databases on air, water and supply chain compliance, supporting ESG research, responsible investment, environmental risk analysis, and sustainability decision-making in China.
Organisation
1 research item

WESR: Ocean

United Nations Environment Programme
WESR: Ocean provides high-level insights into ocean-related environmental risks and pressures, including marine ecosystems, pollution and resource use. It supports risk identification and contextual analysis for financial decision-making linked to ocean health, coastal exposure and sustainability considerations.
Online tool/database

WESR: Air Visual

IQAir
The IQAir × UNEP air quality tool aggregates real-time PM2.5 data from thousands of monitors worldwide to show current air pollution exposure and estimates by age group, relative to WHO guidelines. It supports global air quality assessment through an interactive map and hourly updated exposure statistics.
Online tool/database

Historical redlining and cumulative environmental impacts across the United States

This study analyses 202 US cities, linking historic redlining to higher present-day cumulative environmental burdens. Using EJScreen data and modelling, it finds redlined neighbourhoods face significantly greater combined pollution exposures, particularly from traffic, hazardous waste and wastewater sites, with strongest disparities in western regions.
Research
30 December 2025

Fashion’s plastic paralysis: How brands resist change and fuel microplastic pollution

Changing markets foundation
The report examines fashion brands’ continued reliance on synthetic fibres, highlighting how voluntary commitments, lobbying, and weak accountability delay fibre reduction and regulation. It links current business models to rising microplastic pollution and concludes that systemic policy and production changes are required.
Research
24 September 2024

Assessment of the health impacts and costs associated with indoor nitrogen dioxide exposure related to gas cooking in the European Union and the United Kingdom

Universitat Jaume I
The report estimates premature mortality, years of life lost and asthma cases in the EU and UK attributable to indoor nitrogen dioxide from gas cooking. Using modelling of indoor exposures and concentration–response functions, it quantifies associated economic costs and highlights potential health gains from transitioning to cleaner cooking energy
Research
28 October 2024

Long-term impact and biological recovery in a deep-sea mining track

The study finds that deep-sea mining disturbance leaves long-lasting physical impacts, with partial biological recovery after 44 years. Some mobile and sessile fauna have re-established, but communities remain altered. Plume effects are limited, yet track disturbance persists, indicating slow ecosystem recovery and informing future management.
Research
26 March 2025

Sustainable Finance Roundup November 2025: Transition Turning Points and Rising Accountability

This month’s sustainable-finance roundup highlights faster transition momentum, rising physical risks and a tightening focus on accountability. COP30 reinforced expectations for stronger 2035 targets, while national actions underscored diverging paths toward decarbonisation. Markets continued shifting toward clean energy and resilience, and new science made climate harms more visible. With regulatory scrutiny and litigation increasing, transition credibility and real-economy resilience are becoming core drivers of financial risk and investment decisions.
Article
1 December 2025

Transparentem

Finance / Corporate Focused NGOs & Think Tanks
Transparentem is a non-profit organisation that investigates human-rights and environmental abuses — including child labour, forced labour and pollution — across global supply chains. Through detailed field investigations, supply-chain mapping, and engagement with companies, Transparentem pushes for remediation and systemic industry change to ensure fair working conditions and environmental justice.
Organisation
2 research items

Solutions from the One Planet network to curb plastic pollution

One Planet Network
The report outlines solutions to curb plastic pollution by improving sustainability information, driving behaviour change, advancing sustainable procurement, and promoting circular economy measures, particularly for plastic packaging. It presents coordinated actions across sectors, including tourism, to reduce plastic use and support systemic, upstream interventions aligned with SDG 12.
Research
16 May 2023

The pollution premium

The report “The Pollution Premium” analyses how industrial pollution influences asset pricing. Using U.S. firms’ toxic emission data (1991–2016), it finds that companies with higher emission intensity earn around 4.4% higher annual returns than their low-emission peers, even after accounting for known risk factors. The study introduces environmental policy uncertainty as a new systematic risk, showing that firms more exposed to potential regulatory tightening demand higher expected returns as compensation.
Research
13 February 2023

Circular Australia's Circular economy for investors and lenders series

Circular Australia
This series explores how investors and lenders can integrate circular economy principles into financial decision-making. It outlines practical tools and frameworks for assessing risks and opportunities linked to circularity, helping finance professionals align portfolios with sustainability objectives while supporting Australia’s transition to a regenerative, low-waste economy.
Benchmark/series
5 November 2025

Cost and financing for a future free from plastic leakage: Policy highlights

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
The report summarises the costs and financing required to eliminate global plastic leakage by 2060. It finds that coordinated global action could nearly eradicate leakage, with modest global GDP impacts but higher costs for developing economies. Increased development finance and private-sector mobilisation are essential to achieving this goal.
Research
22 December 2022

What We Know About Deep-Sea Mining — and What We Don’t

This article explores the growing interest in deep-sea mining as a source of critical minerals for clean technologies, detailing how it works, its potential economic benefits, and the significant ecological and governance risks it poses. It also examines ongoing international regulatory disputes and alternative solutions such as recycling and circular mineral economies.
Article
10 November 2025

Assessing the materiality of nature-related financial risks for the UK

Green Finance Institute
The report, Assessing the Materiality of Nature-Related Financial Risks for the UK (April 2024), quantifies how biodiversity loss and environmental degradation could materially affect the UK economy and finance sector. It finds nature-related risks—especially from water scarcity, soil decline, and biodiversity loss—could reduce GDP by up to 12% by the 2030s, exceeding impacts from the Global Financial Crisis or COVID-19.
Research
26 April 2024
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