Library | ESG issues
Public Policy
Public policy refers to the actions and decisions taken by governments to address societal issues through laws, regulations, and funding priorities. It shapes the business environment by influencing regulatory requirements, market conditions, and corporate responsibilities. Policies related to taxation, labour laws, environmental regulations, and trade agreements can impact business operations, costs, and investment strategies.
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CPA-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability
This benchmark series evaluates corporate political disclosure and accountability practices among major US companies. It provides a structured analysis of transparency, board oversight, and spending policies for the S&P 500 and Russell 1000, enabling stakeholders to assess political risk and governance standards across different industries.
ASEAN sustainable finance state of the market series
This series by the Climate Bonds Initiative examines the development of sustainable finance markets across ASEAN. It covers green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked debt instruments, alongside market structures, taxonomies, transition finance and policy developments supporting sustainable capital markets across the region.
Why shareholder-driven corporate social responsibility failed
This report analyses why shareholder-led corporate social responsibility failed in the early 2020s. It argues that political forces blocking government regulation also dismantle private CSR initiatives. Using the BlackRock-Texas conflict as evidence, it concludes that direct political action is the only viable path for systemic change.
Global employment trends for youth 2026: Back to the future
The Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026 report highlights a stalled post-pandemic recovery, with global youth unemployment reaching 12.4 per cent. It examines rising NEET rates, artificial intelligence impacts, and job experience inflation, while advocating for bold, adaptive policies to ensure secure, decent work pathways for young people.
Artificial intelligence and sustainability transitions: Emergent opportunities, risks, and governance
This report examines the intersection of artificial intelligence and sustainability transitions, detailing opportunities and risks across environment, energy, labour, finance, and democracy. It proposes a three-layered governance framework and a phased roadmap for global scientific alignment, interim safety measures, and a binding international framework convention to ensure societal well-being.
ShareAction policy paper: Defending and strengthening the AGM as a forum for corporate accountability
This ShareAction report advocates for mandatory hybrid AGMs to ensure corporate accountability. It argues that online-only formats diminish shareholder scrutiny and enable management to stage-manage proceedings. The document recommends amending the 2006 Companies Act and provides case studies of poor virtual AGM practices across several major companies.
Ceres: Our work on energy affordability
A Ceres initiative and playbook focused on curbing rising energy prices through clean energy expansion, providing policymakers and investors with strategies for a modern, efficient, and affordable energy system.
Global sustainable investment review series
This benchmark series provides a factual mapping of the state of responsible and sustainable investment across major global financial markets. Produced biennially, it offers regional insights and policy recommendations to help finance professionals navigate evolving regulatory frameworks, standardised methodologies, and the transition to a net-zero economy through international cooperation.
Mobilising capital for India’s critical minerals sector
This report examines financing challenges in India's critical minerals sector across upstream, midstream, and recycling segments. It evaluates the National Critical Mineral Mission's role in addressing capital gaps and suggests de-risking projects to ensure commercial viability and support India’s energy transition goals through strategic policy and international partnerships.
Mainstreaming just transition finance: Lessons from emerging best practice
This report examines the integration of just transition principles into private finance. It highlights structural barriers, including the lack of robust business cases and quantifiable evidence. Recommendations include embedding just transition into existing regulatory frameworks, strengthening the evidence base for commercial benefits, and aligning private incentives with national commitments.
Assessing climate finance quality in practice: Lessons from six cases
This research report analyses six case studies to determine what constitutes high-quality public climate finance. It introduces a two-pronged framework assessing design, delivery, and results. Findings emphasise context-specific calibration, the importance of building enabling environments, and identifying data gaps that hinder systematic reporting across public climate finance providers.
Global Climate Finance Architecture
Climate Funds Update tracks the complex global climate finance architecture, monitoring multilateral, bilateral, and regional funds. It provides critical insights into how international capital is channelled toward climate action in developing nations, supporting ESG analysis and investment context.
Mapping social and environmental due diligence legislation
This OECD report maps 21 legislative measures across 11 jurisdictions concerning social and environmental due diligence. It identifies key areas of convergence and divergence in regulatory scope and requirements. The findings aim to support international policy co-operation, reduce implementation complexity, and promote consistent global enforcement approaches.
Global critical minerals outlook series
The Global Critical Minerals Outlook is an annual series published by the IEA that tracks market, investment, technology, and policy trends across critical mineral supply chains. Each edition provides medium- and long-term demand and supply projections for key energy minerals, covering supply security, concentration risks, and diversification developments.
Global energy review series
The Global Energy Review is an annual benchmark series published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) that assesses trends across the entire energy sector, covering all fuels, technologies, regions, and energy-related CO2 emissions for the preceding calendar year.
Trends in world military expenditure series
A benchmark series by SIPRI tracking annual global military expenditure across countries and regions. Published as an annual fact sheet, it provides data on spending levels, military burdens as a share of GDP, and decade-long trends to support evidence-based analysis of defence economics worldwide.
