Library | ESG issues

Purpose & Mission

An organisation’s purpose defines its core reason for existence, guiding its strategies and operations. In the finance industry, aligning corporate purpose with sustainable practices involves developing innovative financial products, engaging in policy advocacy, and directing capital toward sustainable investments. This alignment fosters long-term value creation and supports the transition to a sustainable economy.

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UNICEF USA’s child lens investing series

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)
This series outlines UNICEF’s Child-Lens Investing approach, providing practical guidance for investors to integrate children’s rights and well-being into investment strategy, due diligence, contribution, and measurement across asset classes. It supports consistent application of a child lens alongside established impact and ESG practices.
Benchmark/series
25 October 2023

The twin transition century

The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities
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.
Research
18 September 2023

Food systems investing in East Africa: The roles of funds in financing food systems transformation

Transformational Investing in Food Systems (TIFS)
This report analyses 23 impact funds investing in East African food systems, assessing their design, impact alignment, and financing roles. It identifies gaps, good practices, and recommendations to strengthen agroecological and regenerative food systems investing.
Research
1 July 2023

Global investor commission on mining 2030

Global investor commission on mining 2030
The report outlines an investor-led 10-year vision for a responsible, resilient mining sector. It sets goals to align capital, governance and stewardship with social and environmental standards, supporting mineral supply for the low-carbon transition while managing risk and long-term value.
Research
3 November 2025

Can you be the change you’d like to see? Three US philosophers aim to offer hope

This review examines Somebody Should Do Something, a timely book arguing that individuals can spark meaningful social change by acting collectively rather than alone. It assesses the authors’ hopeful framework alongside contemporary political realities, questioning whether grassroots agency is sufficient amid concentrated power and rising authoritarianism.
Article
12 January 2026

BPI France: European Defence Bond Framework

Bpifrance
Bpifrance’s European Defence Bond Framework defines principles for issuing use-of-proceeds bonds financing eligible defence-sector projects, mainly SMEs, to support European sovereignty. It details eligibility criteria, exclusions, ESG safeguards, governance, reporting, and proceeds management, while stating the bonds are not ICMA-aligned sustainable instruments.
Research
30 May 2025

Finance for war: Finance for peace: How values based banks foster peace in a world of increasing conflict

Merian Research
The report analyses global financial links to arms production, showing significant funding for weapons despite rising conflict. It contrasts this with values-based banks, particularly GABV members, which largely exclude arms financing, arguing divestment supports peace, reduces risk, and aligns finance with social and environmental objectives.
Research
27 February 2024

Nature as Shareholder: Who speaks for the Trees?: The opportunities and challenges of nature owning shares of companies

Parry Field Lawyers
The paper examines the legal and practical implications of nature owning company shares, drawing on New Zealand precedents for legal personhood. It outlines governance models, challenges, and potential impacts on corporate purpose, investment, and long-term decision-making.
Research
7 August 2025

Rearm europe, rearm finance: What role for responsible investment in the financing of european defense?

Mirova
Mirova assesses Europe’s defence rearmament and examines how responsible investors could contribute without undermining ESG principles. It argues for selective financing, strict exclusions, and innovative tools such as defence bonds, while maintaining focus on environmental transition and European sovereignty.
Research
5 June 2025

One-earth fashion: 33 transformation targets for a just fashion system within planetary boundaries

Public Eye
The report outlines fashion’s environmental and social impacts and proposes 33 time-bound transformation targets across materials, labour, value distribution and governance. It calls for reduced virgin inputs, fair working conditions and paradigm shifts to align the global fashion system with planetary boundaries and social justice.
Research
12 May 2024

Investor influence in private markets: How investors activities can result in changes in outcomes for people and or the natural environment

The Predistribution Initiative
This report examines how private market investors influence social and environmental outcomes through investment decisions and firm-level actions. It proposes a framework to assess pathways, outcomes and causality, supporting impact management beyond portfolio company effects.
Research
10 September 2024

Our predicament: The fundamental flaws of predominant economic systems - and the cultures scaffolding them

This report synthesises interviews with global thinkers to diagnose structural flaws in dominant economic systems. It argues that extractive capitalism, growth imperatives, inequality and ecological overshoot underpin a planetary predicament, and frames the challenge as navigation towards regenerative, responsibility-based economies rather than problem-solving.
Research
30 April 2025

Theorising unconventional climate advocates and their relationship to the environmental movement

This study theorises “unconventional climate advocates” and analyses their position within Australia’s environmental movement using social network analysis. It finds these advocates are peripheral yet potentially effective in engaging climate-hesitant constituencies by operating independently from conventional environmentalists.
Research
6 February 2025

The Other Half of the Transition: Why Livestock Deserves as Much Attention as Energy

This article highlights the major climate impact of livestock and explains why the absence of clear roadmaps, metrics, and financing strategies has left the sector far behind the energy transition. It proposes policy reforms, mitigation hierarchies, and justice-centered pathways to unlock effective and equitable change.
Article
8 December 2025

Drivers of behavioral change and non change in transition times

International Panel on Behavior Change (IPBC)
The Drivers of Behavioural Change and Non-Change in Transition Times report, published by IpBc/GIECo in 2025, examines psychological, social, and organisational factors influencing why individuals and institutions act—or fail to act—on sustainability. Drawing on behavioural science, it identifies mindsets, emotions, implicit cognition, and systemic barriers as key determinants of ecological and climate-related behavioural shifts.
Research
7 July 2025

Sustainable development report 2025

Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
The Sustainable Development Report is a benchmark series that tracks global and national progress toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Produced annually by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and partners, it presents the SDG Index and Dashboards, offering comparable data, analysis, and trends for all UN member states.
Benchmark/series
26 June 2025
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