Library | ESG issues
Renewables
Renewable energy is derived from naturally replenished sources like solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, and tidal energy. Transitioning to renewables reduces greenhouse gas emissions, presenting opportunities for the finance industry through growing demand, technological advancements, and alignment with long-term sustainability goals.
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The battle over energy security: Challenging the fossil fuel playbook
This report by InfluenceMap analyses how the fossil fuel industry uses geopolitical instability to promote energy security narratives. It highlights the industry's historical playbook of delaying the renewable transition and outlines current counter-arguments from renewable sectors advocating for electrification to ensure genuine energy independence and affordability.
24/7 renewables: The economics of firm solar and wind
This report analyses the transition to reliable, round-the-clock renewable energy through solar, wind, and battery storage. Introducing the firm levelised cost of electricity (F-LCOE), it evaluates the cost-competitiveness of hybrid systems against fossil fuels and outlines the necessary policy reforms to support widespread deployment.
Mission 300 Progress Portal
Mission 300 Progress Portal is an interactive World Bank tool tracking electrification across Sub-Saharan Africa. It provides data on electricity connections, financing, and project pipelines, supporting analysis of energy access, infrastructure investment, and development finance relevant to ESG and emerging market decision-making.
Communicating effectively with the centre-right about household energy-efficiency and renewable energy technologies
Report presents UK qualitative research on centre-right attitudes to energy efficiency and renewables, finding trust deficits and scepticism. Messaging aligned with values—avoiding waste, local control, and authenticity—resonates best, while economic or corporate framing underperforms. Emphasises credible messengers and community-based approaches.
You Built This
This article argues that modern investment strategies fuel economic extraction while often underperforming simpler alternatives. It calls on investors to realign portfolios with productive, community-oriented investments that generate real economic and social value.
Australian financial institutions’ views on climate and clean energy opportunities in South and Southeast Asia
Assesses Australian financial institutions’ views on climate and clean energy investment in South and Southeast Asia, highlighting growth potential, limited current exposure, key risks, and barriers. It emphasises blended finance, policy support, and government intervention to mobilise private capital and scale regional investment.
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.
Global Renewables Watch
Global Renewables Watch Atlas is an open, interactive database mapping utility-scale solar and wind projects worldwide. It provides project-level data on location, capacity, and development status to support analysis of renewable energy deployment, infrastructure planning, and investment-related research.
Global Renewables Watch is a project/initiative of Global Energy Monitor, which acts as the organisational author and is responsible for governance, data production, and oversight.
Global Renewables Watch is a project/initiative of Global Energy Monitor, which acts as the organisational author and is responsible for governance, data production, and oversight.
Powering up the global south: The cleantech path to growth
The report argues the Global South is rapidly adopting cleantech as its cheapest growth pathway, driven by low energy access, limited fossil resources and abundant renewables. Falling costs, electrification and Chinese supply underpin accelerating solar and wind deployment, with fossil fuel demand for electricity expected to peak by 2030.
Empirically grounded technology forecasts and the energy transition
This report uses empirically validated probabilistic forecasting to assess future energy technology costs. It finds that rapid deployment of solar, wind, batteries, and electrolyser technologies is likely to lower overall system costs and deliver substantial net savings compared with continued reliance on fossil fuels.
Making our way: Adaptive capacity and climate transition in Australia’s regional economies
Australia’s fossil-fuel-exposed regions are assessed across seven dimensions of adaptive capacity, showing common weaknesses in economic diversity, social capital and service access. The report outlines region-specific strengths and proposes tailored, place-based transition planning to support diversification and community resilience through the net zero shift.
On YouTube, a Shift from Denying Science to Dismissing Solutions
This article dives into an analysis of over 12,000 YouTube videos and finds that while outright climate-change denial is dropping, content undermining climate solutions and trust in scientists is rising sharply. It also highlights concerns over YouTube’s ad policies, which still allow monetisation alongside videos that downplay impacts or spread misleading claims about climate policy.
Firm‐level climate change exposure
The report develops a machine-learning method to measure firm-level climate change exposure from earnings calls across 34 countries. It identifies opportunity, physical, and regulatory dimensions and shows that these exposures predict green hiring, green patenting, and are reflected in options and equity markets.
World energy investment series
This benchmark series by the International Energy Agency provides annual analysis of global energy investment trends across fuels, electricity, efficiency, and technology. It tracks capital flows, financing patterns, and policy influences, offering a consistent reference on how investments shape the energy system’s evolution and transition.
An integrative approach to responsible investment
This report by First Sentier Investors outlines a holistic approach to responsible investment that integrates environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. It argues that considering synergies and trade-offs across ESG issues enables better risk management and long-term value creation. Case studies illustrate practical applications across supply chains, infrastructure and resource sectors.
Lazard's Levelized Cost of Energy
The Lazard Levelized Cost of Energy+ 2025 report compares the economics of power generation, storage, and system reliability across technologies. It finds renewables remain the most cost-competitive, storage costs are falling due to market and technological shifts, and firming costs rise as renewable penetration increases, requiring diverse generation solutions.