Library | ESG issues
Social
The social pillar in ESG (environmental, social, and governance) assesses a organisation’s impact on people and society. It covers labour practices, diversity and inclusion, human rights and community engagement. Prioritising social responsibility not only benefits society but also mitigates risks, strengthens reputation, and creates long-term value for businesses and investors.
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Women's Equality in the Workplace Top 100 Ranking
Equileap's 2025 Top 100 ranking of public companies in developed markets scored on women's equality in the workplace using 19 gender equality indicators.
State of the artisanal and small-scale mining sector series
This series provides an overview of the artisanal and small-scale mining sector, examining its structure, operating context, and governance considerations. It explores economic, social, environmental, and regulatory dimensions to support informed analysis, comparison, and ongoing assessment of developments across the sector over time.
Global rights index series
This benchmark series provides an annual, country-level assessment of how governments and employers respect internationally recognised labour rights. It offers a consistent framework to compare workers’ rights protections across regions and over time, supporting analysis of legal conditions, enforcement practices, and systemic risks affecting working people.
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is a global trade union federation representing national union centres worldwide. It advocates for workers’ rights, democracy, and social justice through research, policy advocacy, and campaigns. ITUC publishes the Global Rights Index and engages with governments, employers, and multilateral institutions on labour standards globally issues.
Advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment: Target setting guidance for banks
This guidance outlines how banks can set and implement measurable targets to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment across leadership, portfolios, financial inclusion and ecosystems, aligned with the Principles for Responsible Banking and Women’s Empowerment Principles.
Mobilising investment for climate adaptation
This report assesses Australia’s escalating climate risks and argues for scaling adaptation investment. It recommends improved valuation methods, a nationally coordinated adaptation investment framework, and diversified public-private financing mechanisms to reduce long-term economic damage and enhance resilience.
Limited accountability and awareness of corporate emissions target outcomes
The study analyses 1,041 corporate emissions targets ending in 2020, finding limited accountability. Thirty-one per cent of targets disappeared and 9% failed, with minimal disclosure, media attention or market penalties. By contrast, target announcements improved media sentiment and ESG scores, raising concerns for future climate targets.
Climate and catastrophe insight series
The Climate and Catastrophe Insight is an annual research series that provides a consistent global view of natural disaster activity and climate-related catastrophe trends. It examines impacts on people, assets and economies to support risk assessment, resilience planning and long-term decision-making.
Net Zero Asset Managers' target disclosures series
The Net Zero Asset Managers Target Disclosures is a reporting series that tracks how participating asset managers set, disclose, and update net zero targets over time. It provides a consistent, initiative-wide view of commitments, disclosure practices, governance arrangements, and methodological approaches across reporting years.
Plastic promises scorecard series
The Corporate Plastic Pollution Scorecard is a benchmark series that assesses how large consumer-facing companies address plastic packaging responsibility. It reviews corporate policies, commitments, disclosures, and practices across key areas of packaging design, reuse, recycled content, transparency, recycling support, and producer responsibility, enabling consistent comparison over time.
Climate Change News Audience Report: Analysis of News Use and Attitudes in Eight Countries
Annual survey-based report analysing climate change news consumption, trust, political leadership perceptions, AI attitudes, and audience needs across eight countries.
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.
Corporate climate responsibility monitor series
The Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor is a recurring research series that independently assesses the transparency, integrity and credibility of corporate climate strategies. It evaluates how major global companies set, disclose and implement emission reduction targets, using a consistent methodology to enable year-on-year comparison across sectors.
Global landscape of climate finance series
Global Landscape of Climate Finance is a recurring benchmark series produced by Climate Policy Initiative that provides a consistent overview of global climate finance flows. It examines sources, instruments, uses, and geographic distribution of finance to track progress and comparability across years.
IQAir world air quality series
The World Air Quality Report is an annual research series assessing global air quality using ground-level PM2.5 monitoring data. It provides consistent country, regional and city-level comparisons, supported by transparent methodology and harmonised datasets to inform policy, research and investment analysis.
10 New insights in climate science series
The 10 New Insights in Climate Science is an annual series that synthesises recent peer-reviewed climate research across natural and social sciences. It provides a concise, policy-relevant overview of emerging scientific developments to inform decision-makers, practitioners, and stakeholders engaged in climate policy, finance, and governance.