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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Mana Kai: A framework for korero on enhancing Aotearoa New Zealand's food system
The report outlines a framework to guide discussion on improving Aotearoa New Zealand’s food system. It highlights current health, environmental, economic and community challenges and presents a Māori-informed approach to support sustainable, equitable and resilient food outcomes through shared values, collaboration and long-term system stewardship.
The Mana Kai Initiative: The purpose and values of Aotearoa New Zealand’s food system
The report outlines a Te Ao Māori–led framework for Aotearoa New Zealand’s food system, highlighting environmental regeneration, equitable food access, cultural values, health outcomes and economic resilience. It presents tensions within the current system and proposes collaborative actions to guide a sustainable, inclusive and nationally aligned approach to producing, distributing and consuming kai.
The Mana Kai initiative: Priority action areas plan
The report outlines eight priority actions to strengthen Aotearoa New Zealand’s food system. It emphasises shared values, collaboration, equitable access to nutritious kai, sustainable production, improved school food provision, updated dietary guidance, ocean and land regeneration, and an informed national conversation on biotechnology.
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.
Social benchmark 2024 insights report
This benchmark series assesses the world’s most influential companies on their human rights, decent work and ethical conduct practices. It provides a comparative view of corporate social performance, supporting stakeholders to understand progress, identify gaps and inform actions that contribute to a more inclusive and sustainable global economy.
From field to fabric: Enhancing due diligence in Cotton supply chains
This report investigates labour conditions on cotton farms in Madhya Pradesh, identifying child labour, forced labour indicators, and wage issues. It traces links to supplier and buyer supply chains and urges strengthened due diligence, remediation, and improved traceability to reduce risks and support more ethical cotton sourcing.
Transparentem
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.
Risk at the source: Critical mineral supply chains and state-imposed forced labour in the Uyghur Region
The report analyses how critical minerals sourced in the Uyghur Region—titanium, lithium, beryllium and magnesium—are linked to state-imposed forced labour. It identifies companies involved, downstream exposure risks, and implications for global supply chains, underscoring the need for stronger due diligence and avoidance of forced-labour-tainted inputs.
Fake friend: How ChatGPT betrays vulnerable teens by encouraging dangerous behavior
This report examines how ChatGPT can expose teenagers to harmful content, including self-harm, disordered eating and substance abuse guidance. Researchers posing as 13-year-olds found safeguards were easily bypassed, with over half of tested prompts generating unsafe outputs. The report calls for stronger age controls, transparency, and safety enforcement.
Responsible banking blueprint: A roadmap for action on climate, nature and biodiversity, healthy and inclusive economies and human rights
This report outlines a blueprint for responsible banking, detailing how banks can embed climate, nature, human rights, and inclusive economy considerations into strategy, governance, client engagement, capital allocation and disclosure. It provides guidance on setting and implementing targets to align portfolios and practices with global sustainability frameworks.
Food security: Tackling the current crisis and building future resilience
The report examines rising global food insecurity, driven by conflict, climate impacts, inflation, and supply disruptions. It outlines the economic and social consequences, highlights regional vulnerabilities, and assesses future risks. It also presents social, technological, financial, and geopolitical actions needed to strengthen food system resilience.
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.
The new climate denial: How social media platforms and content producers profit by spreading new forms of climate denial
Climate denial on YouTube has shifted from rejecting global heating to undermining climate impacts, solutions, and science. New Denial now represents most claims, while Old Denial has declined. The report highlights platform monetisation of such content and calls for updated policies and stronger action to address evolving misinformation.
Net zero carbon buildings in cities: Interdependencies between policy and finance
This report analyses how cities can decarbonise buildings by mapping the interdependencies between policy and financial instruments and the barriers they address. It highlights priority actions for cooling, embodied carbon, adaptation and a just transition, outlining pathways that help cities sequence measures to accelerate net zero building outcomes.
Access bank: Driving inclusive growth through responsible banking
This case study explores how Access Bank integrates the UN Principles for Responsible Banking into its operations, advancing green finance, financial inclusion, and gender equality. It highlights the bank’s green bond issuances, ESG frameworks, and stakeholder engagement, offering investors insight into sustainable finance practices within emerging markets.