Library | ESG issues
Systems Thinking
Systems thinking is a holistic approach to problem-solving that focuses on how different parts of a system interact and influence each other over time. It helps leaders see beyond individual components like departments, markets, or financial statements to understand the broader dynamics, feedback loops, and long-term impacts of decisions. This perspective improves risk management, strategic planning, and operational efficiency by recognising interconnected relationships rather than isolated events.
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Reframing financial markets as complex systems: Tools for systemic risk analysis, portfolio management, and system-level investing
This report explores financial markets as complex adaptive systems, advocating for modelling techniques like agent-based models and network theory. It highlights how these tools improve systemic risk analysis and portfolio management by capturing non-linear behaviours, herding, and interconnectedness, providing a framework for more resilient and adaptive global financial systems.
Climate Pathways Project Simulation Tools
A suite of interactive climate policy simulators, including En-ROADS, developed by MIT Sloan and Climate Interactive. These tools help leaders and finance professionals model the impacts of carbon pricing, electrification, and energy efficiency on global warming in real-time.
Innovations in sustainability systems to support corporate due diligence
A resource hub from ISEAL Alliance providing case studies on how sustainability systems support corporate due diligence. It explores innovations like gamified worker training and digital risk assessments to improve supply chain transparency and human rights monitoring.
Role of Japanese firms in the East Asian electronics industry: A supply chain network perspective
This research analyses Japan's position in the East Asian electronics supply chain using network science. While Japan remains a vital upstream supplier of components and equipment, its dominance in mainstream semiconductors has declined. Conversely, Japanese firms maintain strong leadership within automotive clusters and unique electronics-automation-utilities ecosystems.
The Big Fix Resource Collection
The Big Fix is a resource hub from Resilience.org and the Post Carbon Institute focused on systemic resilience. It provides curated research and news to help professionals understand and navigate the interconnected ecological and economic challenges of the 21st-century polycrisis.
Systems stewardship: Managing interconnected climate risks for lasting value
This report examines how Australian investors apply systems stewardship to manage interconnected climate risks. It identifies key practices, such as collaborative engagement and policy advocacy, while highlighting barriers like resource constraints. Six recommendations are provided to help investors safeguard long-term returns and support a net-zero transition.
Why resilience starts with understanding extremes
Climate resilience requires understanding high-impact, low-probability tail risks. Rising temperatures are transforming extreme events into common occurrences. Using examples like the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, this report advocates for assessing high-end warming scenarios and tipping points to evaluate the robustness of portfolios and assets against cascading physical risks.
A novel multilevel conceptual framework for flood risk governance
This research introduces a multilevel framework integrating flood hazard modelling, social vulnerability assessments, and risk communication. Designed for data-scarce environments, it addresses analytical silos by treating communication as a coequal component. The framework supports equitable decision-making through consequence-oriented risk surfaces and transparent uncertainty representation for municipal planning.
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.
The total portfolio approach (TPA): A practical guide for navigating the transition to TPA
The report examines the Total Portfolio Approach as an alternative to traditional strategic asset allocation. Drawing on interviews and survey evidence, it explains TPA’s investment, governance, risk, sustainability and organisational foundations, outlines a five-level transition pathway, and provides practical guidance for asset owners assessing readiness and implementation.
Toward transformation in finance: Seeds of nature-positive futures
This research examines "finance for nature seeds" — innovative initiatives aimed at transforming the financial sector to reverse nature loss. By analysing 92 global projects, the study identifies diverse approaches to funding nature stewardship, highlighting current reliance on market-based mechanisms and the potential for inclusive, value-pluralistic financial systems.
Understanding inequality as a macro-financial risk to markets and diversified portfolios
This research identifies economic inequality as a systemic macro-financial risk to markets. It examines how wealth concentration and market power destabilise economies, fuel social instability, and hinder progress on global challenges. The report advocates for new financial analysis tools and disclosure frameworks to integrate social-related risks into investment strategies.
An expanding mandate: A systems-level framework for asset management
This report from the Thinking Ahead Institute and CAIA Association argues for expanding the investment mandate to incorporate systems-level thinking. Drawing on a survey of 176 asset managers and roundtables with 120 senior executives, it presents an inside-out, outside-in framework for navigating polycrisis and long-term systemic risks.
TIIP: The Investment Integration Project
TIIP develops tools and advisory services for system-level investing, helping institutional investors manage systemic risks related to climate change and inequality.
Doughnut of Social and Planetary Boundaries
The Doughnut of Social and Planetary Boundaries is a visual monitor tracking global progress across social foundations and ecological limits.
Counting what counts: A compass of progress for people and planet
This report presents a new framework and a dashboard of 31 indicators proposed by the UN High-Level Expert Group to measure societal progress beyond GDP. It emphasises equitable, inclusive and sustainable well-being, offering actionable recommendations for global adoption and enhanced statistical capacity by 2027.
