Library | ESG issues

Targets & Accountability

Targets and accountability are essential for ensuring organisations and governments follow through on commitments to sustainability, climate action, and social responsibility. Setting measurable and transparent targets such as net-zero goals, emissions reductions, diversity benchmarks, and human rights protections allows for tracking progress and holding entities accountable. Clear, data-driven targets strengthen stakeholder trust and help align financial and business strategies with long-term sustainability objectives.

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UN SDG Portal

United Nations (UN)
The United Nations SDGs platform (sdgs.un.org) is an online hub for the 2030 Agenda and 17 Sustainable Development Goals, offering goals, targets, indicators, events, publications and global actions to track and support SDG implementation. It also includes registries of voluntary commitments and multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Online tool/database

How the circular economy can revive the sustainable development goals: Priorities for immediate global action, and a policy blueprint for the transition to 2050

Chatham House
This report argues that embedding circular economy principles within the Sustainable Development Goals could revive stalled progress. It outlines five global policy priorities and proposes a 2050 blueprint linking circularity, inclusive growth, trade, finance and standards to post-2030 development agendas.
Research
18 September 2024

Assessing the credibility of a company’s transition plan: framework and guidance

World Benchmarking Alliance
This report presents a harmonised framework to assess the credibility of corporate climate transition plans. It defines core plan elements, assessment principles, and a four-step process to evaluate ambition, feasibility, consistency, governance, and financial alignment with Paris-aligned decarbonisation pathways.
Research
1 September 2024

Stakeholder engagement and science-based targets for nature

Science Based Targets Network (SBTN)
This report provides guidance for companies on integrating affected stakeholder perspectives into science-based targets for nature, emphasising Indigenous rights, equity, and due diligence. It outlines who to engage, how to engage, and how to evaluate engagement across the SBTN five-step process.
Research
24 October 2024

Banking on business as usual: The energy finance imbalance

Reclaim Finance
The report assesses energy financing by 65 major banks (2021–2024), finding fossil fuel finance more than double sustainable power supply. The energy supply financing ratio stagnates around 0.42:1, far below net-zero benchmarks, with regional disparities and weak translation of climate commitments into financing shifts.
Research
29 September 2025

The alignment of companies' sustainability behavior and emissions with global climate targets

The study analyses sustainability reports from major listed companies to assess alignment with Paris climate targets. Using natural language processing, it finds alignment depends on the type of actions taken. Firms prioritising innovation and energy transition outperform those focused on risk mitigation.
Research
5 December 2023

Building resilient supply chains: Getting the most out of supplier engagement

We Mean Business
The report outlines how climate-related risks threaten supply chains and presents seven practical steps to strengthen resilience through supplier engagement. It stresses clear objectives, data use, prioritisation, incentives and cross-functional collaboration to drive emissions reduction, improve transparency and align procurement with long-term sustainability and risk-management goals.
Research
4 November 2025

The use of the Lavender in Gaza and the law of targeting: AI-decision support systems and facial recognition technology

The report analyses Israel’s alleged use of the ‘Lavender’ AI decision-support system and facial recognition in Gaza, assessing compliance with international humanitarian law. It highlights risks from inaccuracy, bias, automation and opacity, concluding that commanders must retain judgement and verification to meet targeting obligations.
Research
23 May 2025

Guidance Handbook

International Capital Market Association
ICMA’s June 2025 Guidance Handbook clarifies practical application of Green, Social, Sustainability and Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles, covering use of proceeds, governance, reporting, verification and market issues. It supports consistent labelling, transparency and market integrity across sustainable debt instruments.
Research
24 June 2025

Exponential Roadmap Initiative

Finance / Corporate Focused NGOs & Think Tanks
Exponential Roadmap Initiative (ERI) is a global, mission-driven organisation accelerating science-aligned climate action. It works with companies, investors and partners to scale climate solutions, assess climate performance, and support pathways to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 through practical frameworks and collaborative initiatives across business, finance and policy contexts.
Organisation
1 research item

Sustainable Finance Roundup December 2025: Nature, Regulation, and the Hardening of Risk

This month’s sustainable finance roundup traces the shift from ambition to enforcement, as climate and nature risks become financial, regulatory and legal realities. It covers Australia’s environmental law reforms, the embedding of climate and nature risk through prudential supervision, disclosure and shareholder pressure, and insurer warnings on the limits of insurability. It also highlights how markets are responding to deforestation and biodiversity risk, and how litigation and regulation are reshaping governance and long-term financial resilience.
Article
29 December 2025

Guidance handbook: Sustainability-linked bonds

International Capital Market Association
The ICMA Guidance Handbook (November 2024) consolidates interpretative guidance on Green, Social, Sustainability and Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles, covering use of proceeds, reporting, verification, secured bonds and market issues. It supports consistent application and market integrity across sustainable debt markets.
Research
11 April 2024

From ‘conflict minerals’ to peace? reviewing mining reforms, gender, and state performance in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

The review assesses how 3T mining reforms in eastern DRC affected state governance and gender inclusion. Findings show mixed results: limited improvements in demarcation, revenue collection and oversight, persistent armed interference, weak accountability, elite-captured cooperatives, and ongoing marginalisation of women.
Research
15 March 2021

Integrating ESG and AI: A comprehensive responsible AI assessment framework

The report introduces an ESG-AI framework enabling investors to assess AI-related environmental, social, and governance risks. Drawing on insights from 28 companies, it provides use-case materiality analysis, governance indicators, and deep-dive assessments to support transparent, responsible AI evaluation and investment decisions.
Research
10 June 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

The transition finance playbook: A practical guide for financial institutions

Accounting for Sustainability (A4S)
A practical guide outlining how financial institutions can scale transition finance through governance, eligibility criteria, portfolio segmentation, due-diligence enhancements and engagement. It highlights Canadian market context, barriers, and actionable “top tips” to support credible decarbonisation, stewardship and collaboration across the financial system.
Research
3 June 2025
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