Global labour markets remain resilient amid uncertainty, but decent work deficits persist. Informality, working poverty and gender gaps remain widespread, especially in low-income countries. Productivity growth is weak, and demographic shifts and AI add risks. Economic growth alone is insufficient to improve employment quality or social outcomes.

Provides an Australian-focused framework for assessing the credibility of corporate climate transition plans, outlining principles, criteria and disclosure expectations. It supports companies, investors and regulators in evaluating emissions targets, governance, strategy alignment and risk management within mandatory climate reporting and net zero transition planning.

This report guides Australian boards on integrating net zero transition planning into strategy, governance, disclosure and stakeholder engagement. It outlines directors’ legal duties, mandatory climate reporting requirements, and practical oversight questions to help organisations manage climate-related risks, opportunities and implementation.

Provides beta guidance for applying Absolute Environmental Sustainability Assessment, comparing activities’ environmental burdens against planetary boundaries. It outlines a three-phase, nine-step framework, supported by case studies (buildings, cement, EU consumption), and aligns with existing accounting standards while addressing methodological gaps in allocating environmental limits.

Explains how uncertainty in climate models affects adaptation planning, highlighting assumptions, variability, model limitations and downscaling challenges. Emphasises using scenarios and probability approaches to inform decisions, while recognising incomplete knowledge and the need for cautious, context-specific interpretation of projections.

UNDP’s training guide explains heightened human rights due diligence for companies in conflict-affected contexts, outlining frameworks, legal expectations and practical steps to assess, mitigate and remedy impacts on human rights and conflict, supported by case studies and tools to guide implementation.

This month’s sustainability roundup captures a shift from framework development to real-world application, where climate and nature risks are increasingly embedded across financial systems, legal accountability, and decision-making. It highlights how intensifying physical climate signals, evolving disclosures, and maturing litigation are converging with insights on sovereign risk, energy systems, and corporate strategy. Together, these developments show how sustainability is moving beyond principle—being tested, priced, and enforced across markets, regulation, and the real economy.

This report guides practitioners on communicating climate-linked migration, highlighting research gaps, biases and limited diversity. It emphasises critical engagement with academic literature, improved representation of affected communities, and the need for nuanced, interdisciplinary approaches to inform effective, ethical communication strategies.

Examines public perceptions of drought risk and provides evidence-based guidance for communicating climate-related drought in the UK. Emphasises audience values, narratives, trusted messengers, and linking local impacts to broader climate change to improve engagement and support for adaptation measures.

Synthesises research on communicating environmental and sustainability science, highlighting a shift from one-way information to dialogue. Identifies challenges including political polarisation, trust, and misinformation, and emphasises values-based framing, narratives, and audience engagement as critical for effective public communication and future research priorities.

This article examines why current climate frameworks persist despite widespread professional skepticism, highlighting institutional incentives and “preference falsification” as key drivers. It calls for more open, cross-sector dialogue focused on diagnosing real problems and unlocking practical, system-level solutions.

This report explains nature-based solutions as ecosystem protection, restoration and management measures that can support climate mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity. It stresses their carbon-storage limits, vulnerability to disturbance, and the risk of overreliance in net-zero claims without deep emissions cuts.

This series provides guidance for investors on developing and assessing climate action plans using the ICAPs Expectations Ladder. It outlines approaches across investment, corporate engagement, policy advocacy, disclosure and governance to support alignment with net zero pathways and improve management of climate-related risks and opportunities.

This guide outlines governance, internal controls and assurance readiness for sustainability reporting. It explains board, management and audit roles, extending financial reporting controls to sustainability data, and an annual cycle covering materiality, misstatement risk, control design, monitoring and external assurance under emerging standards

Examines multinational companies’ revenues and taxes in Russia (2021–2023), showing continued corporate activity generated significant tax contributions supporting the Russian state. Highlights sectoral drivers, limited exits, and rising fiscal pressures, concluding that ongoing operations pose financial, legal, and human rights risks.

The report advises firms to strengthen due diligence and advanced know-your-customer checks to prevent sanctions evasion and re-exports supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine. It highlights front-company red flags, recommends stronger internal controls and information-sharing, and uses case studies to show how diversion risks can be detected.