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.

The ESG and the Sustainable Economy Handbook series is a multi-part research and guidance series that explains how environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations intersect with legal, operational and investment practices across global markets, supporting finance professionals and corporate actors to understand and integrate ESG into business and investment decision-making.

The report analyses how legal frameworks across major jurisdictions shape investors’ ability to pursue sustainability impact. It clarifies when impact-focused approaches are permitted or required and outlines policy options to support them. It provides guidance for aligning investment decisions with sustainability goals while maintaining financial objectives.

The article explores the paradox in which institutional investors focus heavily on climate-risk disclosure, an area of comfort and perceived legitimacy, while underinvesting in real-economy climate policy that could meaningfully reduce systemic risk. It argues that meaningful climate action requires shifting from technocratic “managing tons” approaches toward politically challenging asset revaluation and more robust policy engagement.

The report outlines the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance’s progress in reducing financed emissions, strengthening target-setting, and expanding climate-solution investments. It highlights updated methodologies, increased engagement with companies and policymakers, and rising member participation, underscoring the need for credible transition pathways and supportive policy environments to advance alignment with 1.5°C goals.

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.

This report outlines how Australian private equity firms are integrating ESG across the investment cycle in response to mandatory climate reporting, taxonomy alignment, and stakeholder expectations. It highlights evolving screening, due diligence, ownership, and exit practices, and shows how ESG integration can support value creation and strengthen competitive positioning.

This review examines how financial sector structures and actors influence sustainability outcomes through a systems lens. It identifies barriers such as inadequate metrics, poor risk integration, and limited understanding of complex dynamics, while highlighting collaboration opportunities between finance and science to align capital flows with long-term ecological resilience.

The report summarises the costs and financing required to eliminate global plastic leakage by 2060. It finds that coordinated global action could nearly eradicate leakage, with modest global GDP impacts but higher costs for developing economies. Increased development finance and private-sector mobilisation are essential to achieving this goal.

This article explores the growing interest in deep-sea mining as a source of critical minerals for clean technologies, detailing how it works, its potential economic benefits, and the significant ecological and governance risks it poses. It also examines ongoing international regulatory disputes and alternative solutions such as recycling and circular mineral economies.

The study assesses the impact of industrial mining on African great apes, revealing that up to one-third of the population about 180,000 individuals faces direct or indirect mining-related threats. West Africa is most affected, with limited habitat protection and minimal survey data, underscoring urgent needs for transparent environmental monitoring.

This report by the American Evaluation Association’s Social Finance TIG outlines the evolving role of measurement and evaluation within the social finance ecosystem. It explains key concepts in impact investing, frameworks for assessing outcomes, and the intersection between evaluation and social impact measurement, offering resources for practitioners.

The report examines the expansion of place-based impact investing (PBII) in the UK since 2021. It outlines how institutional and local investors, supported by public–private partnerships, are aligning financial returns with social and environmental outcomes. The study highlights progress, barriers, and pathways to scaling PBII through collaboration and blended finance.

This 2024 guide, produced by Forum for the Future and B Lab, outlines how businesses can embed climate justice into strategy and operations. It defines principles for equitable community partnerships, offers practical frameworks across internal systems and supply chains, and emphasises trust-building, accountability, and regenerative, long-term collaboration.

This publication is part of the Gender Benchmark series by the World Benchmarking Alliance. It serves as a practical tool for investors to assess and engage companies on their performance in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment across value chains, supporting stewardship and responsible investment practices.

This World Benchmarking Alliance report guides investors on using the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark to assess company performance in high-risk sectors. It outlines key findings, investor engagement questions, and sector-specific risks to promote accountability, human rights due diligence, and responsible investment aligned with sustainable development goals.