Library | Sustainable Finance Practices
Active ownership
Active ownership is a component of effective stewardship. It refers to how investors influence the behaviour and practices of investee companies (and, where relevant, borrowers or policyholders) through engagement, proxy voting, and, where necessary, escalation. The aim is to improve ESG performance, foster long-term value creation, and ensure responsible business conduct at the company level.
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Externalities and the common owner
This article analyses how diversified institutional investors use shareholder power to internalise climate-related externalities. It shows that investor activism drives emissions reduction targets, climate risk disclosure, and shifts in corporate lobbying, reframing governance assumptions by prioritising portfolio-wide economic stability over individual firm profit maximisation.
Presidential address: Sustainable finance and ESG issues: Value versus values
This report examines how investor and manager motivations—driven by either financial value or personal values—shape sustainable finance and ESG practices. It highlights definitional ambiguities, performance debates, and cultural differences, calling for clearer research to distinguish pecuniary risk-return considerations from non-pecuniary preferences in ESG investing.
Sustainable investing in practice: Objectives, beliefs, and limits to impact
This paper surveys 509 equity portfolio managers on their treatment of environmental and social factors. Findings show most prioritise financial returns, with limited willingness to sacrifice performance. ES constraints from mandates, policies, and client values strongly influence decisions. Beliefs and constraints outweigh fund labels in shaping sustainable investing practices.
Target-setting protocol fourth edition
The report outlines the fourth edition of the Science Based Targets initiative’s target-setting protocol. It provides updated guidance, criteria, and methodology for companies to set near-term science-based greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, aligning with 1.5°C pathways and incorporating broader coverage across sectors, geographies, and organisational boundaries.
The end of ESG: Financial management, forthcoming
This report argues that ESG is both essential and ordinary: vital as a driver of long-term value but not unique compared to other intangibles such as culture or innovation. It cautions against over-emphasising ESG metrics, politicisation, and superficial classification, advocating instead a broader focus on overall sustainable value creation.
ESG and responsible institutional investing around the world: A critical review
This report reviews global ESG and responsible investing practices, focusing on definitions, regulation, climate finance, and institutional investor roles. It evaluates evidence from academic research and PRI data, highlighting investor influence, governance, and engagement strategies, while noting challenges around ratings, greenwashing, and measuring real outcomes.
Externalities and the common owner
This article analyses institutional investors’ incentives to internalise negative externalities across their portfolios. It focuses on climate change, showing how large asset managers influence fossil fuel companies to reduce emissions, disclose risks, and limit lobbying, reframing shareholder primacy by prioritising portfolio-wide welfare over firm-level profit maximisation.
Companies should maximize shareholder welfare not market value
This report summarises why firms should maximise shareholder welfare rather than market value, noting that investors often have ethical and social preferences beyond profit. It proposes shareholder voting on corporate policy to better align company decisions with investor welfare, particularly where externalities are inseparable from production.
Just transition, environment and social considerations for the aviation fuel transition: An investor guide
This guide outlines environmental, social, and just transition considerations for investors in aviation’s fuel shift. It compares biofuels and e-fuels, highlights regulatory and biodiversity risks, and provides engagement questions to assess companies’ transition strategies, ensuring alignment with climate goals while safeguarding communities and long-term financial stability.
Transition Pathway Initiative
Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) is a global, asset-owner-led initiative assessing companies’ preparedness for the low-carbon transition. Featuring open-access ESG benchmarks, it evaluates Management Quality and Carbon Performance across high-emitting sectors, aiding investor decision-making and promoting climate-aligned corporate governance and transparency.
Engaging the ICT sector on human rights: Artificial intelligence-based technologies
This report examines the human rights risks associated with artificial intelligence in the ICT sector. It offers guidance for rights-respecting AI development, outlines regulatory frameworks, presents the business rationale for ethical AI, and supports investor engagement with practical tools and questions for assessing AI-related corporate practices
Starting up: Responsible investment in venture capital
This report examines how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are being adopted in venture capital. It outlines current practices, challenges, and industry-specific considerations, and highlights the need for tailored guidance, collaboration, and early-stage engagement to advance responsible investment across the venture capital ecosystem.
Reducing animal testing in the health sector through strategic investment: Guide for investors
The report outlines how strategic investment can reduce animal testing in the health sector. It provides investors with guidance on promoting transparency, encouraging non-animal methods, and influencing regulation, while highlighting the risks of limited disclosure and misalignment with consumer concerns.
The visibility of climate-related disclosures by large Australian companies
This study examines the visibility of climate-related disclosures in reports from 28 large Australian ASX50 firms during 2022. It finds that disclosures on physical climate risks are generally limited and superficial, whereas opportunities from the transition to a low-carbon economy are more prominently highlighted, indicating selective disclosure practices across sectors.
War and sanctions database
The War and Sanctions portal, managed by Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, is an open-access database detailing individuals, entities, and assets linked to Russia’s military activities. It supports due diligence and compliance efforts by providing verified information on sanctions, war-related logistics, and foreign components in weaponry.
Find it, fix it, prevent it: Modern slavery report 2024
CCLA’s 2024 report outlines investor-led efforts to address modern slavery through corporate engagement, policy advocacy, and improved data. Key sectors include construction and agriculture. Progress was made via benchmarking and collaborative initiatives, though disclosure and remedy remain limited. EU legislation and stakeholder coordination are driving further momentum.
