Library | Sustainable Finance Practices
Effective communication and greenwash
Tools and strategies for transparent communication on sustainability performance, with guidance on identifying and preventing greenwashing and advancing consumer education and financial literacy.
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Sustainability-related disclosure guidance
New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority guidance on sustainability-related disclosure for financial product issuers. Covers fair dealing obligations under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013, addressing greenwashing and greenhushing risks, with practical guidance on clear claims, substantiation, consistent messaging and third-party management.
The battle over energy security: Challenging the fossil fuel playbook
This report by InfluenceMap analyses how the fossil fuel industry uses geopolitical instability to promote energy security narratives. It highlights the industry's historical playbook of delaying the renewable transition and outlines current counter-arguments from renewable sectors advocating for electrification to ensure genuine energy independence and affordability.
Reliability of sustainability claims: Addressing greenwashing through regulations
This report analyses 23 regulatory instruments across 12 jurisdictions to assess global responses to greenwashing. It highlights the reliance on cross-sectoral consumer protection laws and identifies challenges in substantiation. Recommendations include adopting proportionate approaches, investing in data infrastructure, and clarifying the role of voluntary sustainability standards.
Leaning on uncertainty: Are European countries overrelying on carbon removals to reach climate targets?
This report analyses the climate strategies of six European countries and the European Commission, revealing a risky overreliance on unproven carbon dioxide removal technologies. It highlights fragmented planning, absent feasibility assessments, and policies contradicting scientific advice, warning that current approaches threaten effective climate action.
A systematic review of the voluntary governance landscape for an urgent, high-integrity, and equitable transition to net zero
This systematic review analyses 36 voluntary governance documents to assess how well they guide non-state entities towards an urgent, high-integrity, and equitable net-zero transition. It identifies consensus areas, like science-based targets, alongside critical gaps in operational detail, equity, and accountability, highlighting the need for robust standards and regulation.
Blocking a better world altogether: Rabobank’s bogus policy about animal welfare and sustainable agriculture
World Animal Protection argues Rabobank’s sustainability policies fail to match its financing practices, alleging continued support for companies linked to animal cruelty, deforestation and high emissions. The report urges stricter lending conditions, stronger monitoring and reduced investment in industrial livestock expansion to align with climate and animal welfare goals.
Framing and language for effective climate conversations
Guide outlines how framing and language influence climate engagement, especially among ‘middle ground’ audiences. It emphasises aligning messages with shared values, avoiding polarising or technical language, and using practical, relatable framing to build support for emissions reduction and climate action.
Sustainable Finance Roundup March 2026: Markets, Climate Risk, and the Transition in Practice
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.
Communicating climate change and migration: A user’s guide to navigating the research
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.
Communicating environmental and sustainability science: Challenges, opportunities, and the changing political context
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.
Communicating climate impacts through adaptation: Tips and activities for women's institute climate ambassadors
Guide outlines evidence-based strategies for communicating climate impacts through adaptation, emphasising values-led narratives, trusted messengers, and relatable imagery. It provides practical activities and case studies enabling community engagement on risks such as flooding, drought and heatwaves, encouraging locally relevant, action-oriented responses.
Building trust in sustainability reporting and preparing for assurance: Governance and controls for sustainability information
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
AI search has a citation problem
The report evaluates eight generative AI search tools and finds widespread problems in accurately citing news sources. Many systems fabricate or misattribute links, ignore publisher restrictions and provide confident but incorrect answers, raising concerns about information reliability, publisher traffic loss and the transparency of AI-generated search results.
Disentangling materiality and climate reporting
This article explains how the concept of materiality applies in AASB S2 climate disclosures and why it is often misunderstood. It distinguishes between material information, climate risks, emissions reporting, and ESG double materiality assessments, offering practical guidance for preparing compliant climate reports.
Sustainable investment funds: Design, implementation, monitoring and communication of sustainability attributes
PAS 7342:2025 sets out specifications for designing, implementing, monitoring and communicating sustainability attributes of sustainable investment funds. It provides requirements to support clear objectives, governance, evidence, disclosures and labelling, aiming to reduce greenwashing and improve consistency in fund communication.
Limited accountability and awareness of corporate emissions target outcomes
The study analyses 1,041 corporate emissions targets ending in 2020, finding limited accountability. Thirty-one per cent of targets disappeared and 9% failed, with minimal disclosure, media attention or market penalties. By contrast, target announcements improved media sentiment and ESG scores, raising concerns for future climate targets.