Library | Sustainable Finance Practices

Fixing financial and economic systems

Resources focused on transforming financial and economic systems to prioritise human well-being, equity, and environmental sustainability. Includes systemic change models such as degrowth, green growth, doughnut economics, and limits to growth.

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Modeling ghost GDP: Macro-financial risk and diversified portfolios in the age of artificial intelligence, automation, and populism

The Predistribution Initiative
This PDI working paper stress-tests four AI-driven labour displacement scenarios against US macro-financial data, modelling cascading losses across household debt, corporate credit, equities, pensions, insurance, and fiscal channels. Total economy-wide value at risk ranges from approximately $15–18 trillion (Light) to $62–72 trillion (Aggressive). Predistributive mechanisms are proposed as structural solutions.
Research
8 June 2026

Counting what counts: A compass of progress for people and planet

United Nations (UN)
This report presents a new framework and a dashboard of 31 indicators proposed by the UN High-Level Expert Group to measure societal progress beyond GDP. It emphasises equitable, inclusive and sustainable well-being, offering actionable recommendations for global adoption and enhanced statistical capacity by 2027.
Research
13 May 2026

The State of Sustainable Finance (2025-2030) Global Architecture, Jurisdictional Approaches and Emerging Trends

Altiorem
This report examines global sustainable finance architecture and institutional shifts from 2025 to 2030. It assesses regulatory approaches across nine major jurisdictions, highlighting the European Union as the benchmark. The analysis identifies structural trends, including transition finance scaling, nature risk integration, and the harmonisation of sustainability reporting.
Research
20 May 2026

Market-shaping states: A new theory of public sector capacities and capabilities

UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
This report introduces a market-shaping theory of the public sector, arguing that governments must act as proactive co-creators of public value. It presents a three-layered framework of structural capacities, organisational routines, and dynamic capabilities to help states navigate socio-technical challenges, steer innovation, and drive sustainable societal transformations.
Research
12 February 2026

Fiscal policy and transition risk

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
This report uses an environmental dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model to analyse how climate policies interact with pre-existing labour and capital taxes. It finds that transition risks depend on policy design, financing choices, and financial frictions, highlighting critical differences between carbon taxes and abatement subsidies.
Research
1 May 2026

Planetary solvency: Tipping into the wild unknown: Global nature risk management

Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA)
This report outlines how the degradation of global ecosystems threatens societal and economic resilience. It highlights immediate risks to food systems and health, long-term ecosystem tipping points, and the necessity of integrating biodiversity into financial models. Actuaries and policymakers are urged to adopt systemic, narrative-based risk management strategies.
Research
1 April 2026

Acceleration is not a strategy: A framework for directing AI towards public value before it's too late

Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)
This report outlines a framework for European governments to steer artificial intelligence towards public value rather than just accelerating sector growth. It recommends implementing AI directionism by targeting high-impact uses, preparing priority sectors for adoption, curbing big tech monopolies, and ensuring the economic benefits are broadly shared.
Research
15 April 2026

RIAA Conference Australia 2026 - Companion Resources

Responsible investment has moved well beyond principles and pledges. Today’s challenges require practical capability and informed judgement. The RIAA Conference is a must-attend event for finance, sustainability and industry practitioners who want to focus on the key themes for responsible investment in 2026 and what implementation really looks like. Designed as an immersive, hands-on experience, the program focuses on the systems that underpin strong financial performance, and will help you understand how climate, nature, technology, governance and regulation intersect. 

These specially curated companion resources have been recommended by the conference speakers and Altiorem team.
Article
14 May 2026

Tackling governance and financing for sustainability transitions

International Resource Panel
The report argues current financial systems misallocate capital towards resource-intensive activities, hindering sustainability transitions. It recommends policy, governance and financial reforms to redirect investment towards resource efficiency, low-carbon development and equitable transition pathways, particularly in resource-dependent economies.
Research
6 June 2025

The case for pricing pollution: Reducing emissions, strengthening the economy, and delivering a fair share for Australians

The Superpower Institute
The report argues Australia should introduce a Polluter Pays Levy and Fair Share Levy to cut emissions, raise revenue, compensate households, improve productivity, and secure fairer returns from fossil fuel resources.
Research
1 January 2026

Forever wild series

Forever Wild
This series outlines the Forever Wild Initiative’s approach to financing and managing large-scale wilderness landscapes through blended capital models, community co-design, and nature-based enterprises. It documents the development of equitable nature finance structures that integrate conservation, economic activity, and social outcomes across landscapes.
Benchmark/series
27 August 2025

Investing to reconnect financial value with people, nature and the real economy: An iterative blueprint for capital markets actors, policymakers and regulators

The Predistribution Initiative
This report outlines a blueprint for reforming capital markets to better reflect human, social and natural capital. It proposes changes to fiduciary duty, financial analysis and policy frameworks to reduce systemic risks and align investment practices with long-term economic, environmental and social outcomes.
Research
20 March 2025

World of work series: Employment and social trends

International Labour Organisation (ILO)
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.
Research
13 January 2026

Life, Climate Volatility, and What Comes After the Final No: Part 3—AFTER THE FINAL NO.

This final article in a three-part series explores how to navigate resistance to systemic change. Drawing on personal experience, it outlines a framework for resilience—building alliances, embracing interdisciplinary thinking, and storytelling—empowering leaders to persist through setbacks and turn persistent “no” into transformative, collective “yes.”
Article
25 March 2026

Life, Climate Volatility, and What Comes After the Final No: Part 2—CLIMATE VOLATILITY

This second article in a three-part series reframes climate change as volatility rather than warming. Drawing on finance and systems thinking, it explores how risk pricing, redesigned economic incentives, and nature-based solutions can build resilience, urging leaders to manage climate as the ultimate systemic risk.
Article
25 March 2026

Life, Climate Volatility, and What Comes After the Final No: Part 1 - LIFE

Written by Ken Coulson, a former global finance executive turned sustainability strategist, this first article in a three-part series explores humanity’s origins as a cosmic accident. It reframes Earth’s natural systems as a fragile inheritance under threat, urging a shift from extraction to stewardship through a unifying cosmic perspective on climate, responsibility, and systemic change.
Article
25 March 2026
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