Library | Sustainable Finance Practices
Fixing financial and economic systems
Resources aimed at transforming financial and economic systems to prioritise human well-being, equity, and environmental sustainability. These resources include tools, networks, and guidance on systemic changes such as systems thinking, degrowth, green growth, doughnut economics, decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation, and adhering to limits to growth.
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Welcome to the great unravelling: Navigating the polycrisis of environmental and social breakdown
This report examines the ongoing crises of environmental and social breakdown, exploring their interconnected drivers and feedbacks. It offers pragmatic and personal solutions, challenging the myth of progress, and suggesting thoughtful change as the only hope for navigating this uncertain future.
The great wake-up: Why and how investors must act on women's health - now
This paper highlights the critical need for investor action in support of women's health in the workplace and beyond. The report examines the current lack of attention to this topic in the financial sector and provides guidance for institutions to learn, set priorities, act and activate systems toward improving outcomes on women's health.
The investor’s guide to hazardous chemicals: An introduction to harmful substances, ChemScore and the Investor Initiative on Hazardous Chemicals (IIHC)
The investor guide to hazardous chemicals explains the dangers of chemical pollution, how to identify companies with high chemical footprints, and the tactics that investors can use to engage with these firms. The report also presents the 2022 ChemScore rankings, and a list of questions to ask chemical companies.
The private wealth industry and tax: Politically biased, ethically compromising and failing clients
This report identifies that the private wealth sector is politically biased, ethically compromising, and failing clients with tax positive views. The report calls for significant changes to industry practice to better serve clients and ensure a more equitable society.
What is tax fairness and what does it mean for investors?
This report is a discussion paper on tax fairness and its impact on institutional investors. Six principles guide the initiatives to bring transparency and systematic approach in dealing with tax issues in the investment industry. It also outlines past legal and regulatory efforts and recommendations for future stakeholder engagement to improve tax arrangements.
A guide to SDG interactions: From science to implementation
This report examines the nature of interlinkages between Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), underpinned by a framework for understanding sustainable development goal interactions. Policymakers, practitioners and scientists working on implementing SDGs are the intended audience for this report.
Impact in place: Emerging sources of community investment capital and strategies to direct it at scale
This report presents emerging sources of capital for community investing through corporations, client solutions and community-driven investing. The report discusses how this field could shape the future of community investment.
Private capital, public good: Leveraging impact investing to support a just and equitable recovery
This report focuses on leveraging impact investing to support a just and equitable economic recovery in the United States. It provides a set of recommendations for policymakers based on the experience of impact investors, with an emphasis on promoting investor impact transparency and incentivising private capital into investments with positive impact.
Financing SDGs in emerging markets: The role of green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked (GSSS) bonds
The report highlights the potential of green, social sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds in funding developing countries' progress towards the SDGs, offering recommendations for increased involvement from issuers, investors, policy-makers, and development finance institutions (DFIs).
Petrochemicals: Major credits, carbon risks, green bonds
This report reviews the petrochemical industry from a joint macro, credit specialist and climate mitigation perspective. It highlights that the industry has the highest energy demand and is the third-largest direct CO2 emitter. The first green bonds came out in 2020, although the sector’s environmental alignment remains questionable to investors.
Australian Social Impact Investing Taskforce: A Commonwealth strategy to build a mature and self-sustaining social impact investing market that improves the lives of vulnerable Australians
The report details a strategy to support early-stage social enterprises and foster growth in social impact investment (SII) opportunities. The report explores four action areas for government and stakeholders to accelerate SII growth and improve social impact measurement.
Climate change and economics 101: Teaching the greatest market failure
This report analyses 27 introductory economics textbooks used in the US that cover micro and macroeconomics to assess their treatment of climate change. Authors find limited coverage in texts and that most texts relate climate change to the negative externality of carbon emissions. Market solutions such as cap-and-trade and carbon taxes are recommended.
Higher cost of finance exacerbates a climate investment trap in developing economies
This study investigates how different weighted average cost of capital (WACC) assumptions impact decarbonisation pathways for developing economies. The results demonstrate the disproportionate impact of high capital costs between regions, with green electricity production potentially 35% lower in Africa, increasing the risk of a climate investment trap.
Water risks and financial market: Overview and analysis
This report explores water risks and opportunities in the financial sector. It provides an overview of tools and approaches to assess water risks, identifies potential actions to align with international water goals, and calls for greater integration of water considerations into financial decision-making.
Women decision makers: How can more capital reach women decision makers in emerging markets?
This report explores the barriers preventing women fund managers from receiving capital, particularly local, diverse women. The report outlines recommendations and tools for investors to better support women decision makers.
Measuring what matters most: Seven systems transformations for benchmarking companies on the SDGs
This report provides guidance on developing benchmarks to transform systems towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It identifies seven critical transformations: social, agriculture and food, decarbonisation and energy, circular, digital, urban, and financial systems. These benchmarks aim to hold companies accountable and drive meaningful change across industries to support sustainable development.