Library | Sustainable Finance Practices
Laws and regulations
Government policies, legislation, and regulatory frameworks that shape sustainable finance practice, including mandatory disclosure rules, climate law, financial regulation, and ESG-related requirements.
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A well-adapted UK: The fourth independent assessment of UK climate risk (CCRA4-IA)
This report assesses the UK’s climate risks to 2050, identifies priority adaptation actions across key sectors, and outlines investment, policy and governance measures to strengthen resilience. It provides evidence-based recommendations to support climate adaptation planning and reduce long-term economic and societal impacts.
AI data centers and electricity demand: Taming the energy guzzlers
This paper examines AI data centre electricity demand and its costs for ratepayers and the environment. It finds that Big Tech market capitalisations have risen far above predicted levels since ChatGPT's 2022 launch, while data centres drive up electricity prices and fossil fuel use. Regulatory reforms and innovations are recommended.
Carbon tariffs, emissions leakage, and production relocation
This paper examines whether carbon tariffs prevent emissions leakage from firm relocation in a North-South duopoly model. It finds that carbon tariffs combined with export rebates form the optimal carbon tax regime, preventing leakage when the northern firm's emissions intensity exceeds fifty percent of the southern firm's, and can benefit both countries.
From climate crisis to insurance crisis: Designing solidarity-based natural disaster insurance
This report examines rising climate-related insurance losses and Germany's lack of comprehensive natural disaster coverage, with only 57% of residential buildings insured against such risks. It analyses international public-private insurance models — particularly France's CatNat system — and recommends a solidarity-based approach alongside measures to hold the fossil fuel industry financially accountable.
Shareholder proposals and corporate governance in a season of regulatory uncertainty
This report analyses the 2025–2026 proxy season following the SEC's suspension of its no-action review process. Shareholders filed approximately 20% fewer proposals; companies filed over 100 fewer exclusion notices. Exclusions disproportionately affected novel and revised proposals, with proponents increasingly turning to litigation and alternative strategies to preserve shareholder rights.
Navigating towards water resilience: An introductory guide for central bankers, financial supervisors and regulators
This WWF Greening Financial Regulation Initiative guide introduces central banks, financial supervisors and regulators to the financial risks posed by the global water crisis. It covers physical, transition and systemic risks, emerging responses from the financial sector, available assessment tools, and policy recommendations for integrating water risks into supervisory frameworks.
Interest rate caps, competition, and strategic borrowing: Evidence from Kenya
This paper examines Kenya's 2016 interest rate regulation, which capped bank lending rates but exempted the digital platform M-Shwari. Using borrower-level administrative data and a structural model, the authors find that the M-Shwari carve-out preserved credit access for high-risk borrowers, while a uniform cap would have eliminated it entirely.
The ICJ's advisory opinion on climate change
This edited volume analyses the ICJ's July 2025 advisory opinion on climate change obligations, examining its legal framework, due diligence standards, human rights implications, and statehood findings. Contributing authors also assess the opinion's notable silences on historical responsibility, military emissions, and differentiated obligations.
Stuck on you: How to make social media good again
This IPPR paper examines how social media platforms have shifted from user-led spaces to algorithm-driven, influencer-dominated environments through 'sticky gatekeeping'. A UK survey found only 18 per cent of feed posts were personal content. The report recommends regulatory reform, algorithmic transparency, and development of a public social media platform.
How a surge in defence and dual-use technology investment could reconfigure the global AI race
This Chatham House paper examines four trends — rising defence and dual-use investment, the growth of 'patriotic tech', the push for sovereign AI, and concerns over an AI valuation bubble — that could multipolarise the global AI race, and offers recommendations for private sector preparedness.
Final report on the amending guidelines on product oversight and governance arrangements for retail banking products to take into account products with ESG features and greenwashing risks
The EBA's final report amends the 2016 Product Oversight and Governance (POG) Guidelines to incorporate ESG features and greenwashing risks for retail banking products. Key changes include requirements for manufacturers and distributors to prevent greenwashing, extended scope to non-bank consumer credit providers, and an application date of 11 January 2027.
Business breakthrough barometer 2026: The annual pulse check from business on the pace of the climate transition
The Business Breakthrough Barometer 2026 surveys over 500 companies on the climate transition, finding 92% expect sustainability to deliver competitive advantage. While investment momentum holds, 68% of leaders see rising risks of a disorderly transition, urging predictable policy strengthening from governments to unlock private capital.
Weapons, dual use tech and financial institutions
This Shift briefing examines how financial institutions should approach human rights due diligence in relation to weapons and dual-use technologies. It identifies four key challenges, six anchors grounded in international humanitarian law, and six practical approaches to support responsible defence-related lending and investment decisions.
Labor market effects of California's $20 fast-food minimum wage
This NBER working paper examines the labour market effects of California's AB 1228, which raised the fast-food minimum wage to $20 per hour in April 2024. Across 32 QCEW and QWI specifications, wages rose by roughly 7 per cent with an own-wage elasticity of employment ranging from −0.29 to +0.26, indicating modest to no disemployment.
Unlocking climate risk insurance: The role of public development banks
This report examines how public development banks (PDBs) can expand climate risk insurance in emerging markets and developing economies. It identifies five key barriers to insurance uptake, analyses distinct roles for national, regional, and multilateral development banks, and provides recommendations to scale insurance solutions that build climate resilience.
Where cultivated meat can be sold
An interactive tracker by The Good Food Institute mapping global regulatory approvals and market pathways for cultivated meat products.