This field experiment in rural Sierra Leone evaluates upgrading Village Savings and Loan Associations into digital financial service agents. While infrastructure expands access, introducing consumer feedback mechanisms significantly improves service quality, transaction usage, and household shock mitigation. Results demonstrate that accountability is essential for developing functional, scalable financial markets.

This research analyses China’s state-led stakeholder empowerment model for ESG integration. It identifies economic, policy, compliance, and sustainability drivers while examining channels such as shareholder activism and representative litigation. The article proposes a tiered institutionalisation framework to resolve procedural indeterminacy and strengthen collective action infrastructure within concentrated ownership structures.

This research examines "reverse capture", where government actors pressure large asset managers to advance political agendas. It analyses how expanding presidential power and market concentration enable this dynamic, using the ESG retreat as an illustration. The authors recommend narrowing fiduciary duties to insulate investment stewardship from political interference.

This research article identifies three backlash archetypes that threaten to derail sustainability and justice transformations during critical transition phases. To navigate these risks, the authors propose developing three transformative capacities: harnessing hope and imagination, hospicing with dignity, and enabling radical collaboration while holding paradoxes.

This research examines three distinct models of investor engagement through case studies of BP, Honeywell and Bâloise. It highlights how financial-materiality framing and structural shifts in stewardship, including the fragmentation of 'Big Three' voters and SEC regulatory changes, are reshaping corporate governance and activist strategies for 2026 and 2027.

This report investigates the influence of fossil fuel companies and trade associations on US carbon market regulations. It details extensive lobbying in California and representative roles at the federal level, arguing that these efforts maintain low-quality credits to delay genuine decarbonisation and enable greenwashing.

This report outlines investor priorities for reforming Australia's Safeguard Mechanism during the 2026-27 review. It recommends a seven per cent annual decline rate to align with 2035 climate targets, expanding scheme coverage, and implementing financial supports to incentivise on-site abatement over carbon offsets to ensure long-term industrial competitiveness.

This research evaluates a randomised controlled trial using financial exposure to the energy sector to build support for climate action. Findings demonstrate that ownership of green and brown assets increases support for mitigation policies through a learning mechanism, where participants consume more financial news and improve their environmental knowledge.

This report examines how diverse capital providers collaborate to achieve systems change. It identifies catalytic capital as a pivotal tool for de-risking investments and mobilising private funds. Key findings highlight the necessity of trust, long-term partnerships, and shared metrics to overcome structural barriers and address the $4 trillion SDG financing gap.

This advocacy document calls for targeted investment in the One Health Joint Plan of Action. The Quadripartite collaboration proposes a Joint Offer to support at least ten countries over five years, strengthening governance, multisectoral coordination, and sustainable financing to prevent and control global health risks effectively.

This research examines how leading companies maintain climate policy engagement despite geopolitical challenges. It identifies three core approaches—direct engagement, trade association influence, and coalition forming—driven by business motivations such as competitive advantage and transition plan delivery. Success depends on timing, transparency, and alignment with corporate decarbonisation goals.

This ILO report evaluates the BOUZOUR project's efforts to strengthen Lebanon’s cherry sector through private sector partnerships. By establishing a national phytosanitary framework and improving exporter-farmer linkages, the initiative increased farmer incomes by USD 688,564 in 2025, enhanced worker conditions, and expanded access to high-value international markets.

This report examines the exploitation of African migrant workers within the United Arab Emirates' e-commerce and delivery sectors. It details systemic abuses including recruitment debt, deceptive contracts, and excessive working hours, highlighting how subcontracting models fragment accountability. The findings advocate for stronger international labour standards to protect vulnerable platform workers.

This report analyses just transition practices among 25 investment managers in listed equities. While policy recognition is high, active engagement remains a low priority concentrated in energy and mining. The research identifies barriers such as geopolitical headwinds and provides recommendations for investors, governments, and regulators to mainstream practice.

This report distils lessons from 25 organisations on leveraging technology to strengthen human rights due diligence in value chains. It categorises various tools, provides case studies, and outlines practical steps for responsible AI adoption, emphasising that technology must complement, rather than replace, human judgement and meaningful stakeholder engagement.

This briefing paper explores how philanthropy can support just transitions to net zero through social protection. It examines the socio-economic risks of decarbonisation, identifies systemic coverage gaps, and highlights catalytic roles for philanthropic capital in capacity building, research, and policy alignment to ensure an inclusive transition.