Library | ESG issues
Targets & Accountability
Targets and accountability are essential for ensuring organisations and governments follow through on commitments to sustainability, climate action, and social responsibility. Setting measurable and transparent targets such as net-zero goals, emissions reductions, diversity benchmarks, and human rights protections allows for tracking progress and holding entities accountable. Clear, data-driven targets strengthen stakeholder trust and help align financial and business strategies with long-term sustainability objectives.
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GRESB Guides
GRESB Guides is a comprehensive documentation hub providing methodology, reference manuals, and scoring documents for GRESB’s global ESG benchmarks in real estate and infrastructure. It helps finance professionals navigate reporting requirements and interpret sustainability performance data.
Beyond commitments: Assessing real capital deployment for net zero across 26 high-emitting companies, against the IGCC Capital Allocation Alignment Framework
This research assesses capital allocation alignment with net-zero commitments across 26 high-emitting companies using the IGCC Framework. It finds that while climate strategies are strong, capital sourcing and fossil fuel phase-down plans lag. European companies lead in performance, while the Americas and oil and gas sectors trail significantly.
Science Based Targets Network Target Tracker
The SBTN Target Tracker is a public database that monitors companies setting science-based targets for nature. It provides finance professionals with verified data to assess corporate progress on land, water, and biodiversity goals.
SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard version 2.0
The SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard Version 2.0 provides a framework for science-based target setting and implementation. It introduces an implementation hierarchy, transition planning requirements, and a voluntary Ongoing Emissions Responsibility programme. The standard focuses on context-specific targets and best-efforts delivery to reach net-zero by 2050.
Transition Plan Taskforce Resources
A suite of guidance materials, including the TPT Disclosure Framework and sector-specific guides, designed to help organisations create and disclose robust climate transition plans in alignment with IFRS S2.
Climate-related transition planning: Voluntary guidance
This voluntary guidance from the Australian Treasury helps organisations develop climate-related transition plans. It details a four-stage process—assessing position, setting ambitions, planning actions, and implementation—to manage risks and align with Australia’s net zero targets, building on international standards and domestic policy to enhance business resilience.
BSI Net Zero Barometer Report Series
This benchmark series examines the UK business landscape's transition to net zero. It tracks commitment levels, drivers, and barriers among senior decision-makers. The research explores how organisations are reframing sustainability as a commercial necessity and highlights the demand for government support, financial incentives, and standardised guidance to achieve 2050 targets.
What do sustainability disclosures disclose?
This research analyses over 15,000 sustainability disclosures from Russell 3000 firms. It finds that while reporting has surged since 2015, informative quality has declined. Adoption of voluntary standards yields mixed results, correlating with reduced 'fluff' but lower narrative specificity. Improvements primarily reflect selection effects rather than organisational learning.
Handbook: Harmonised framework for impact reporting for social bonds
This handbook provides a harmonised framework for impact reporting on social bonds. It outlines core principles, recommendations, and sector-specific metrics for categories including affordable housing, essential services, and basic infrastructure. The document aims to enhance transparency and integrity in the social bond market through standardised reporting practices.
IBM Envizi Emissions
IBM Envizi Emissions is a data analytics platform and API that automates GHG Protocol-aligned emissions calculations. It enables organisations to integrate auditable ESG data into reporting workflows and performance management.
Best practice transition plans for listed equity asset managers
Most listed equity managers now have a target. Fewer have a plan that shows how it will be met. By January 2024, 264 Net Zero Asset Managers signatories had had their targets reviewed. Method is no longer the hard part.
Seeing the goal, missing the truth: Human accountability for AI bias
Research demonstrates that Large Language Models exhibit purpose-conditioned bias when informed of downstream tasks. Goal-aware prompting leads to in-sample overfitting and inflated performance before knowledge cutoffs. Results indicate that disclosing objectives compromises neutrality, necessitating the separation of measurement and evaluation in AI-assisted workflows to ensure statistical validity.
CPA-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability
This benchmark series evaluates corporate political disclosure and accountability practices among major US companies. It provides a structured analysis of transparency, board oversight, and spending policies for the S&P 500 and Russell 1000, enabling stakeholders to assess political risk and governance standards across different industries.
ShareAction policy paper: Defending and strengthening the AGM as a forum for corporate accountability
This ShareAction report advocates for mandatory hybrid AGMs to ensure corporate accountability. It argues that online-only formats diminish shareholder scrutiny and enable management to stage-manage proceedings. The document recommends amending the 2006 Companies Act and provides case studies of poor virtual AGM practices across several major companies.
Tracking methane action in the dairy and coffee sector
This benchmark series evaluates the progress of leading dairy and coffee companies in addressing methane emissions. It assesses corporate targets, disclosure practices, and reduction strategies within the food sector. The research provides a comparative analysis of industry performance against global climate commitments to encourage transparency and accountability.
ICMA's guidance handbooks series
This guidance series provides a comprehensive set of questions and answers regarding the application of the Green Bond Principles, Social Bond Principles, Sustainability Bond Guidelines, and Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles. It serves as a benchmark series for the sustainable bond market, promoting transparency and standardisation across various financial debt instruments.
