Our latest thought leadership and research aims to inform and equip decision makers across business, finance and policy to lay the foundations for a sustainable economy.
Biodiversity and ecosystem services in environmental profit & loss accounts
October 2016 – This paper is a unique collaboration between the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), Kering, a world leader in apparel and accessories, and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment working with the Natural Capital Project. This paper explores how improved biodiversity metrics and methodologies can be developed, tested and then deployed to help businesses factor biodiversity into their decision-making processes.
A new climate for business: Planning your response to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change
September 2016 – This business briefing provides an overview of what was agreed in the Paris Agreement. It explains the major implications and helps businesses to formulate their strategic responses.
Greening the finance of China’s commodity imports: Lessons from practice
September 2016 – At the invitation of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) and the Banking Environment Initiative worked with the Chinese banking industry to ask whether it is possible to green the finance of China’s commodity imports, and thereby address the risks associated with unsustainable agricultural production.
Environmental risk analysis by financial institutions – a review of global practice
September 2016 – The G20’s new Green Finance Study Group asked the Cambridge Centre for Sustainable Finance to serve as Knowledge Partner and make recommendations on how to integrate environmental risk into mainstream financial decision-making.
Operationalising natural capital: Managing opportunities and risks from natural resources
July 2016 – With the launch of the Natural Capital Protocol businesses are looking for ways to consider the natural environment in their decision-making.
Incentivising the trade of sustainably produced commodities
April 2016 – This discussion paper explores how to scale up the role that banks can play in supporting the shift towards sustainable soft commodity supply chains.
Taking the long view: A toolkit for long-term, sustainable investment mandates
May 2016 – Short-termism in financial markets has been widely identified as a cause of underinvestment, economic inefficiency and poor decision-making by corporations, that undermines long-term value creation. This report provides a toolkit for investors who wish to design investment mandates that can help shift the investment chain towards responsible, long-term value creation.
In search of impact: Measuring the full value of capital
May 2016 – As fiduciaries, investors gain by helping beneficiaries make informed choices about the management of their savings and investments. This report aims to help the investment industry empower savers to understand the impact of their investments on the critical challenges of our generation and to invest in line with their world views.
Feeling the heat: An investors’ guide to measuring business risk from carbon and energy regulation
May 2016 – The COP 21 climate agreement indicates a growing global consensus for action on climate change. In response, this research report assesses the impact of future carbon- and energy-related regulation on the most sensitive industries and geographies at a company level.
Business Compendium: How the private sector is building Europe's climate ambition
4 March 2016 – This low carbon Business Compendium demonstrates how the activities of some of the world’s largest companies are contributing to the delivery of a low carbon future. The Compendium compiles examples of the ambitions and achievements that European businesses have made so far in tackling climate change, and aligning their business with a low carbon pathway.
