The Alliance for Responsible Capitalism presents a new competition focused on
​the challenges and opportunities around ESG in the banking sector
Corporate Political Responsibility
CSR Needs CPR: Corporate Sustainability and Politics
(Tom Lyon et al, CMR, 2018)
Suggests that a company’s political activities may have more impact on social and environmental sustainability than operations, and argues that corporate political responsibility requires transparency, accountability, and responsibility.
​​Large Corporations Contributed to Our Political Polarization: Here’s How They Can Fix It
(Mark Mizruchi, Niskanen Center, 2020)
This report provides an expansive history that ties the corporate condition to various policy eras, and makes a case for private sector investment in public policy (and not just one-off, charitable CSR initiatives).
How Corporate Lobbyists Conquered American Democracy
(Lee Drutman, The Atlantic, 2025)
Provides context to the current dominant role that business plays in shaping policy: what has changed over the last 50 years, why, and what implications does that have for our society?
Does Private Regulation Preempt Public Regulation?
(Malhotra, Neil, Benoît Monin, and Michael Tomz, 2017)
When business faces pressure to reform, the call to action is often to increase regulation by governments. But this study demonstrates that private action by firms within an industry is effective at fending off interest in regulation under certain circumstances.
(WBCSD, 2021)​
In a major refresh of its Vision 2050, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development argues that the decade ahead is critical if we are to achieve “9+ billion people living well within planetary boundaries.” They highlight the need to shift political and economic incentives that push companies into short-term behaviors that undermine societal or environmental systems. See p. 50-55 for their call to action in the financial sector.
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(CPRT, 2022)
Companies engage in politics in many ways: through spending on political campaigns, lobbying and advocacy, internal and external communications, and through all of these channels by way of trade associations. These principles guide companies to use their political influence aligned with the values of legitimacy, accountability, responsibility, and transparency.
More resources at the CPRT Resource Library and Video Library
Climate Risk
Climate-Related Financial Risk: How, When, and for Whom?
(Climate Policy Initiative, 2024) A brief articulation of why climate risks matter, and the two components of climate risk – physical risk and transition risks – may be more material to different players in the financial system.
Climate-Related Risks, Opportunities, and Financial Impacts
(TCFD, 2017)
An overview of the types of transition and physical risk resulting from physical and transition risks, as well as an explanation of how these costs will flow through financial systems. This chapter is extracted from the full report from the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures here.
Quantifying the financial costs of climate change physical risks for companies
(S&P Global, 2023)
An assessment illustrating the financial impacts from climate change expected for the business sector.
Acute physical impacts from climate change and monetary policy
(NGFS, 2024)
A deeper dive into the acute costs arising from climate change and how those costs ripple through the economy. This assessment is performed from the perspective Central Banks and Supervisors’ Network for Greening the Financial System, therefore specific emphasis is placed on the implications for monetary policy for a central bank.
Carbon Asset Risk: Discussion Framework
(WRI and UNEP Finance Initiative, 2015)
A thorough exploration of transition risk, providing frameworks for understanding, quantifying, and mitigating exposure.
ESG
ESG guidelines seem innocuous enough, so why the backlash?
(Jerry Davis, I by IMD, 2022) The term “ESG” refers to environmental, social, and governance factors that are material to a company’s performance but may not be captured on a balance sheet. From this simple definition, “ESG” has become the topic of both fascination and abhorrence. The article provides a primer on the term and a background on the debates around it.
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Don’t Be Deceived About ESG Sentiment. Companies Must Up Their Compliance Game. (Pete Rau, GARP, 2024)
Increasing expectations about ESG reporting will drive companies to increase transparency and invest in compliance efforts.
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How ESG Stocks Perform Depends on Who Ranks Them
(Shane Shifflett, Wall Street Journal, 2021)
One of the challenges of assessing stocks with an ESG label is that ratings of ESG vary widely depending on the organization doing the rating. The article
(World Economic Forum)
An overview of 21 core and 34 expanded metrics in the categories of People, Planet, Prosperity, and Governance, this framework offers a proposal aimed to create consensus on ESG factors to assess and report.
​ESG Battlegrounds: How the States Are Shaping the Regulatory Landscape in the U.S. (Leah Malone, Emily Holland, and Carolyn Houston, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, 2023)
States’ approaches to governing banks on topics related to ESG and climate has sharply diverged, with some states requiring pension funds to divest from fossil fuels and other states prohibiting pension funds from investing in providers that use ESG criteria.
