The financial sector’s role in the advancement of sustainable development through the application of environmental and social obligations on the entities they lend to, invest in, and insure has become increasingly important in recent years.
The notion of sustainable finance suggests that as
the finance sector exerts enormous influence on the real economy, it can leverage this to have an equal, mutually reinforcing influence on environmental protection and social stewardship.
Moreover, financiers are not only seen to have a social duty to be responsible and accountable for the (indirect) environmental and social impacts of their activities, but it is also regarded as being in their own best interest to do so; in order to minimise the material, financial risks associated with these impacts, and to increase financier risk-adjusted returns and value creation.
This ICCSR research field seeks to investigate and understand the multiple drivers, processes, and organisational and societal outcomes of such sustainable finance activities as:
- environmental and social credit risk management
- responsible investment - including environmental, social and governance (ESG) engagement
- financier ESG transparency and reporting
In addition, given that governmental policy makers have, until recently, neglected to consider mandatory legislation to ensure financier sustainability practices are having the desired socio-economic and environmental impacts; this research will pay particular attention to the (transnational) governance, organisational and accountability effects of new European Union sustainable finance regulation.
The overall aim is to address significant academic research gaps in this field, as well as to generate important (micro-prudential) policy, practice and societal contributions.
This research was awarded a prestigious British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant in September 2019 (£10,000).
Academic lead
Dr Niamh O'Sullivan
Associated publications
Journal articles
Giamporcaro, S., Gond, J.-P, O'Sullivan, N. (2020), "Orchestrating governmental corporate social responsibility interventions through financial markets: The case of French socially responsible investment.", Business Ethics Quarterly, 1-47.doi:10.1017/beq.2019.40
- Also published in the 2019 Academy of Management Conference Proceedings
- Winner of the best qualitative paper at the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Academic Network Conference, 2017
O'Sullivan, N. and O'Dwyer, B. (2015), "The structuration of issue-based fields: Social accountability, social movements and the Equator Principles issue-based field", Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol.43, 33-55.
- Produced from PhD research that won the 2010 Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Award in the Interdisciplinary Accounting Research Category
O'Sullivan, N. and O'Dwyer, B. (2009), "Stakeholder perspectives on a financial sector legitimation process: The case of NGOs and the Equator Principles", Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, Vol.22 (4), pp. 553-587.
- Winner of the French Social Investment Forum (SIF) Best Published Article Award 2010
- Highly commended in the Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Mary Parker Follett Outstanding Paper Award for 2009
Practice reports
Gond, J.P., O'Sullivan, N., Slager, R., Viehs, M., Homanen, M. and Mosony, S. (2018), "How ESG engagement creates value for investors and companies", United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) commissioned report.
- Highly commended in the Savvy Investor Awards 2018: "Best ESG Paper" category
O'Sullivan, N. and Gond, J-P. (2016), "Engagement: Unlocking the black box of value creation", Sustainalytics.
- Runner-up in the Extel Survey of Investment Firms and Analysis 2016: “The Most Innovative Research Product” category
Book chapters
O'Sullivan, N. (2015), "The Global Reporting Initiative guidelines and external assurance of investment bank sustainability reports: Effective tools for financial sector social accountability?", in Responsible Investment Banking - Risk Management Frameworks and Soft Law Standards, Springer International.
Coulson, A. and O'Sullivan, N. (2014), "Environmental and social assessment in finance", in Sustainability Accounting and Accountability, Routledge.
Futher information on the Business School Social Responsibility and Sustainability
Further information on UN Sustainable Development Goals