Areas for Further Research

Two main types of additional investigation are required to advance this field over the immediate term. These include 1) conducting comparable analyses for other sectors and additional metrics, and 2) working with companies to apply the framework. These two activities, in turn, will result in the identification of additional avenues for innovative integration of sustainability and finance.

Several important trends are converging to help facilitate more of this type of analysis in the future. First, as more and more measurement of corporate SD and its impacts takes place, an increasing amount of data suitable for translation is becoming available (e.g. continuously improving sustainability reporting, Corporate Knights Corporate Citizenship Database™, etc.). Second, as stakeholder pressure continues to build to better understand the actual quantitative financial impact of corporate SD practices, and to more fully engage the financial community on SD, additional support is being provided for innovative projects such as this one. Third, global environmental issues such as climate change, which are now being commonly recognized as posing huge financial risks, are forcing unprecedented integration of considerations of sustainability in financial decision-making and in the operation of world capital markets (e.g. EU Emissions Trading Scheme).

More effort is also required in the area of communications. The results of this Framework, and related further research, must be communicated to the broader financial community and other stakeholders to help foster integration.