Environmental, social and governance (ESG) scoring system : towards net-zero city targets
Gazioglu Hamis, Seda (2024)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024121034134
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024121034134
Tiivistelmä
The Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework is a critical tool for promoting sustainable urban development, especially as cities strive to achieve climate change adaptation, mitigation, and net-zero targets. However, there is a notable gap in city-specific ESG scoring systems that show cities’ management capacity of the ESG factors and identify areas for improvement. Enhancing the ESG performance of cities can attract essential investments for financing climate initiatives and achieving sustainability goals. Despite extensive research on corporate ESG frameworks and urban sustainability indices, there remains a need for a tailored ESG framework for cities. This thesis aims to fill this gap by developing a comprehensive ESG scoring system tailored to cities.
This study's research question is: How can a city-specific ESG scoring system be developed to measure and enhance cities' sustainability performance? The study aims to define a set of city-level ESG indicators and a scoring system to address this.
The methodology includes a critical review of existing sustainability frameworks and standards, followed by a double materiality assessment. The indicators and scoring framework are applied to two case study cities: Lahti and Glasgow. Data is collected from open-access public sources and geospatial analysis using Google Earth Engine.
The key message of this research is the development of a city-specific ESG scoring system that provides a quantifiable framework for assessing cities' ESG risk management capacity. This system helps cities attract ESG-oriented investments, facilitate the financing of climate initiatives, improve transparency in line with the SDGs, and achieve net-zero targets.
Key findings reveal distinct sustainability profiles for Lahti and Glasgow. Lahti excels in environmental performance but faces social inclusivity and safety issues, while Glasgow excels in social infrastructure but faces significant environmental challenges. These insights highlight the effectiveness of the ESG scoring system in identifying areas for improvement and guiding investments.
This research provides a practical and tailored approach to developing city-specific ESG frameworks, offering valuable tools for policymakers and investors to improve urban sustainability performance and support global efforts to promote sustainable urban development and climate resilience.
This study's research question is: How can a city-specific ESG scoring system be developed to measure and enhance cities' sustainability performance? The study aims to define a set of city-level ESG indicators and a scoring system to address this.
The methodology includes a critical review of existing sustainability frameworks and standards, followed by a double materiality assessment. The indicators and scoring framework are applied to two case study cities: Lahti and Glasgow. Data is collected from open-access public sources and geospatial analysis using Google Earth Engine.
The key message of this research is the development of a city-specific ESG scoring system that provides a quantifiable framework for assessing cities' ESG risk management capacity. This system helps cities attract ESG-oriented investments, facilitate the financing of climate initiatives, improve transparency in line with the SDGs, and achieve net-zero targets.
Key findings reveal distinct sustainability profiles for Lahti and Glasgow. Lahti excels in environmental performance but faces social inclusivity and safety issues, while Glasgow excels in social infrastructure but faces significant environmental challenges. These insights highlight the effectiveness of the ESG scoring system in identifying areas for improvement and guiding investments.
This research provides a practical and tailored approach to developing city-specific ESG frameworks, offering valuable tools for policymakers and investors to improve urban sustainability performance and support global efforts to promote sustainable urban development and climate resilience.