Ian Christie

This conceptual paper introduces Macro Stewardship (Ma-S) as a transformative approach in sustainable finance to challenge financial market failures that contribute to systemic collective action issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and inequality. It argues that traditional Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies focus on individual corporate actions and often fail to drive systemic change. Ma-S, on the other hand, leverages the power of financial institutions to engage governments, policymakers, and stakeholders in addressing market failures tied to sustainability. Unlike Micro Stewardship (Mi-S) or ESG approach, which centers on corporate-level engagement, Ma-S promotes collaborative interventions to align the interests of businesses, governments, and society. This approach aims to influence regulatory changes, shape public policy, and support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper is guided by the research question: How can Macro Stewardship by financial institutions serve as a transformative approach in sustainable finance to achieve systemic change? It proposes a definition for Ma-S, outlines its practical applications, identifies implementation challenges, and presents a research agenda to evaluate its effectiveness and impact. In doing so, the paper lays a foundation for future empirical studies and calls for a shift in how financial systems contribute to global sustainability.

Despite the collective promise of integrating more open (broader-based, participatory) city-level governance into the global energy governance regime, little attention has been paid to the different impact logics and assumptions underpinning local procedural governance tools (PGTs) in circulation and the degree to which they address key good governance dimensions dominantly thought to be indicative of transformation. This review aims to fill this gap by mapping and analyzing key energy transition PGTs circulating across four climate action initiatives that mobilize and provide support to cities and local governments. A framework—REPAIR: Reflexivity, Enabling/Embedding, Participatory, Integrative, Adaptive, and Radicality—is proposed based on a synthesis of common governance innovation design features, and a representative sample of 25 PGTs are evaluated against these dimensions. The analysis reveals a need for (1) more differentiation and tailored capacity relating to governance monitoring, evaluating, and learning systems; (2) more attention to prioritization and design factors across different governance interventions in relation to local climate actions; and (3) more nuanced theories of change for operationalizing local power/coalition/mandate building (across different dimensions of governance). This article concludes that there are real gaps in how the collective advantages, opportunities, and promise of traveling “ideal types” of good governance will be fulfilled and outlines future research directions for informing more aligned governance innovation for low-carbon transitions in urban areas.

The complex interwoven crises of climate disruption and biodiversity loss demand not only rapid technological innovation for sustainable development but also major shifts in consumption and behaviour, implying a need for responses rooted in ethical values and a reorientation of attitudes towards the more-than-human world. In this context, given the global significance of faith communities and institutions as motivators and moral authorities, it is important that faith leaders state the challenges for sustainable development and suggest pathways forward to protect the environment and people that live in it. Building on his landmark encyclical of 2015, Laudato Si’, Pope Francis issued Laudate Deum, an apostolic exhortation on the climate crisis, and followed this up with a message to COP 28 for leaders to show leadership in facing up to the climate challenge. We argue that the interventions of Pope Francis point to the crucial importance of an approach to sustainable development that can integrate faith perspectives on social and ecological ethics with the knowledge generated by the natural sciences and by environmental systems science. The interdependence revealed by the emerging scientific understanding of human, animal, and ecosystem life implies the bioethics of care and stewardship, which have the potential to bring people together across religious and disciplinary divides. Unlike other analyses, we argue that it is important to understand how life was created if we are to care for it effectively and sustainably. We also put forward the case for more sustainable land use and the production of more sustainable foods. This article is written from the perspective of the Catholic Church, including its approach to moral theology, but we argue that the implications of the analysis are relevant to all faith communities and religious institutions seeking to promote sustainable development.

This study explores the intersection of sustainable fashion practices, fashion shows, and sociological insights to develop sustainable fashion education. It investigates how sustainable practices are integrated into the fashion industry and education programs. Moreover, it critically analyses the evolving role of the fashion show in a time when sustainability takes a central position. Additionally, this study shows the possibilities and problems presented by the emergence of virtual fashion experiences. The literature review investigates the difficulties the fashion industry faces when moving towards sustainability. It systematically explores a range of innovative solutions put forth by scholars and practitioners. Moreover, this report delves into the core principles of sociological perspectives, particularly in fashion sociology. It explores the emerging trend of virtual fashion, emphasising the essential role that fashion education plays in promoting sustainability awareness among designers, industry professionals, and consumers. Ultimately, this study aims to encourage the fashion industry towards a more sustainable future by decreasing the traditional tensions between sustainability and fashion. It highlights the urgent need for the industry to embrace sustainable practices and prioritise sustainability in fashion education.

While public bodies and civil society organisations play an important role in the transition towards a more sustainable society, there has been very limited research on how to make these institutions more sustainable. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to generate insights on processes and patterns of change towards sustainability, and to identify effective practices that might be transferred and adapted to different institutional contexts. The research followed an organisational change framework and a qualitative exploratory design. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted with experienced sustainability practitioners working at leading organisations in the UK. Thematic analysis of the data revealed three overarching themes: knowledge and reflection, support and engagement, and driving and enabling change. From this, a framework for effective practice was developed, highlighting the importance of (i) explicitly linking organisational understanding to working practices through frequent and deliberate reflection; (ii) developing a support base that provides expertise and legitimacy; and (iii) using context-specific strategies for implementing planned changes, as well as supporting emergent change throughout organisational sub-systems.

Supplementary figure legends and tables

In 1898, Britain’s pioneer filmmaker Robert Paul opened a studio in North London. But the films he had been producing for two years, since his debut in February 1896, were very much ‘slices of everyday life’, initially around Britain, and also thanks to various expeditions he organised, in Spain and Portugal, Egypt and Sweden. The listing of the seventy films he was offering in 1897 amounts to a panorama of everyday life and entertainment in the late Victorian world, comparable to the better-known (and largely preserved) Lumière catalogue. Although only a handful of Paul’s pre-studio films survive - and scarcely a tenth of the 800 he produced during a fifteen-year career - these provide a valuable insight into one of the important attractions offered by the new medium. The previous catalogues of lantern slides and stereographs may have provided models for the taxonomy of the visible world, but ‘animated photography’ could display activity, life in flux, people in their everyday context.