GOLDEN Sustainability Dataset Reveals: Which Sustainability Actions Boost Shareholder Returns and Which Hinder Them?

The latest report of the Leonardo Centre introduces a groundbreaking behavioural approach to assess corporate sustainability—moving beyond ESG scores, which often reward risk-focused, symbolic actions over meaningful impact. Using the GOLDEN Dataset of 1M+ initiatives from 15,000 companies, researchers categorise sustainability actions into AdvocacyPreparation, and Transformation.

Key insight: Transformational actions—those embedded in core business strategy—deliver the highest financial returns, outperforming advocacy and preparation efforts by a clear margin.

The study introduces two new tools: Business Impact Maturity and the Impact Finance Maturity Model, helping financial institutions align capital with real sustainability outcomes.

Key takeaway: Companies that integrate sustainability into innovation and strategy outperform. We need finance to shift from ESG scores to behaviour-based, impact-driven decision-making.

Download the full report here.

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