Not-for-profit think tank Carbon Tracker Initiative researches the impact of climate change on financial markets and IMPACT awards judges have this year praised it as one of the leading climate data NGOs "driving innovation in green finance markets".

With its research, Carbon Tracker Initiative has popularised concepts such as 'stranded assets' and the idea of a 'carbon bubble', which have in turn changed how financial institutions understand and respond to climate crisis.

Notable releases from the think tank last year included Absolute Impact 2021 and Adapt to Survive, both of which focused on the relative exposure of companies to the energy transition and net zero announcements.

Carbon Tracker data was also used in what was described at the time as the world’s largest retirement fund divestment. New York City’s Mayor de Blasio, Scott Stringer, along with trustees of two of the City’s pension funds announced a $4 billion divestment.

"Our work has aided in catalysing a seismic shift away from fossil fuel investments by institutional investors, hence reducing the pool of available capital," said Carbon Tracker.

Carbon Tracker Initiative CEO Jon Grayson says: "The increase in environmental, social, and governance 'noise' since 2021-22 has reaffirmed Carbon Tracker's critical role as an independent assessor to stress-test corporate transition plans, evaluate them through the lens of financial stakeholders, and present the best blueprint to accelerate the transition to a clean economy.

"Against this backdrop, we played a strong hand and brought some new issues and audiences into the spotlight with our work focusing on accounting and decommissioning.

"We further sharpened our analytical tools with an expanded corporate research capability – plus we launched the first open-source accessible database of fossil fuels to hold the world accountable."