Global businesses are under new scrutiny, in which banks, insurers, and other financial sectors have adopted GIS technology and spatial data to assess a company’s impact worldwide. The newly emerged spatial finance relies on a suite of innovative technologies including GIS, remote sensing, and GeoAI to generate insights on sustainability-related risks and opportunities around the world. 

GIS enables lenders and advisers to map and analyze findings in a geographic approach that incorporates business infrastructure, supply chains, and insurance policies. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) has become an emerging global trend for corporate governance. For example, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has provided the listed companies with a framework for ESG disclosure. Additionally, the UK branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has focused on the scope of geospatial ESG to better understand the environmental impact of companies. 

Spatial finance sees geographic location, the natural environment, and economic outcomes interlinked, making it harder for companies to hide harmful activities, helping stewards of capital find a balance between capitalizing on the earth’s rich bounty and protecting it for future generations.

Spatial finance is predicated on the idea that geographic location, the natural environment, and economic outcomes are interlinked.

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