Special Reports provide in-depth FT coverage of countries around the world, as well as industries from tech to luxury and themes ranging from workplace health to entrepreneurship.

Risk Management:

Exchanges, Trading & Clearing 

The Financial Times proposes to publish this report in 15 November 2021

We plan to include the following features (please note that this list is provisional):

Exchanges and ESG 

How are exchanges taking account of investors’ wish to invest in companies that maintain high environmental, social and governance standards. What is the role of exchanges in this?

Crypto Exchanges  

What are the risks faced by users and operators of cryptocurrency exchanges and what can regulators do about them? 

FX Trading 

How has foreign exchange trading held up during the pandemic and what changes are coming to the way trading is carried out? 

ETFs and European Exchanges   

How is Europe progressing in terms of getting ETFs to trade on exchange? Are the vast bulk of funds still traded OTC? 

Reforming Clearing in the US Treasury Market. 

There's been a big push recently to open up the market, especially after the Covid-induced market turmoil last year 

Exchange Outages; OR Lack of liquidity in times of crisis; OR Algorithmic trading and risks posed; OR Cyber attack concerns; OR Competition from decentralised finance; OR Derivative trading and settlement 

TBC

POSSIBLE - OpEd: Are Exchanges Doing Enough About Cyber Risk?  

Earlier this year, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell told the news show "60 Minutes" that a cyberattack poses risks to financial markets even more severe than the 2008 financial crisis. Are exchanges doing enough about it? 

Experts’ View

Panellists from the recent FT Live event on the Future Of Europe: Strengthening Europe’s Financial Sector, share their views on “Capitalising on opportunities in Europe’s financial markets”. Featuring Stéphane Boujnah, CEO and Chairman of the Managing Board, Euronext; Sharon Donnery, Deputy Governor, Central Banking, 

Central Bank of Ireland; and Nicolas Mackel, CEO, Luxembourg for Finance

Transcript requested 

Information

■ Recently published FT Special Reports can be viewed at www.ft.com/specialreports 

A full list of published reports can be viewed at http://www.ft.com/reports/library Forthcoming FT Special Reports and their synopsis can be downloaded via the 

Future Reports link on the www.ft.com/specialreports page. 

For website assistance please call + (0) 20 7775 6297.

This editorial synopsis must not be amended in any way by anyone other than the Editor of Special Reports. 

All submissions or suggestions for editorial features should be sent to reports@ft.com 

This is to ensure all suggestions can be assessed and to enable the editorial team to cope with the huge volume of approaches that would otherwise stop them from doing their work. Due to the volume of approaches the editorial team are unable to confirm receipt or respond to all enquiries. 

Advertisement and Sponsorship Information

For details of the advertising and sponsorship opportunities please contact:

Chris Holt,  +44 (0)7415136450, chris.holt@ft.com

Ben Tobin +44 (0) 20 7775 6615, ben.tobin@ft.com

or your usual Financial Times representative.

Please note the advertising representatives cannot assist with editorial approaches or other editorial matters. Please be advised, Financial Times advertisers and sponsors have no influence on editorial content.

Future of Logistics

The Financial Times proposes to publish this FT Report on 15 November 2021

We plan to include the following features (please note that this list is provisional):

Post-covid Supply Chain Resilience

Supply chains have been stretched to breaking point during the coronavirus crisis. Multinationals are now weighing up the need to build in more resilience to their supply chains by holding more inventory, dual-sourcing and regionalising production at the cost of efficiency. Trade barriers from Brexit and border restrictions have disrupted the smooth flow of goods between countries. The head of Maersk, the world’s largest shipping company, has claimed that the just-in-time supply chain model is dead. Will the pandemic force lasting changes to supply chains or will the extra costs convince retailers and wholesalers to snap back to business as usual? How will the logistics sector need to adapt in response?

Fragile Labour Markets

The pandemic has exposed the fragile state of logistics' labour markets from shortages of lorry drivers and warehouse workers to a welfare crisis for the global seafarer population. While extra demand from online retail piles stress on supply chains, some logistics executives believe the low-margin industry has been squeezed for too long, meaning wages along with conditions for workers and prices paid by consumers need to rise. How long are the employment difficulties likely to last for? How are the employment models of logistics companies likely to change? Do we all need to pay more to get goods transported to us to fairly compensate those involved?

New Methods of Delivery

Logistics providers are amid an overhaul of city centre and suburban delivery, turning to electric vans, cargo bikes and lockers to deliver parcels and goods to customers. Regulations are also pushing couriers to become more creative in how they deliver. In hard to reach locations, couriers are investing in drones and consolidation points to get packages to customers economically. What new innovations are delivery groups rolling out to get goods to customers?

Amazon and the High Street

The future of logistics is tied to the future of retail. Amazon, at once a customer and competitor to logistics providers, is ever-growing in its capabilities to fulfil orders for other retailers through its networks of warehouses and air cargo planes, underpinned by its increasing dominance of retail. High profile retail bankruptcies during the pandemic could be followed by more closures on the high street. Where is Amazon likely to grow in the logistics chain and how is the likely future of the high street going to knock on to the future of the logistics sector?

Decarbonising a Complex Industry

International trade-related freight transport emits about 7 per cent of global carbon emissions, according to the International Transport Forum. The logistics sector is made up of many layers and cogs ranging from shipping companies, fragmented hauliers, freight forwarders, third-party logistics contractors, port operators, warehousing groups and last-mile delivery groups. How can such a fragmented and complex industry cooperate to reduce its emissions? Logistics is removed from the end customer with retailers sandwiched between them. How does the sector convince its customers to pay more for greener logistics?

Robotics and Automation

Automation has remained in the realms of only those able to afford the large fixed systems of conveyors and sorters. Technology has now reached a point of maturity where robots can be produced at scale cheaply, providing more flexibility and opening up a huge new market. The sharp spikes in demand for online shopping and next-day delivery, together with the tight labour market, create strong incentives to invest in automation and robots. To what degree will robots become common across global logistics? And will the benefits be felt widely or just among the biggest companies?

Digital Technologies in Supply Chains

Logistics has been slow to digitalise. For example, bills of lading to get goods off of ships were mainly still paper-based and flown by plane until the pandemic pushed the industry to accelerate going digital. Customers clamour for more granular information on the movement of their cargo that digital tools in the supply chain promise to deliver. Hopeful challengers in the freight sector are trying to create the industry's own Uber or Booking.com that can provide a marketplace platform for logistics services. Freight transportation groups hope to integrate digital technologies into their operations to improve efficiency. A whole clutch of start-ups with lots of private capital behind them claim to be disrupting the industry. What are the challenges and opportunities when it comes to introducing digital technologies into logistics?

The Sustainability of Rapid Delivery

Online shopping consumers demand faster, more convenient and cheaper delivery at the click of their finger. However, grocery delivery and next-day service providers are struggling to find a way to offer these services in a profitable way. Are these services sustainable in the long-term and can logistics groups find a way to make them profitable? Will consumers keep demanding more at a lower cost or will their preferences soften towards a greater willingness to pay more for high-end services and less for longer waits and consolidated shipments?

Information

■ Recently published FT Special Reports can be viewed at www.ft.com/specialreports 

A full list of published reports can be viewed at http://www.ft.com/reports/library Forthcoming FT Special Reports and their synopsis can be downloaded via the 

Future Reports link on the www.ft.com/specialreports page. 

For website assistance please call + (0) 20 7775 6297.

This editorial synopsis must not be amended in any way by anyone other than the Editor of Special Reports. 

All submissions or suggestions for editorial features should be sent to reports@ft.com 

This is to ensure all suggestions can be assessed and to enable the editorial team to cope with the huge volume of approaches that would otherwise stop them from doing their work. Due to the volume of approaches the editorial team are unable to confirm receipt or respond to all enquiries. 

Advertisement and Sponsorship Information

For details of the advertising and sponsorship opportunities please contact:

Aman Dogra +44 (0)20 7808790 530/ +49 (0)69 1568 5128, aman.dogra@ft.com

or your usual Financial Times representative.

Please note the advertising representatives cannot assist with editorial approaches or other editorial matters. Please be advised Financial Times advertisers and sponsors have no influence on editorial content.

Fixed Income 2

The Financial Times proposes to publish this FT Report

in 2 online bursts on 8 November 2021 and 29 November 2021

and in print on 29 November 2021

We plan to include the following 6 articles and 3 pieces of rich media content:

(please note that this list is provisional):

BURST 3, 8 NOVEMBER & Burst 4, 29 November

Article 1: Bond ETFs  

After passing the March 2020 liquidity crisis test with flying colours many analysts forecast that 2021 would be a bumper year for bond ETFs. However, inflation fears, the threat of Fed tapering and continued uncertainties have made the market so complex that, with the threat of 10-year Treasury yields rising, even Bill Gross said bonds are 'trash'. Despite the concerns, many segments of the bond ETF market have performed well and, in the first half, active managers across nearly all fixed income segments (EM bonds excluded) beat benchmarks.  

Article 2: China Bond Default Fallout

Deepening worries over Chinese property group Evergrande ignited selling in the Asian debt market, showing how the crisis at one company can spreading to other bonds and assets. Could the crisis of confidence in the bonds of leveraged companies spread? Should investors be looking out for the next company to hit trouble? Or is this confined to just one sector? 

Article 3: Junk Bonds - Risk Unrewarded?  

Even high-yield debt, often disparagingly known as “junk”, now trades with a yield well below the annual inflation rate in the eurozone. Investors are perfectly happy to take a real-terms loss on lending to the continent’s riskiest issuers. So, are some some investors are taking on outsized risks? 

Article 4: Post-pandemic Bond Markets

The electronification of bond markets has really picked up during the pandemic and doesn't seem to be slowing. But trading conditions in Treasury and other fixed income markets have been poor, as banks have stepped back from trading post Dodd-Frank reforms. 

Article 5: ESG and Bonds Funds  

Investors focused on environmental, social and governance standards are having to think carefully about the bond funds they back - as well as the equity funds they hold. Emerging markets bonds funds can buy debt issued by regimes that ESG investors cannot support - such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Similarly, corporate bond funds can back controversial companies - JPMorgan funds were recently found to have invested in the debt of private prison operator CoreCivic despite vowing to stop financing these operations. So what can bond fund managers and investors do to uphold ESG principles?

Article 6: Are Cryptocurrency “Yield Farming” Facilities Fixed-Income Investments?  

Cryptocurrency trading platforms are offering investors another way to make money: by lending out their coins in return for an interest payment or yield. This year, yields  on crypto balances have been rising, with annual rates ranging about 7 to 12 per cent for various coins such as bitcoin and “stablecoins” including tether. But are these legitimate fixed income investments? Regulators do not think so: the US Securities and Exchange Commission has warned that it will sue crypto exchange Coinbase if it launches a new digital asset lending product.

Rich Media 1: LIVE Online Q&A on Bonds and Fixed Income 

Reader questions answered live by FT capital markets correspondent Tommy Stubbington and FT US capital markets correspondent Kate Duguid 

Call for questions 1 November, live answers 3 November, edited highlights published 11 November   

Rich Media 2: In Charts: Bond Fund Inflows/ Outflows

Which types of bond fund have seen the highest inflows and outflows in the past12 months?  

Rich Media 3: Charticle: Green Bonds and the Sustainable Debt Market

Charts updated to November 2022

Information

■ Recently published FT Special Reports can be viewed at www.ft.com/specialreports 

A full list of published reports can be viewed at http://www.ft.com/reports/library Forthcoming FT Special Reports and their synopsis can be downloaded via the 

Future Reports link on the www.ft.com/specialreports page. 

For website assistance please call + (0) 20 7775 6297.

This editorial synopsis must not be amended in any way by anyone other than the Editor of Special Reports. 

All submissions or suggestions for editorial features should be sent to reports@ft.com 

This is to ensure all suggestions can be assessed and to enable the editorial team to cope with the huge volume of approaches that would otherwise stop them from doing their work. Due to the volume of approaches the editorial team are unable to confirm receipt or respond to all enquiries. 

Advertisement and Sponsorship Information

For details of the advertising and sponsorship opportunities please contact:

Chris Holt,  +44 (0)7415136450, chris.holt@ft.com

or your usual Financial Times representative.

Please note the advertising representatives cannot assist with editorial approaches or other editorial matters. Please be advised Financial Times advertisers and sponsors have no influence on editorial content.

Energy Efficiency

The Financial Times proposes to publish this Special Report over two bursts:

Burst 1 - 06 December 2021 (digital only)

Burst 2 - 17 December 2021 (print & digital)

We plan to include the following features (please note that this list is provisional):

Energy-efficiency Labelling Reforms

Looking at the UK and EU consumer appliance regulations and the energy-efficiency labelling reforms.  Are they achieving behaviour change? 

Or would it be better just to ban outmoded wasteful appliances?

OpEd

Why is more efficient or lower use of energy - as opposed to "greening" energy so often neglected and treated as an afterthought?

Equipment Suppliers

A lot of capital goods company analysts are looking at whether these companies deserve to be re-rated because they supply goods that help energy efficiency.

Europe's Energy Efficiency Progress

Despite being the country that brokered the Paris climate accords, France itself has recognised that the energy efficiency of its homes is poor - relative to the standards of Germany and even the UK.  So what difference will Macron's election commitment to improve the efficiency of its housing stock make? Can he win the battle against

"passoires thermiques" (thermal sieves)?

India's State-led Efficiency Drive

Is India’s policy of centralised, state-controlled procurement of energy-absorbing appliances working?

Information

■ Recently published FT Special Reports can be viewed at www.ft.com/specialreports 

A full list of published reports can be viewed at http://www.ft.com/reports/library Forthcoming FT Special Reports and their synopsis can be downloaded via the 

Future Reports link on the www.ft.com/specialreports page. 

For website assistance please call + (0) 20 7775 6297.

This editorial synopsis must not be amended in any way by anyone other than the Editor of Special Reports. 

All submissions or suggestions for editorial features should be sent to reports@ft.com 

This is to ensure all suggestions can be assessed and to enable the editorial team to cope with the huge volume of approaches that would otherwise stop them from doing their work. Due to the volume of approaches the editorial team are unable to confirm receipt or respond to all enquiries. 

Advertisement and Sponsorship Information

For details of the advertising and sponsorship opportunities please contact:

Rebecca Nolimaio on +44 (0)7935 202240, rebecca.nolimaio@ft.com

or your usual Financial Times representative.

Please note the advertising representatives cannot assist with editorial approaches or other editorial matters. Please be advised that Financial Times advertisers and sponsors have no influence on editorial content.

Business Education: European Business Schools

The Financial Times proposes to publish this FT Report on 06 December, 2021

We are likely to include the following articles (please note that this list is provisional):

Introduction

How are European business schools faring after an extraordinary period of disruption in the pandemic. We look at the ways schools have responded to changes in demand for different programmes - and how Covid has affected the way they are taught. 

Editor’s Letter:  Looking at developments in business education and our coverage. 

Analysis

What does this year’s Financial Times ranking of European Business Schools tell us about trends in the market? 

Management Column

Andrew Hill, the FT’s management editor, explores current thinking around leadership. 

Professor’s Column

A business school professor shares thoughts and research on challenges facing business today. 

Charting European Schools

The FT’s rankings team use graphics to explore trends in the data that went to make up this year’s ranking.

Health

Covid has highlighted the urgent need to address fundamental weaknesses in health systems worldwide and European business schools are responding with the launch of healthcare management programmes.   

How I Did It

An in-depth interview with a graduate, exploring why they studied at business school and what it has meant for their career.   

Arts

The pandemic hit arts and culture particularly hard, with audiences and revenues disappearing. The situation has underscored the importance of management and business skills and schools are responding with new programmes. 

Alliances

This year a group of leading business schools launched the European Common Online Learning (ECOL) alliance, to provide “an international experience at home” for students who couldn’t travel because of Covid. How significant are such alliances and how important is it to establish a common European curriculum? 

Technology

An FT tech specialist explores developments that will affect business and our working lives. 

Student Views

EMBA students and graduates share their experiences of study and what came next.

In Real Life

A graduate explains in their own words what it was like to study and how it has affected their life and work.  

Editorial information:

Special Reports are written by FT staff journalists and a small number of selected freelance writers. They will be specialists in the field and already have regular contacts to update them. It is therefore difficult for an unsolicited submission to be so compelling that it forces its way on to a writer’s agenda. However, it does happen occasionally. We ask that all submissions be sent to ftreports@ft.com, from where they are forwarded to the appropriate writer.

Please also note that due to the volume of material received, it is not always possible to acknowledge or reply to every submission.

■ Recently published Surveys and FT Reports, as well as a list of forthcoming FT Reports and their synopses can be downloaded by going to www.ft.com/special-reports and clicking on the link to the Reports library.

For website assistance please call + (0) 20 7775 6297.

■ Back issues of printed Survey and FT Reports can be obtained from: Historic Newspapers, Signature Online Limited, No 1 waterside Station Road, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 4US; Tel. no: 0870 165 1470; Fax no: 01582 469 248; or email: info@back-issue-newspapers.co.uk

This editorial synopsis must not be amended in any way by anyone other than the Editor of Supplements and Special Reports.

Advertisement and Sponsorship Information

For details of the advertising and sponsorship opportunities please contact:

Rachel Spence +44 (0)20 7873 3290, rachel.spence@ft.com

Jackie King +1 917 551 5113, jackie.king@ft.com

or your usual Financial Times representative.

Please note the advertising representatives cannot assist with editorial approaches or other editorial matters. Please be advised Financial Times advertisers and sponsors have no influence on editorial content.

African Banking and Finance

The Financial Times proposes to publish this FT Report on 17 December 2021

We plan to include the following features (please note that this list is provisional):

Introduction

Banks in Africa are seeking to recover from the worst recession in decades and its inevitable impact on non-performing loans. Nor has the continent, which has the lowest vaccination rates in the world, properly emerged from the pandemic. The impact of the pandemic has been more structural too, by accelerating the trend towards online banking and forcing some banks to speed up their IT plans. There is also more demand for regional banking as companies respond to continental trade integration, still in its nascent phase. Finally, competition with fintech is hotting up. Money, some from Silicon Valley, is pouring into fintech companies, challenger banks and other start-ups, from Cairo and Lagos to Nairobi and Johannesburg. How are established banks adapting to this shifting environment? 

South African Banks

Standard Bank, FirstRand, Absa, Nedbank and Investec, the five biggest lenders in Africa's most industrialised nation, are emerging from the pandemic as dominant as ever, with about 90 per cent of South Africa's banking assets. How will they navigate the post-pandemic economy, at home and in Africa as a whole? In a country where most people have a bank account but few ordinary South Africans turn to bank loans, what is the scope for improving access to finance? And what of government plans to foster a state bank? 

Kenya

Three of Kenya’s largest banks have been aggressively expanding across east and central Africa in recent years, in a push to become regional financial players. Nairobi is also trying to position itself as an international financial centre to match others on the continent, from Casablanca to Cape Town. Meanwhile, one leading Kenyan bank is providing services to refugees in camps in Kenya in a push for financial inclusion.

Plus: one leading Kenyan bank is providing services to some of the 500,000 refugees living in camps in Kenya in a push for financial inclusion

Morocco 

Two of Africa’s top 10 biggest banks by tier-one capital are Moroccan, with two more just outside that ranking. The biggest banks have continental aspirations and play a role in financing Morocco’s concerted investment push into sub-Saharan Africa. We look at the changing role of some of the most dynamic banks on the continent. 

Nigerian banks and the currency conundrum

How banks in Africa's biggest economy are navigating a central bank that has a focus on maintaining a strong naira. How are the quasi-capital controls, which have left investors waiting months to repatriate profits and many local companies unable to source foreign exchange, impacting the banks themselves? Nigeria has some of the most sophisticated banks on the continent, the biggest of which have a strong regional footprint. 

Somaliland

How remittance companies, founded and run by businesspeople from the unrecognised state of Somaliland, are competing globally. 

Mortgage Finance and Leasing

These two products, relatively new in Africa, are an area of strategic focus for several banks in a sign that institutions are responding to the needs of an emerging urban middle class. This article will examine the prospects for these two areas of finance and their impact in fostering economic activity. 

Interview

The FT sits down with the new head of the International Finance Corporation, to discuss the bank's priorities in Africa - from funding small and medium enterprises to promoting green finance and women's economic participation.

Information

■ Recently published FT Special Reports can be viewed at www.ft.com/specialreports 

A full list of published reports can be viewed at http://www.ft.com/reports/library Forthcoming FT Special Reports and their synopsis can be downloaded via the 

Future Reports link on the www.ft.com/specialreports page. 

For website assistance please call + (0) 20 7775 6297.

This editorial synopsis must not be amended in any way by anyone other than the Editor of Special Reports. 

All submissions or suggestions for editorial features should be sent to reports@ft.com 

This is to ensure all suggestions can be assessed and to enable the editorial team to cope with the huge volume of approaches that would otherwise stop them from doing their work. Due to the volume of approaches the editorial team are unable to confirm receipt or respond to all enquiries. 

Advertisement and Sponsorship Information

For details of the advertising and sponsorship opportunities please contact:

Mark Carwardine: +44 (0)20 7873 4880, mark.carwardine@ft.com

Larry Kenney: +44 (0)20 7873 4835, larry.kenney@ft.com

or your usual Financial Times representative.

Please note the advertising representatives cannot assist with editorial approaches or other editorial matters. Please be advised, Financial Times advertisers and sponsors have no influe

Investing in Austria

The Financial Times proposes to publish this FT Report on 29 November 2021

We plan to include the following features (please note that this list is provisional):

Interview: Dynatrace Founder Bernd Greifender

How an Austrian tech startup became a top five performer on the NYSE and one of the best performing tech stocks worldwide during the pandemic. 

Austria's Hidden Business Champions

Austria has an estimated 175-200 'hidden champions': mid-size and often highly specialist and highly profitable businesses that are the powerhouses of the Austrian economy. They are typically key parts of global manufacturing supply chains - but they are also unknown names to most investors and consumers outside of Austria. Who are some of them and how has Austria been so successful in fostering them? 

Profile: Female Founders

Europe's biggest and fastest growing network for female entrepreneurs is based in Vienna. What is their mission, and what is it like to be a woman in business in Austria. 

Tax and Corporation Law Reforms: Where are we Now? 

Making Austria a better place to do business was a key plank of the 2020 Austrian government's manifesto. But Corona has thrown everything into doubt. An ambitious plan to lower corporation tax this autumn has already floundered. What is the government's current plans and what are some of the legal and tax peculiarities about setting up and running a business in Austria compared to other European countries. 

Austria's Startup Scene 

Vienna and Linz have emerged as significant European start-up hubs. What has made the two so successful, and what are the advantages for startups in Austria?

Austria's Green Deal 

When the Green Party entered a coalition government with the Austrian Conservatives in 2020, reforming tax and benefits to the advantage of green, sustainable businesses was a centrepiece of the government agenda. What has happened so far, and can Austria realise its ambition of becoming a European hub for Green enterprise? 

Interview: Austrian Chamber of Commerce President

Chamber of commerce president Harald Mahrer has been very keen to speak with us in the past. A former senior politician.

Living outside Vienna

Austria's capital typically tops global rankings of the world's most liveable cities, but what is life like for expats or business visitors in Austria's other major urban centres - and commercial and startup hubs - Linz, Graz, Salzburg.

[Possible] 

Opinion Column

It's still not what you know but who Austria has great ambitions to be an outward looking and modern tech-driven economy. But society - and the business world - is still dominated by networks of patronage and political influence in a way that very few outside of Austria appreciate. 

Information

■ Recently published FT Special Reports can be viewed at www.ft.com/specialreports 

A full list of published reports can be viewed at http://www.ft.com/reports/library Forthcoming FT Special Reports and their synopsis can be downloaded via the 

Future Reports link on the www.ft.com/specialreports page. 

For website assistance please call + (0) 20 7775 6297.

This editorial synopsis must not be amended in any way by anyone other than the Editor of Special Reports. 

All submissions or suggestions for editorial features should be sent to reports@ft.com 

This is to ensure all suggestions can be assessed and to enable the editorial team to cope with the huge volume of approaches that would otherwise stop them from doing their work. Due to the volume of approaches the editorial team are unable to confirm receipt or respond to all enquiries. 

Advertisement and Sponsorship Information

For details of the advertising and sponsorship opportunities please contact:

Gerd Rozler +43 664 326 5326, office@financialtimes.at 

Robert Grange +44 (0)20 7873 4418, robert.grange@ft.com

or your usual Financial Times representative.

Please note the advertising representatives cannot assist with editorial approaches or other editorial matters. Please be advised, Financial Times advertisers and sponsors have no influence on editorial content.

Circular Economy

The Financial Times proposes to publish this Special Report over two burst:

Burst 1 - 17 January 2022 (digital only)

Burst 2 - 03 February 2022 (digital & print)

We plan to include the following features (please note that this list is provisional):

Too many failures, or the best that could be expected? 

Whatever the verdict on COP26, the parties made proposals for real action and pledged to reconvene at COP27 within a year to show how those promises are playing out. 

In this report, we examine how words can be translated by businesses and society into an on the ground revolution in making, using and re-using. 

Fashion

The rise of resale, rental and thrift-flipping. A familiar idea associated with charity shops and second-hand retailers, we look at moves by household names to explore this trend, which is being driven by younger consumers. 

Plus: A personal point of view on reusing  

Construction

Focus on cement. The sector stands out as one of the “hard-to-abate” industries - those facing the greatest challenges in overhauling themselves to reduce effect on the environment. We look at developments that aim to cut its impact on the environment, such as its high use of energy.

Car Manufacturing:  The "Circular Car"

Much focus is rightly on emissions from fuel; but some carmakers are also reviewing the life cycle of materials, the resource-use in manufacturing processes, and making cars easier to repair and refurbish.

Packaging

Covid-19 has greatly increased the use of plastic, generating piles of waste but also reminders of its protective qualities. How could its use be curtailed? And what practical solutions are emerging to reuse plastic waste?

Plus: Would mandating compostable packaging be either practical or optimal? 

Design

The Circular Economy calls for extending the lifespan of a product. We look at designers’ ideas for incorporating features such as reuse and add-ons at the outset.

Focus on building design that emphasises modular buildings. 

Agriculture:  Regenerative Agriculture

We look at the waste products created by agriculture and how they could be reused - either on the farm, or turned into raw materials for other industries? 

Plus: Case studies from Big Agriculture.

Plus: Focus on soil

Depletion of soil across the world is well-documented. We look at why it is so important, and moves to restore it.

Oceans

Food and pharma producers are increasingly interested in seaweed as a resource. What will best practice in managing sustainable harvests look like? 

Architecture

From regulation to aesthetics, what are the hurdles to greater use of natural materials in buildings? 

Image Issues

Reuse and recycling are not new but they remain stubbornly unprestigious: lessons from the past that could help improve their appeal 

Energy

Who are the first movers in developing clean energy? What challenges do they face now?

Measurement Matters

Investors are increasingly pressing for clear, standardised information from companies on environmental, social and governance risks. We look at the bodies working on standards that would be widely accepted, and what they might look like 

Start-ups

Small companies have lots of bright ideas. How can they get their innovations taken up by big business, which has the expertise, infrastructure and finance to scale up?

Opinion

Column by someone with expertise in the Circular Economy

In Real Life

Case studies highlighting innovation and best practice in the Circular Economy, with an emphasis on biodiversity  

Information

■ Recently published FT Special Reports can be viewed at www.ft.com/specialreports 

A full list of published reports can be viewed at http://www.ft.com/reports/library Forthcoming FT Special Reports and their synopsis can be downloaded via the 

Future Reports link on the www.ft.com/specialreports page. 

For website assistance please call + (0) 20 7775 6297.

This editorial synopsis must not be amended in any way by anyone other than the Editor of Special Reports. 

All submissions or suggestions for editorial features should be sent to reports@ft.com 

This is to ensure all suggestions can be assessed and to enable the editorial team to cope with the huge volume of approaches that would otherwise stop them from doing their work. Due to the volume of approaches the editorial team are unable to confirm receipt or respond to all enquiries. 

Advertisement and Sponsorship Information

For details of the advertising and sponsorship opportunities please contact:

Ashley Hamilton +44 +44 (0)7565 060 179, ashley.hamilton@ft.com

Caitlin O’Sullivan +44 (0)20 7873 3743, caitlin.osullivan@ft.com

Oliver Higgs +44 (0)20 7775 6823, oliver.higgs@ft.com

Nick Phillips on +44 (0)20 7873 4216, nick.phillips@ft.com

or your usual Financial Times representative.

Please note the advertising representatives cannot assist with editorial approaches or other editorial matters. Please be advised Financial Times advertisers and sponsors have no influence on editorial content.

The World

The Financial Times proposes to publish this FT Report over 19 January 2022

We plan to include the following features (please note that this list is provisional):

Geopolitics in 2022:  Analysis by the FT's chief political commentator

Global Economy in 2022:  Analysis by the FT's chief economics commentator

The US Political Landscape in 2022

Business and Climate OpEd

How can business/consumption/capitalism-as-usual be compatible with any serious attempt to stop climate change? Is this delusional?

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Have #MeToo and BLM been the game-changers they appeared to be?

Technology: Is the backlash against Facebook and Big Tech likely to continue?

Healthcare

Covid has exposed the glaring inequalities in healthcare across the world. Are there any credible efforts to address these? And how ready are we for the next pandemic?

Trade/ Supply Chains

The grounding of the EverGiven and the dearth of chips for cars have highlighted the vulnerabilities of the world’s supply chains. Can we look forward to more of the same in 2022?

China's Xi Jinping

What are the global risks from Chinese economic tremors and military muscle-flexing?

Financial Markets, One Year on From GameStop

Have the retail investors meekly gone back to their corner?

Information

■ Recently published FT Special Reports can be viewed at www.ft.com/specialreports 

A full list of published reports can be viewed at http://www.ft.com/reports/library Forthcoming FT Special Reports and their synopsis can be downloaded via the 

Future Reports link on the www.ft.com/specialreports page. 

For website assistance please call + (0) 20 7775 6297.

This editorial synopsis must not be amended in any way by anyone other than the Editor of Special Reports. 

All submissions or suggestions for editorial features should be sent to reports@ft.com 

This is to ensure all suggestions can be assessed and to enable the editorial team to cope with the huge volume of approaches that would otherwise stop them from doing their work. Due to the volume of approaches the editorial team are unable to confirm receipt or respond to all enquiries. 

Advertisement and Sponsorship Information

For details of the advertising and sponsorship opportunities please contact:

Charlotte Morgan +44 (0) 20 7775 6822, charlotte.morgan@ft.com

or your usual Financial Times representative.

Please note the advertising representatives cannot assist with editorial approaches or other editorial matters. Please be advised Financial Times advertisers and sponsors have no influence on editorial content.

FT Scoreboard:

The Business of Cricket

The Financial Times proposes to publish this FT Report on February 05, 2022 

We plan to include the following features (please note that this list is provisional):

Introduction: The State of English Cricket

Following a tumultuous two years where global cricket was disrupted by the pandemic, 2022 appears in the year that sports bodies hope to return to growth. That will allow Tom Harrison, chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board, to implement his bold vision for the future of the sport in the UK. He was the driving force behind the creation of The Hundred, a new short form tournament screened on Sky and the BBC this year. But he still needs to safeguard the main moneymaker for English cricket: Test matches. How will he reconcile the rise of short form cricket with maintaining interest in the longer form? What is he doing to revive participation rates in the sport at grassroots level, while maintaining the sports appeal among broadcasters and sponsors? How can the sport compete for eyeballs against football, Formula One and the myriad other sports trying to appeal for the same audiences. We sit down with Harrison to diagnose the state of the English game post-covid.

How the IPL Might get even Richer

The Indian Premier League has become a multi-billion dollar business. The tournament is the highlight of a sporting calendar for a country of 1.4bn, each season attracting record viewership and higher advertising spend despite the pandemic’s disruption. The world’s best players flock to a competition where they are paid more for two-months work, compared to the rest of their earnings across the year. 

What’s next? Its broadcasting contract with Disney’s Star Sports expires soon, with US technology giants such as Amazon and Facebook hinting they could bid for the rights. Franchises have begun to sell stakes to big American investors. The influx of new capital, particularly from the US, may just fund more boom times for the IPL and cement India’s power over the global game.

Is The Hundred a Success?

There were many detractors when English cricket launched “The Hundred”, a new short form tournament delayed a year. But the idea had worthy goals: tackle falling interest in the sport and participation rates in recreational cricket. The ECB insists the effort to reach beyond the sport’s traditionalists has been a success: more than 10m people watched the tournament on television, many of whom will have been newcomers to the game. That was helped by ensuring games could be viewed on free-to-air television on the BBC. 450,000 people attended matches in person, including womens games that were run as double headers alongside men’s matches. Roughly 60 per cent of attendees were under 45, with women making up about a fifth. But can The Hundred establish itself as more than a novelty in its second year? That will require smarter broadcasting, attracting more star players from abroad, and supporters becoming tied to city-based franchises rather than casual viewers looking for a fun night out. 

The Future of Test Cricket

New Zealand became the first World Test champions, beating India in a rain-affected but ultimately thrilling final at Lord’s in 2021. The new trophy was meant to breathe new life into the ancient format, a way of creating a reason to follow the disparate series happening year around between Test match nations. It’s not clear that just creating a World Championship is enough. Outside England and Australia, Test matches rarely fill stadiums and the global viewership is ageing. What can the International Cricket Council, the global governing body, do to arrest these alarming trends? 

The Business of The Ashes 

The one Test series that retains its allure is the Ashes. Australian and English players - each nation’s fans - still consider lifting the urn the pinnacle of the sport. The event continues to attract the world’s biggest broadcasters. Discovery entered the running to screen the 2021 Ashes in the UK, seeking to challenge BT Sport for the rights. The series also underpins the ECB’s more than £1bn rights deal with Sky, with further income from sponsors such as LV=insurance. We analyse the revenues and business behind the world’s greatest Test series.

The Rise of the Women’s Game, and the Barriers to Parity

The 12th Women’s World Cup takes place in New Zealand in 2022, another event that has been postponed a year due to the pandemic. It takes place with the women’s game on the rise, particularly with substantial new money flowing into the game in heavyweight nations such as England, Australia and India - all three being among the favourites for the coveted trophy.  But further investment is required to professionalise the women’s game globally, to ensure it is a spectacle that can entice television companies to screen games. More funding is needed to market matches to new audiences. Only then can female players hope to not just move closer to pay parity with their male counterparts, but earn enough to consider cricket a worthwhile career to pursue.

Merchandising: Why a Startup is Betting on Cricket to Power Sportswear Sales 

Castore is a five-year-old Liverpool-based sportswear business that is seeking to take on global behemoths such as Nike and Adidas. To do so, it has begun to sign endorsement deals with sports teams and athletes, such as tennis star Sir Andy Murray and English Premier League teams Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle United. But Castore has also signed new kitwear deals with the bodies that run English and West Indies cricket teams in the past two years. Why? Because the company’s strategy is to associate with sports groups and figures that have escaped the attention of its bigger, wealthier rivals. Castore also wants its brand noticed by cricket-obsessed, affluent men aged 35-50. We interview Tom Beahon, Castore’s 31-year-old chief executive, on why cricket might just power the rise of a new sportswear giant.

Column: (Matthew Engel? Simon Hughes? Ed Smith?) 

A star columnist is invited to reflects on the future of the game

Information

■ Recently published FT Special Reports can be viewed at www.ft.com/specialreports 

A full list of published reports can be viewed at http://www.ft.com/reports/library Forthcoming FT Special Reports and their synopsis can be downloaded via the 

Future Reports link on the www.ft.com/specialreports page. 

For website assistance please call + (0) 20 7775 6297.

This editorial synopsis must not be amended in any way by anyone other than the Editor of Special Reports. 

All submissions or suggestions for editorial features should be sent to reports@ft.com 

This is to ensure all suggestions can be assessed and to enable the editorial team to cope with the huge volume of approaches that would otherwise stop them from doing their work. Due to the volume of approaches the editorial team are unable to confirm receipt or respond to all enquiries. 

Advertisement and Sponsorship Information

For details of the advertising and sponsorship opportunities please contact:

Tom Da Costa on +44 (0)20 7873 4569, tom.dacosta@ft.com

or your usual Financial Times representative.

Please note the advertising representatives cannot assist with editorial approaches or other editorial matters. Please be advised, Financial Times advertisers and sponsors have no influence on editorial content.

FT Business Education: 

Global MBA Ranking 2022

The Financial Times plans to publish this magazine on February 14 2022.

Advertising booking deadline: January 17 2022

(Advertising copy deadline: January 24 2022)

We are likely to include the following articles (please note that this list is provisional):

Introduction

An analysis of the leading business schools for MBA programmes and the underlying trends amid turbulent times.

Editor‘s Letter

Looking at developments in business education and our coverage. 

Management Column

Andrew Hill, the FT’s management editor, explores current thinking around leadership. 

Professor’s Column 

A business school professor shares their thoughts and research on challenges facing ethical business today. 

Charting MBA Data

The FT’s rankings team use graphics to explore trends in the data that went to make up this year’s list.

Study Time?

2020 was a record year for MBA applications and the trend continued into 2021. But admissions consultants say a growing job market and the emergence of new Covid variants is making some prospective students think twice. Is now the right time to apply for an MBA?

Top Profs

Business schools need the best professors to attract the best students and deans say wage costs are rising as they compete for the top academics. Increasingly, schools are hiring industry executives to teach classes and academics are coming under pressure to demonstrate the real-world impact of research and adapt to online teaching.

Careers

How is the jobs market looking for the covid graduates? Many of those who started MBAs to escape a torrid labour market in the early days of the pandemic have now graduated. Has the gamble paid off, and have they managed to move into new careers or sectors?

Case Study

It is a century since the first teaching case was launched by Harvard. We look back at the groundbreaking case - on The General Shoe Company - and the importance of the model.

Interview

An in-depth interview with a graduate about their studies and what their MBA has meant for their career.

Applications: Expert advice on successful applications to MBA programmes

Student Views

MBA students and graduates share their experiences of study and what came next.

Technology

An FT tech specialist explores developments that will affect business and our working lives. 

Books: Recent titles of interest to students.  

In Real Life

A graduate explains what it was like to take an MBA and how it has affected their career, in their own words.  

Editorial information:

Special Reports are written by FT staff journalists and a small number of selected freelance writers. They will be specialists in the field and already have regular contacts to update them. It is therefore difficult for an unsolicited submission to be so compelling that it forces its way on to a writer’s agenda. However, it does happen occasionally. We ask that all submissions be sent to ftreports@ft.com, from where they are forwarded to the appropriate writer.

Please also note that due to the volume of material received, it is not always possible to acknowledge or reply to every submission.

■ Recently published Surveys and FT Reports, as well as a list of forthcoming FT Reports and their synopses can be downloaded by going to www.ft.com/special-reports and clicking on the link to the Reports library.

For website assistance please call + (0) 20 7775 6297.

■ Back issues of printed Survey and FT Reports can be obtained from: Historic Newspapers, Signature Online Limited, No 1 waterside Station Road, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 4US; Tel. no: 0870 165 1470; Fax no: 01582 469 248; or email: info@back-issue-newspapers.co.uk

This editorial synopsis must not be amended in any way by anyone other than the Editor of Supplements and Special Reports.

Advertisement Information

For further details of advertising opportunities, please contact:

Jackie King +1 917 551 5113, jackie.king@ft.com

Matthew Rodford +44 79212 50719, matthew.rodford@ft.com

Rachel Spence +44 (0)20 7873 3290, rachel.spence@ft.com

or your usual Financial Times representative.

Please note the advertising representatives cannot assist with editorial approaches or other editorial matters. Please be advised that Financial Times advertisers and sponsors have no influence on editorial content.

Brazil in 2022

The Financial Times proposes to publish this FT Report on 23 March 2022

We plan to include the following features (please note that this list is provisional):

Introduction: Brazil in 2022

Latin America's biggest economy faces a crossroads in 2022. What promises to be a highly divisive presidential election will pit incumbent hard-right president Jair Bolsarno against veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as the country struggles to emerge from one of the world's worst coronavirus epidemics and put the economy back on track. After four years of Bolsonaro's Trumpian brand of populism, Brazilians long for a moderate, pragmatic administration but they are highly unlikely to get it. 

Interview with Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro

[An interview has been requested but cannot be guaranteed]

Brazil’s Economy and Reforms 

Brazil's business lobby were enthusiastic supporters of the Bolsonaro government, hoping it would deliver major reforms to overhaul taxation and curb a bloated and costly state. But as the president enters his final year, many of those hopes have been frustrated and most of the structural change awaits the next government. Can Brazil overcome a chronic inability to improve its infrastructure and boost its international competitiveness or is it destined to remain mainly a commodity exporter? 

Brazil, Governance and Social Change

Environmental issues dominate the debate in Brazil, but the social aspect of ESG is hugely important. Despite accounting for almost 60 per cent of the country’s 210m population, black Brazilians occupy less than 5 per cent of executive positions and 5 per cent of seats on company boards. What progress is Brazil making on racial issues? Interview/profile of Edvaldo Vieira, chief executive of healthcare group Amil.

Elections of 2022

Two titans of Brazilian politics are poised to square off in 2022. But where and how will the election be decided? Dispatch from the battleground northeast, where both Lula and Bolsonaro are vying for crucial swing voters. What are the issues that will decide the election?

Brazil’s Droughts - The Climate Challenge

Increasingly severe droughts threaten Brazilian agriculture and industry, while environmental migration looms as a new obstacle for Latin America. What is being done now to stave off the climate crisis in Brazil? Will a potential Lula administration change tack on the environment?

Privatising Brazil 

Brazil is in many ways an outlier in driving ahead with an ambitious privatisation programme. A planned multibillion dollar sale of shares in state-controlled power utility Eletrobras is a pillar of the government’s liberal economic agenda and will test the water ahead of the proposed privatisation of Brazil’s postal service. What are investors being offered and will they buy into it?

Start-up Fundraising

This year has already smashed records for start-up fundraising and the momentum promises to continue in 2022. What accounts for the success of Brazil’s start-up sector and which companies are hitting the big time?

Brazil’s Science Heroes  

The Butantan biomedical institute emerged as one of the heroes of the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to its production of the Chinese CoronaVac jab and the creation of its own vaccine. What is the future for this poster child of Brazilian science post Covid? 

Security in Brazil

Security and violence dominated the election that brought Jair Bolsonaro to power in 2018. Will it loom so large in 2022? In recent years, gang violence has shifted away from cities like Sao Paulo towards the north of Brazil as drug traffickers take advantage of Amazonian riverine arteries.

Brazil’s Wine Industry 

Brazil has long been an agribusiness powerhouse, with much of its agribusiness and food industry centred in the region of Triângulo Mineiro. But there are some less likely food and beverage growth stories in the country also. Several specialist food and beverage industries are taking off unexpectedly in Brazil - including winemakers.

Information

■ Recently published FT Special Reports can be viewed at www.ft.com/specialreports 

A full list of published reports can be viewed at http://www.ft.com/reports/library Forthcoming FT Special Reports and their synopsis can be downloaded via the 

Future Reports link on the www.ft.com/specialreports page. 

For website assistance please call + (0) 20 7775 6297.

This editorial synopsis must not be amended in any way by anyone other than the Editor of Special Reports. 

All submissions or suggestions for editorial features should be sent to reports@ft.com 

This is to ensure all suggestions can be assessed and to enable the editorial team to cope with the huge volume of approaches that would otherwise stop them from doing their work. Due to the volume of approaches the editorial team are unable to confirm receipt or respond to all enquiries. 

Advertisement and Sponsorship Information

For details of the advertising and sponsorship opportunities please contact:

Alessandre Siano +55(11) 992 912 814, alessandre.siano@ft.com

Brendan Spain +1 917 794 8524, brendan.spain@ft.com

or your usual Financial Times representative.

Please note the advertising representatives cannot assist with editorial approaches or other editorial matters. Please be advised Financial Times advertisers and sponsors have no influence on editorial content.