Why sustainability must also take hold on stock exchanges
Economy & innovation — di Valentina Neri
To change finance, you have to start from its key places: the United Nations programme for sustainability on stock exchanges is making progress.
Why sustainability must also take hold on stock exchanges
To change finance, you have to start from its key places: the United Nations programme for sustainability on stock exchanges is making progress.
If you want to promote sustainability in financial markets, where better to start than the stock exchange? This is the thinking behind the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative, which is gaining ever wider support. As of today, reveals the 2016 report just published by its promoters, no fewer than 58 stock exchanges have joined the programme, formally committing to making progress in terms of sustainability. This represents more than seventy per cent of all international stock exchange venues.
All the figures behind the Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative
The Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative was launched in 2009 by a consortium made up of Unctad (the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development), Global Compact, Unep-Fi (the partnership between the global financial sector and the United Nations Environment Programme) and Pri (the Principles for Responsible Investment).
The most recent member to join is Singapore, whose accession was announced just a few days ago. Of the 58 stock exchanges that have embraced the initiative, twelve have already included ESG (environmental, social and governance) reporting among their listing requirements. Fifteen, meanwhile, provide ESG guidelines to companies that issue securities. A further twenty-three have committed to doing so in the future.
Stock exchanges and the UN sustainable development goals
Stock exchanges, the United Nations stresses, can be an important player in achieving the sustainable development goals. The reference is, in particular, to the following:
Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Among the front-runners is the Egyptian Exchange, which recently formed an executive committee with fifty per cent female representation, encouraging listed companies to do the same.
Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. Here the example cited is the Elite programme in support of the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, which in April also arrived in Morocco, thanks to collaboration between the London Stock Exchange and the Casablanca Stock Exchange.
Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. A good example comes from the Santiago Stock Exchange, which is currently working on two fronts: it encourages listed companies to publish reports on ESG issues and, at the same time, invites investors to take them into account when choosing where to allocate their money.
Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. The Oslo Stock Exchange, for instance, is at the forefront of the green bond sector.
Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development. Deutsche Börse Group is an excellent case study, with its work on transparency and efficiency in the non-profit sector.