Ceres, BlackRock and other major institutional investors have begun an effort to engage global stock exchanges via the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) on a uniform reporting standard for sustainability reporting.
The launch includes specific recommendations for integrating environmental and social disclosure requirements into listing rules for companies listed on US and global stock exchanges. The proposal was developed by Ceres’ Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR) and its member-driven Investor Initiative for Sustainable Exchanges.
Over 100 institutional investors from six continents helped shape the listing standards proposal, which will undergo a comment period of several months’ duration. The start of the comment period coincides with the announcement that the WFE has launched a Sustainability Working Group to discuss and debate sustainability disclosure issues within the exchange community.
The recommendations are highlighted in the report Investor Listing Standards Proposal Recommendations for Stock Exchange Requirements on Corporate Sustainability Reporting.
NASDAQ OMX and Ceres have been working together for almost two years on this issue.
Cross-border collaboration by stock exchanges will help shift public companies towards more comparable and meaningful disclosure of environmental, social and governance risk factors, according to Black Rock.
Investors to more accurately value companies and make better informed investment decisions.”
