Intercontinental Exchange, a global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, recently announced that its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reference data platform now includes coverage of major public European companies, allowing users to make comparisons across companies, sectors and geographies. Key findings from the database showed significant differences in ESG reporting between the largest companies in Europe and the United States.
The most recent data shows meaningful differences in how companies in Europe and the US — represented by companies in the STOXX 600 Europe Index and the ICE US 1000 Index, respectively — approach and act on ESG issues. Below are some of the findings from ICE’s data:
ICE says that European companies are far more likely to have embraced ESG-related reporting and goals, while this remains a newer initiative among American companies. ESG infrastructure has existed for a longer time in Europe and there are regional and country-specific regulations that require specific disclosures and additional reporting requirements that do not exist in the US. Because of this, the demand for ESG products continues to grow and investors on both sides of the Atlantic are trying to satisfy these needs with more robust ESG data and analytics, according to ICE.