The Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative
Project Heather becomes an Observer Exchange
“A world where capital market signals align with public policy goals on sustainable development.”
This is the vision of the Sustainable Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, of which we have recently become an Observing Member. Launched in 2009 by the UN Secretary General, it convenes partner exchanges from all over the world who make the following public commitment:
We voluntarily commit, through dialogue with investors, companies and regulators, to promoting long term sustainable investment and improved environmental, social and corporate governance disclosure and performance among companies listed on our exchange.
As an initiative, it provides opportunities to build and engage in work streams; every two years it brings together leaders from stock exchanges, regulators, investors and companies to share best practices and produce a report on their improvement.
Above, you can see the key pillars it uses to achieve these goals, and the key Sustainable Development Goals it therefore supports.
As an Observer Exchange (we hope to become a Partner Exchange once live and operating), we have the opportunity to work with the SSE and its network to promote sustainable and transparency capital markets. Yesterday, we participated in a group call at which participating exchanges — from Chile to the US to Turkey — outlined how they had delivered workshops on ESG reporting, integrated reporting and reporting against the Sustainable Development Goals. Even in this first call, it was fantastic to feel part of a global community driving forward capital markets as a force for good. As we build the first impact-focused FCA-Recognised investment exchange, we are enormously excited to be part of this community.
