London Stock Exchange joins UN’s SSE

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group is to partner with the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative, joining nine other exchanges in the US, Europe, Africa and Asia to promote sustainable business practices among publicly listed companies worldwide.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the LSE Group committed to working with investors, companies and regulators to promote long-term sustainable investment and improved environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) disclosure and performance among companies listed on its exchanges.

“London Stock Exchange Group’s approach to corporate responsibility is founded on four pillars that are closely tied with how we operate as a business: our markets, our services, our people, and our community,” said Mark Makepeace, group director of information services, LSE Group. “Given our role at the heart of global financial markets, we are in a unique and privileged position to promote sustainability and corporate responsibility. Ultimately this is about supporting stable global long-term economic growth.”

“Only 3% of the world’s largest companies currently disclose information about their ESG performance. Better disclosure will improve the usefulness and comparability of information being reported in each market, enabling institutional investors to better manage risk and make more informed investment decisions,” said Fiona Reynolds, managing director, Principles for Responsible Investment.

Nine other exchanges have joined the UN SSE since it was launched in 2009: NYSE Euronext, NASDAQ OMX, Borsa Istanbul, BM&FBBovespa (Brazil), the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Egyptian Exchange, the Johannesburg Exchange, the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Warsaw Stock Exchange.