The Korea Exchange (KRX) established the ESG Advisory Committee, an advisory body with external experts in the area of ESG policy as members, in order to play the role of leading the local capital market in encouraging ESG investment and creating a better environment for ESG disclosure. The first committee meeting was held on 3 November this year. The KRX ESG Advisory Committee will provide advice on making policies and preparing systems to create a more favorable ESG investment environment. Jaejun Im, Chairman of the KRX ESG Advisory Committee said, “We have the best experts we can find in the field of ESG as our committee members, so we expect to see ESG projects proceed in a more organized way, and to this end we are planning to make the advice and insight provided by the committee an important consideration in preparing ESG policies.”

KRX declares its support for TCFD

KRX joins the 'Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)' supporters and declares its support for the TCFD. Currently, roughly 1,500 organizations from 37 countries have joined the TCFD supporters. In Korea, the Ministry of Environment declared its support for TCFD last May as a government organization, and in the private sector, 15 mostly listed entities such as Shinhan Financial Group, KB Financial Group, POSCO, and SK Innovation have become TCFD supporters. Globally, the scale of ESG investment, which takes into account companies’ non-financial performances is rapidly increasing and the role of the exchange in promoting ESG information disclosure and responsible investment is becoming increasingly important. The declaration of support for TCFD by the KRX will serve as a starting point for expanding the disclosure of environmental information in the domestic capital market and will be the cornerstone of green growth. With its declaration of support for the TCFD, the Korea Exchange vows to continue its role and efforts to expand the scope of disclosure of ESG information, which in turn will lead to sustainable growth across businesses, markets and the economy of Korea as a whole. Mary Schapiro, TCFD Special Advisor, states that “KRX's participation in the TCFD will help Korea’s capital market make a big leap forward in responding to climate change in earnest and vitalizing investment in the ESG.” Video here.  

SSE Climate Disclosure Advisory Group

The SSE Climate Disclosure Advisory Group aims to support exchanges in providing guidance to their market on climate disclosure. The new workstream will assist stock exchanges in developing best practice reporting guidance for issuers to ensure globally consistent disclosures incorporating the recommendations from the FSB Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). This new project is being conducted under the auspices of Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance, in collaboration with our Co-Chairs for this Advisory Group, London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and Johannesburg Stock Exchange. More information here and here.