Regulation and sustainability: SSE launches new database; IOSCO launches new report
16 April 2020
The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions published its report on Sustainable Finance and the Role of Securities Regulators and IOSCO, which seeks to help market participants address issues related to sustainability and climate change. IOSCO’s Sustainable Finance Network prepared the report, which highlights three recurring themes that involve multiple and diverse sustainability frameworks and standards including:
1. Sustainability-related disclosure;
2. Lack of common definitions of sustainable activities; and
3. ‘Greenwashing’ and other challenges to investor protection.
The report indicates that the lack of consistency and comparability across third party frameworks could create an obstacle to cross border financial activities. The Report reflects the expectations from regulators and market participants that IOSCO should take an active role in facilitating global coordination and addressing transparency.
New SSE database 
In order to support securities regulators on how, within their existing mandates, they can act (and are acting) on sustainability-related risks and opportunities, the SSE recently launched a new interactive Securities Regulators Database to provide examples of how securities regulators are already contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. These examples can be filtered by the ten action areas found in the SSE’s Action Plan for securities regulators which is the central guidance of the SSE publication How securities regulators can support the Sustainable Development Goals. To learn more about SSE work in this area, visit our Securities Regulator workstream on the SSE website.
Watch below the IOSCO intervention in the last SSE Global Dialogue in 2018. To know more about 2020 SSE Global Dialogue click here.
About the SSE
The SSE initiative is a UN Partnership Programme organised by UNCTAD, the UN Global Compact, UNEP FI and the PRI. The SSE’s mission is to provide a global platform for exploring how exchanges, in collaboration with investors, companies (issuers), regulators, policymakers and relevant international organizations, can enhance performance on ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) issues and encourage sustainable investment, including the financing of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The SSE seeks to achieve this mission through an integrated programme of conducting evidence-based policy analysis, facilitating a network and forum for multi-stakeholder consensus-building, and providing technical assistance and advisory services.
