WFE’s 8th Sustainability Survey Reveals Focus on Carbon Neutrality Transition
12 September 2022

- Exchanges increased their efforts by reducing their own carbon footprint, promoting the transition of their listed companies to a climate-neutral or carbon-neutral economy, and committing to Net-Zero pledges.
- Initiatives offering ESG education have rapidly gained relevance over the years. They ranked eighth in 2019 in terms of the number of exchanges pursuing them, third in 2020, and second in this survey.
- Not only has the number of exchanges participating in sustainability initiatives increased but also more initiatives were implemented per exchange. The average number of initiatives per exchange increased from 7.7 to 8.4. The number of exchanges implementing initiatives that meet all five of the WFE Sustainability Principles increased by 17% to 69%.
- Sustainability concerns and the opportunities for business expansion were again the most frequently reported motivations for ESG engagement. On the other hand, business and economic concerns remain the main concerns around sustainability efforts, while the lack of resources was seen as the second major concern.
- Efforts on ESG were more evenly distributed across Environmental (31.2%), Social (30.6%) and Governance (38.6%) components, compared to 25.8%, 31.3% and 42.9% respectively a year earlier. While green bonds continue to be the most offered ESG product, offerings across all sustainability product categories have increased.
- Eight respondents reported engaging in initiatives to prevent human rights abuses in the supply chains, and three respondents reported participating in all of the 13 listed ESG initiatives.
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.