Stock Exchanges join new UN alliance to fund sustainability

15 April 2019

(15 April 2019) Two members of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative have been invited to join a new CEO Alliance to fund sustainability launched by UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the UN’S SDG Investment Fair in New York.  The Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD), a new alliance of chief executives coordinated by UNCTAD and the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) will focus incentivizing larger amounts of long-term investment for sustainable development. “There is in my view, no SDG which an exchange cannot in someway help achieve,” said Nicky Newton-King, CEO of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, in her remarks to the UN Secretary-General and other gathered dignitaries. “The speed of achieving the SDGs is about how we will lead – that is a challenge we should all own.” The Alliance will include 25 to 30 CEOs, joining forces of existing United Nations networks such as the Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative, the Global Compact, the UN Environment Finance Initiative and the UN-Supported Principles for Responsible Investment. The inaugural meeting of the GISD will be held alongside Mr. Guterres’ Climate Action Summit on 23 September this year. More information available 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.