(17 December 2018) Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange, Tadawul, announced its voluntary commitment to promoting sustainable and transparent capital markets in becoming a United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) initiative Partner Stock Exchange. Tadawul is the sole stock exchange in Saudi Arabia and lists over $500bn in market capitalization. “We are pleased to join the SSE Initiative and we are confident that this will serve as a catalyst for sustainability advancement in Saudi Capital Market through developing a robust roadmap for sustainable development. As a Partner Exchange, we look forward to exchanging information and ideas with other partners through this exciting platform,” said Khalid Al Hussan, CEO of Tadawul. Tadawul joins 7 other exchanges in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, and 80 other exchanges globally that are committed to promoting the advancement of sustainability in capital markets activities. As an SSE Partner Exchange, Tadawul will be supported by the SSE to engage with market participants on sustainability factors and will have access to a broad network of other exchanges, as well as investors, capital market regulators, issuers and policy makers to help learn from the experiences in other markets. Recent years have seen a strong upward trend in the number of stock exchanges engaged in Sustainability Activities. In particular, the number of green or sustainability bond listing segments has tripled from five in 2016 to 15 in the third quarter of 2018, expanding rapidly in line with the exponential growth in the green bond market. Guidance and education activities also accelerated over the last two years: written guidance on ESG disclosure grew 85% between 2016 and late 2018, bolstered by the SSE’s campaign and Model Guidance on this topic. More broadly, sustainability education through training of companies and investors has also taken off in recent years, increasing 65% in the last two alone. A full overview of stock exchange sustainability activities can be found in the SSE’s 2018 Report on Progress. For Tadawul’s announcement of joining the SSE in Arabic, click here.