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This is an invitation only event. For more information, please contact the SSE team.

The UN SSE Consultative Group Quarterly Calls allow partner stock exchanges, regulators, investors, issuers and other key market stakeholders to share their experiences and to contribute to the SSE’s work plan. Held quarterly, the SSE webinar is organized twice in one day to accommodate the many time zones of our partners.

If you are interested in joining the SSE Consultative Group please contact us at [email protected]

The SSE 2020 Q1 Call took place on Wednesday 18 March 2020 at 09:00 and 16:00 Geneva Time

Webinar Minutes

Theme: GRI working with stock exchanges (technical assistance for sustainability reporting)

Opening remarks and an overview of the agenda were provided by the SSE. The new partner exchanges have been introduced: they are from Armenia (Armenia Securities Exchange) and Dominican Republic (Bolsa de Valores de la República Dominicana). There are now 95 SSE Partner Exchanges.

A presentation on technical assistance programs to assist with the implementation of sustainability reporting was provided by a member of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). GRI presented on the range of standards courses, SDGs workshops, and other technical assistance it provides to stock exchanges on the topic of sustainability reporting – more information in the links below. The GRI presentation included examples of collaboration with exchanges in different parts of the world.

Following the GRI presentation, stock exchanges were encouraged to share their own experiences in developing sustainability reporting guidance, advancing ESG among listed companies and how GRI services helped them in this process. During the first call (1), Hong Kong Exchange and Colombo Stock Exchange shared their experiences with written guidance on ESG reporting. In the afternoon call (2), Bolsa de Valores de Colombia (Colombian Securities Exchange), Nigerian Stock Exchange and Nasdaq presented how they implemented a pathway to sustainability disclosure.

In both calls, there was a time for Q&A where participants could discuss ESG reporting guidance use cases and topics like challenges and engagement with stakeholders. The calls provided a platform for a dynamic peer-to-peer sharing of experiences with exchanges asking their peers practical questions such as what methodology they use to develop ESG awards, how to engage local investors and how to measure the impact of disclosure guidance.

The final agenda item featured SSE secretariat updates. These updates included the news on over 75 Ring the Bell for Gender Equality events this month, the new online SSE ESG guidance database (https://sseinitiative.org/esg-guidance-database) and the new research project on carbon intensity of markets. Lastly, it was communicated that the SSE Global Dialogue is scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi – the date is to be confirmed (7 or 8 December).

List of Participants

We had the participation of 23 exchanges from 28 markets, totaling 53 participants.

List of participants map

Speakers

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX)
Vice President - Corporate Social Responsibility
Andy Lau

Colombo Stock Exchange
Head of Research and New Products
Nishantha Hewavithana

Nigerian Stock Exchange
Head of Corporate Services Division
Bola Adeeko

Nasdaq
Global Head of Sustainability
Evan Harvey

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
Capital Markets Coordinator
Frank Bergkamp