Regional Dialogue – Nordic Countries

Regional Dialogue – Nordic Countries

4 Nov, 2015
Helsinki, Finland

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On Wednesday, 4 November 2015 the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Regional Dialogue: Nordic Countries took place in Helsinki, Finland. The SSE Regional Dialogue, the first of its kind in the region, offered a unique platform for CEO’s of stock exchanges, listed companies and institutional investors, alongside high-level policy makers and regulators, to demonstrate leadership and understanding of the sustainable development opportunities and challenges facing capital markets today.

Hosted by Nasdaq Helsinki, the SSE Regional Dialogue welcomed more than 100 participants from across Nordic markets. A high-level policy dialogue took place in the morning of 4 November, followed in the afternoon by practical workshops to assist investors, companies and other capital market stakeholders with integrating sustainable development into investment and business strategies.

Key questions to be addressed at this SSE Regional Dialogue include:

  • What role can stock exchanges, regulators and investors play to improve the environmental, social and governance performance of companies? What are the experiences of listed companies?
  • What are the main challenges and opportunities for promoting sustainable development through capital markets?
  • What next steps can be taken by policymakers, regulators, investors, companies and exchanges collectively in the region? What are the key roles for each actor?
  • What regional and national policy options are available to reinforce existing best practices?

NOTE: This event already took place. The news release on this event can be found here.

 

Program

 

Welcome address & opening remarks

 

 

 

 

 

High-level policy dialogue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunchtime seminar

Analysis release: Climate Impact Screening of Companies listed on Nasdaq Helsinki
An initiative by Sitra, Climate Leadership Council, Nasdaq Helsinki and South Pole.

In this Lunch Time Seminar Sitra (the Finnish Innovation Fund), Climate Leadership Council, Nasdaq Helsinki and South Pole will launch the results of the climate impact screening of the companies listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.

The analysis report will be released at the event, together with an investor tool for benchmarking portfolio greenhouse gas exposure against the index, followed by a presentation of the key results by South Pole and CDP. The report and the presentations will shed light to the overall aggregated greenhouse gas emissions of the companies listed on Nasdaq Helsinki, sectors and companies with largest carbon exposure, accompanied by value and revenue based metrics.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afternoon Workshops

Session 1A
Corporate reporting – GRI and stock exchanges

This interactive session hosted by GRI and Nasdaq will offer the opportunity to hear about the latest policy developments on sustainability reporting among capital market players, shed some light on why investors are increasingly looking at ESG data, and give a firsthand update from an exchange’s perspective on the work of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative and the Sustainability Working Group of the World Federation of Exchanges. The workshop will give a birds’ eye view of how GRI’s G4 can help in engaging investors in a dialogue and we’ll close with a discussion with the participants on the most pressing questions on corporate transparency and the role of exchanges.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Session 1B
Investor decarbonization strategies

This workshop hosted by UNEP will focus on the various strategies available to investors to decarbonize their portfolios ranging from divestment to engagement. We will hear from a number of investors in the region who have begun the process and are members of the UN-backed Portfolio Decarbonization Coalition, including AP4 in Sweden (a founding member of the PDC), KLP in Norway and finally Mandatum Life in Finland. The workshop will include a presentation from the 2 Degrees Investing Initiative which will focus on the strategies and metrics available to investors seeking to measure and improve the climate friendliness of their portfolios.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Networking Coffee Break

Session 2A
Mainstreaming reporting for climate resilient markets

This workshop, hosted by the Climate Disclosure Standards Board and CDP, will focus on the role of stock exchanges to promote sustainable financial markets through the provision of corporate climate change information to investors. This will be backed the latest corporate climate change analysis of the Nordic markets.

The first part of the session will introduce freshly published CDP analysis on how listed corporations both globally and regionally are already rising to the demands for environmental transparency and performance, and describe how collaborative engagement action by Nordic investors has led to increased corporate disclosure this year.

The second half will then focus on the opportunities for stock exchanges in protecting the climate residence of their markets through providing climate change-related information to markets. The session will provide insights into current reporting trends being implemented by exchanges worldwide and propose adoption-ready climate change reporting requirements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Session 2B
Translating innovation into value

The aim of the workshop hosted by Trade Info and Fair Impact is to look into what sustainability actually means for companies and investors. How does sustainability relate to innovation, company processes and consumer engagement? Ten types of innovation are distinguished. The Finnish retail company Kesko will share their experiences and show the value of innovation.

 

 

Press Coverage

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.