On July 24, 2024, the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, in collaboration with its partner the International Finance Corporation (IFC) hosted a roundtable focus group on gender equality metrics. The online event brought together a diverse panel of experts from standard-setting bodies, security market regulators, data providers, international organisations, exchanges, and civil society organizations. The primary goal was to identify areas for improvement to assist standard setters, stock exchanges, and policymakers on issues related to gender equality metrics and taxonomies used for corporate reporting. The key points from the discussion will inform a new multi-stakeholder consensus building report on the topic to be prepared by UN SSE and IFC in collaboration with UN Women. 

Opening Remarks

The session featured opening comments from Sarah Cuttaree, Corporate Governance Officer, IFC. She emphasised the critical role that gender equality plays in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 5, which aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Cuttaree highlighted the importance of reliable data and standardized metrics in enabling investors, regulators, and other stakeholders to assess and promote gender equality within companies

Identifying the problem

Building the foundation for the ensuing roundtable discussion, Tiffany Grabski, UN SSE Head of Academy, presented new UN SSE- IFC research data on gender equality metrics and taxonomies as a background for the deliberations. Key findings include:

• The good: Two-thirds of exchange guidance documents are providing guidance on specific gender equality-related metrics for corporate disclosure.
• The bad: There are gaps in the metrics being recommended; they do not equally cover all key topics of gender equality identified by the Women’s Empowerment Principles. 
• The ugly: The metrics recommended by exchanges are not standardized, rather they typically have slight variations in wording from one exchange to another. About 40% of metrics recommended by exchanges are not linked to any international standard or framework, highlighting fragmentation in corporate reporting on this topic. And where metrics recommended by exchanges do make reference to an international standard or framework, these references are inconsistent. 

The data presented will form the basis of the first of two new reports the SSE and IFC are planning to publish on the topic. 

Roundtable Discussion

Following the presentation of the data, panellists discussed the inconsistency and lack of transparency in current gender equality reporting. They pointed out that many companies still lack comprehensive policies and data on gender-related issues, making it difficult for investors to assess performance accurately. Experts highlighted that while some firms disclose gender diversity statistics, few provide meaningful data on issues such as pay equity, gender representation at different management levels, and the impact of policies on gender equality.

Experts also debated how gender equality should be represented in corporate reporting standards and frameworks: is it a cross cutting issue that should appear in many different places, or a focus issue that should have more dedicated guidance. 

Closing Remarks and Next Steps

Closing the roundtable discussion, Anthony Miller, Chief Coordinator, UN SSE reiterated the need for collective action and committed the UN SSE to continue facilitating dialogue and collaboration on this critical issue. He announced that views and examples expressed during the meeting will inform a follow-up report by UN SSE, IFC and UN Women on the topic that will be published in Q1 2025. 

The roundtable dialogue emphasised the need for all stakeholders to work towards the fulfilment of UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality and noted the important role of standardized gender equality metrics as an important catalyst for meaningful change.

This event was an invitation-only meeting.