ESG Investor’s weekly round-up of news on technology and tools in the sustainable investing sector.
MSCI has collaborated with Microsoft in launching its Investment Solutions as a Service. The service will allow institutional investors to better anticipate and address key strategic and investment challenges, via an ESG Solutions as a Service section. ESG Solutions will provide detailed insights on companies’ adaptive capacity to climate change, exposure to physical climate risk and carbon footprint measurements. This is part of a strategic alliance created between MSCI and Microsoft last year in order to accelerate innovation in the global investment industry. “We have combined Microsoft’s best of breed technology with our robust data and analytical capabilities and rigorous understanding of client challenges to create a suite of services to empower investors. From responding to the historic and unrivalled challenge of climate change, to harnessing the power of big data and innovative analytics, Investment Solutions as a Service is a milestone in powering the next generation of investment decision-making,” said Henry Fernandez, Chairman and CEO of MSCI.
The London Stock Exchange has expanded its Sustainable Bond Market (SBM), now allowing issuers of qualifying green, social, transitional and sustainability bonds to display them on the exchange. This is part of the London Stock Exchange Group’s (LSEG) initiative to better support clients raising the finance required to move to a low-carbon economy, providing them better access to sustainable finance products across asset classes. “This shows our commitment to provide our clients with a full suite of products and services to address an emerging and potentially large part of the sustainable finance market, in service of the global effort to address the climate emergency,” said Murray Roos, Group Director of Capital Markets at LSEG.
OneConnect Financial Technology has entered a Memorandum of Understanding with the Singapore Exchange (SGX) to build a platform that will simply the ESG disclosure processes of companies listed on the exchange. The platform will also address challenges such as lack of comparability, changing investors’ demand and the evolving landscape of ESG-related regulations. “With ESG taking centre-stage in the global scene, companies are increasingly subject to a set of non-financial reporting of ESG factors to meet investors’ demands and regulatory requirements. This is a remarkable moment for us to be able to tap on our expertise and work alongside SGX in creating and implementing a robust platform for SGX-listed companies to better their journey on ESG reporting and strengthen their sustainability risk management,” said Tan Bin Ru, CEO of OneConnect.
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and B Lab have collaborated to align the B Impact Assessment (BIA) with the reporting processes for corporates disclosing to GRI. The BIA helps companies measure and manage their impact on stakeholders, and better enables companies to increase their awareness and transparency of their environmental impact, allowing more comprehensive reporting in line with GRI standards. “GRI and B Lab share the strong belief that a deep understanding of impacts is the enabler for change. Bringing together our unique strengths can further empower companies around the world to effectively communicate how they are impacting people and planet. Using the GRI Standards to inform the BIA will increase access to the quality data organizations need to improve their sustainability performance,” said GRI Chief of Standards Bastian Buck.
S&P Global Platts and Viridios Capital have launched a series of AI-driven carbon indices designed to enhance transparency into the complex voluntary carbon credits and co-benefit markets. “The complex voluntary carbon markets are evolving at a rapid rate. Combining Platts robust and trusted price assessment data insight alongside Viridios Capital’s proven environmental AI technology will provide market participants with greater transparency into the market value of voluntary carbon credits and their associated co-benefits,” said Jonty Rushforth, Head of Price Group at S&P Global Platts.
Barclays has partnered with Solactive to launch the Solactive Climate Change Europe BTI Index, which will enable investors to explore investment opportunities arising from the global move to a lower-carbon economy. The index will track and invest in European companies that are aligned with a 2°C global warming scenario by 2050. “Climate-aware investment strategies have never been so important and Barclays is proud to have worked with Solactive to provide this efficient investment solution, uniquely aligned with the objective of the Paris Agreement,” said Arnaud Heckenroth, Head of Equities Structuring EMEA at Barclays.
