{"id":34977,"date":"2010-10-20T13:29:00","date_gmt":"2010-10-20T12:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/blog\/?p=34977"},"modified":"2010-10-26T17:23:58","modified_gmt":"2010-10-26T16:23:58","slug":"sustainable-stock-exchanges-break-cover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/sustainable-stock-exchanges-break-cover\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainable Stock Exchanges Break Cover"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Aviva<\/span>The other day I was watching The Simpsons … I blame it on the kids, but thankfully they don’t always understand the bits I chuckle at.<\/p>\n

Anyhow, the episode in question was “My Fair Laddy”, a wonderful rip of My Fair Lady complete with parodies which you feel ought to be violating copyright somewhere along the line.<\/p>\n

For example, the elocution lesson: “The Snot .. From My Nose .. Shouldn’t Fall .. Upon My Clothes”.\u00a0 I know it’s a long way from Spain, but lets not get into a debate on elongated vowels here!<\/p>\n

Now, a few weeks ago I read something (I forget what) about Aviva Investors agitating strongly for increased responsibility within companies.\u00a0 I think I reread it several times, just to make sure I’d understood correctly, looked genuinely surprised and made a mental note to look out for Aviva in the future.<\/p>\n

Lo and behold, up they pop again, pressing for stockmarkets to include ESG criteria in their listing rules.\u00a0 Did you just reread that sentence? I know I reread the article several times, remembered to close my mouth and thought “well this I gotta see!”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sustainable Stock Exchanges<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It all started back in November last year when a flight of top investment and market executives met at the United Nations Headquarters at an event hosted by Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), the UN Global Compact and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).<\/p>\n

The discussions which took place seem to have been truly ground breaking.\u00a0 A report of the event on PRI’s website says that a number of its members “spoke openly <\/strong>about the ways in which investors and exchanges could work together” (emphasis added).<\/p>\n

The meeting was headlined “Sustainable Stock Exchanges”, and the participants were so enthused by their discussions that they determined to make this an annual event.\u00a0 So earlier in September, on the closing day of UNCTAD’s World Investment Forum in China, we had Sustainable Stock Exchanges 2010 from which the current crop of coverage springs.<\/p>\n

A key part of the meeting was the launch of Aviva Investors’ report “Real Obstacles, Real Opportunities”.\u00a0 Based on a survey of 30 of the world’s leading exchanges it had the following key findings:<\/p>\n