KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has joined the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, a partnership programme under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), a statement said on Monday.

The initiative is organised by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the UN Global Compact, United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI) and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). This affiliation of PSX with SSE has taken place with effect from June 6, 2022.

PSX Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Farrukh H Khan called the PSX’s joining a significant development for the PSX whereby the national stock exchange of the country has become a member of the SSE Initiative.

“Under the leadership of PSX Chairperson, Dr Shamshad Akhtar, PSX, along with other key stakeholders, has formed an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Taskforce to lead the development of ESG reporting standards, advocacy, policies and discourse in Pakistan,” he added.

“Through this affiliation, the PSX will be better equipped to champion and lead the ESG narrative for Pakistan’s listed companies and for the PSX. While we had already taken the initial steps in this regard, the SSE membership will help to guide the direction to be taken by the PSX and the ESG Taskforce in terms of creating ESG reporting standards and procedures.

This will enable analysts, fund managers and other investors to better assess the performance of listed companies, along with guiding our efforts on constructing the ESG or Sustainability Index for the Pakistan market.”

Khan acknowledged and thanked the UN for leading the initiative, saying that the PSX is proud to be part of this global movement.

“Pakistan is committed to ESG and the PSX looks forward to playing a key role in the development of ESG standards, reporting and dialogue in the country. By joining the SSE Initiative, the PSX will now be supported in its efforts to effectively take forward the discourse for ESG and encourage listed companies to report on ESG and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he added.

The SSE Initiative’s goal is capacity building of stock exchanges and securities market regulators around the world to promote responsible investment in sustainable development and help improve corporate performance on ESG issues, including the financing of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SSE Initiative is an effort to achieve this goal through maintenance of a Sustainable Stock Exchanges Database, ESG Disclosure Guidance Database, and further guidelines on how stock exchanges can embed sustainability within their operations, grow green finance, and advance gender equality, among other activities.