Qatar Stock Exchange has launched its online ‘Qatar Stock Exchange Sustainability and ESG Platform’ to support listed companies report on key Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) indicators.
The platform will aim to accelerate the objectives included in the QSE Guidance on ESG reporting launched in December 2016. Qatari listed companies will be able to login, upload their sustainability reports and submit their sustainability data on the QSE’s 34 ESG indicators using the newly launched software.
Additionally, investors will have real-time access to publicly reported essential sustainability data, information, and reports organized by each issuer all from a single source.
By late 2016, over a third of institutional investors based in Europe and Asia-Pacific said that ESG considerations played a major or primary role in refusing to commit to a private equity fund, while the
same is true for a fifth of North American LPs. This has led to private equity and other industry trade associations developing a number of ESG best practices, including a due diligence questionnaire for private fund managers and other asset managers to use before investing in a portfolio company.
Qatar Stock Exchange has done the same. The initiative is in line with the sustainability pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030 and is part of the exchange’s efforts to uphold its voluntary commitment to the Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative (SSE). As of April 2018, more than 1,900 investment entities signed up the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), representing about U.S $ 82 trillion of assets under investment management.
The initiative will enable investors and interested individuals to access critical ESG data and periodic sustainability reports uploaded by the listed companies, said Hussain Mohammed Al Abdullah, QSE’s Marketing and Communication Director. He added that it is not only aimed at encouraging ESG disclosure among the listed companies but also promoting responsible investing practices by supporting investors access to high-quality ESG data.
