CSE launches ‘Communicating Sustainability: Six Recommendations for Listed Companies’

The Colombo Stock Exchange announced the launch of ‘Communicating Sustainability: Six Recommendations for Listed Companies’, a publication launched with the objective of assisting listed companies to address environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their capital market communication. 

The publication consolidates current practices of investors and issuers and offers key insights into strategies that could be implemented to effectively communicate ESG information as an investor relations initiative. The e-version of the publication is available for download at www.cse.lk under the ‘Publications’ section.

As sustainable investing continues to gain momentum among financial market participants, ESG factors are increasingly outlined by leading institutional and retail investors from around the world as vital determinants of investment decisions. 

Regulatory bodies too are responding to this momentum and are uplifting the importance of ESG disclosures to the corporation to strengthen market procedures. The growing political and economic prominence of climate change, market-based incentives for the transition to lower-carbon products, labour standards, human rights and safety standards are the key drivers behind this emerging trend. 

Commenting on the launch, CSE Head of Research and New Products, Nishantha Hewavithana, stated that the publication was part of the CSE’s bid to encourage listed companies to measure and publicly report their ESG performance, with a focus particularly on the impact on the environment. He added that the CSE encourages all listed companies to consider sustainability reporting with a special emphasis on the recommendations made through the publication. 

Establishing a commitment and drive to quality ESG reporting at a board level, considering multiple stakeholder interests, identifying and prioritising material ESG issues, embracing widely accepted performance indicators, maintaining reporting integrity and transparency and establishing the right disclosure channels are outlined in the publication as key recommendations to listed companies.