New York – NYSE Euronext, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, announced on July 24 that it will join the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative to promote sustainable capital markets. As a global exchange group home to the world’s leading companies, NYSE Euronext’s commitment signals the significance of sustainability to the private sector globally.
In remarks delivered on July 24 at the New York Stock Exchange, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon commended the company for its commitment to improve corporate behaviour and promote sustainable investment. The Secretary-General also rang the NYSE closing bell to commemorate the occasion.
“I thank NYSE Euronext for committing to the Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative and I urge stock exchanges around the world to follow your lead,” said the UN Secretary-General.
He continued, “There are few better places than this trading floor for appreciating the realities of globalization. The daily index of profit and loss is a measure of the hopes and plans of people from all walks of life – from the wealthiest investors to nurses and teachers looking forward to a comfortable retirement.”
Established in 2009 by the UN Secretary-General, the SSE initiative explores how stock exchanges can work together with investors, regulators and companies to enhance corporate transparency – and ultimately performance – on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues, and encourage responsible long-term approaches to investment.
“As the only carbon neutral global exchange group, we are proud to join the SSE initiative and partner with the UN and our industry to support best practices in corporate governance and transparency related to corporate sustainability,” said Duncan L. Niederauer, CEO of NYSE Euronext. “We lead by example by running our business in an environmentally responsible manner, and by leveraging the unique power of our platform and our NYSE Euronext community, we empower learning and collaboration within the broader corporate sector.”
As corporate sustainability continues to gain momentum globally, the SSE provides a unique platform for stock exchanges to develop customized strategies to contribute to the sustainable development goals of UN Member States. To date, eight stock exchanges with more than 13,000 listed companies have signed the SSE Voluntary Commitment to promote sustainability issues.
NYSE Euronext has demonstrated a clear commitment to corporate sustainability. In 2012, NYSE Euronext achieved carbon neutral status for the third year in a row, making it the only global exchange operator to do so. In the same year, the company was also named to CDP’s S&P 500 Carbon Performance Leadership Index and received a Green Power Leadership Award from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The company has been included in several key sustainability indices, including CDP’s S&P 500 Disclosure Leadership Index, the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and FTSE4Good, and is a member of the EPA’s Green Power Partnership.
The SSE initiative is co-organized by the UN Global Compact, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment and the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) – demonstrating the “One UN” model of collaboration to deliver on UN goals to advance sustainable development.
For more information on the Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative, visit www.SSEinitiative.org.
Source: UNCTAD.
