- The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) will cooperate to support Polish and CEE listed companies with ESG reporting
- Until 17 July 2020, the EBRD will collect submissions from consulting firms with experience related to environmental, social and governance to develop ESG Guidelines
The EBRD’s and GPW’s joint project aims to facilitate engagement with policy makers, regulators and other stakeholders to ensure development of a coherent, robust and transparent framework in compliance with legislation and in line with EU Green Deal for ESG disclosure. Moreover, this will provide investors with comparability in terms of monitoring different companies.
“Total assets invested in ESG ETFs and ETPs reached a new record of 82 billion dollars at the end of May 2020, an increase by 10.4% since the end of April. This investment approach has gone from the peripheral to a new normal for capital markets. Many global investors have realized that sustainable growth and higher returns do not have to be mutually exclusive. Research increasingly demonstrates that incorporating ESG factors enhances investors portfolios’ resilience to market volatility and economic shocks. The COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated the development of socially responsible investment, particularly in developed capital markets,” says Marek Dietl, CEO at GPW.
For the assignment, following a public tender process, the EBRD will select a consortium of experts or consultants with international and national experience related to sustainable finance, capital markets and ESG-related areas within a public tender. The selected consortium, in cooperation with GPW, will develop a report consisting of guidance materials, capacity building events and recommendations relating to ESG reporting under national and EU legislation related to ESG integration and decarbonization and good market practices. Interested consultants can submit their technical and financial proposals to the EBRD until 17 July, 5pm (London time) by responding to the procurement notice.
“Environmentally sound and sustainable development is central to the EBRD’s mandate, underpinned in each project by the Bank’s Environmental and Social Policy. EBRD has been supporting sustainable finance in Poland and its other countries of operations for the past 29 years. Our impact is achieved through combining investment, policy dialogue and technical assistance. Last year, 62% of our business in Poland was invested in the transition to green economy. Companies’ transparency and consistency of ESG disclosure is essential to creating modern capital markets and financing the green transition. By working together with the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the EBRD will support integration of ESG reporting and the development of sustainable capital markets aligning with EU regulations and investors’ demand,” said Grzegorz Zielinski, Director, Regional Head of Central Europe and the Baltics, EBRD.
The procurement notice is available on the EBRD’s website.
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The Warsaw Stock Exchange Group (GPW Group) operates trading platforms for shares, Treasury and corporate bonds, derivatives, electricity and gas, and provides indices and benchmarks including WIBOR and WIBID. The index agent FTSE Russell classifies the Polish capital market as a Developed Market since 2018. The markets operated by the GPW Group are the biggest in Central and Eastern Europe. For more information, visit www.gpw.pl