标准制定者, policymakers and regulators have made significant strides this year toward standardized sustainability disclosures by companies, 发起若干重大磋商. The value of corporate sustainability information is clearly becoming more widely understood.
Sustainability issues can affect the financial performance of a business and hence its value over the short, 中期及长期. Aware of this, a growing number of investors use sustainability information to assess the likely effect of sustainability risks and opportunities on the cash flows of existing or potential investee companies.
The way investors value companies using sustainability information in addition to the company’s broader equity story varies – even between teams within the same investment firm – due to different strategies, objectives, 任务和资源水平. For instance, some investors may use proprietary sustainability datasets and rating systems and explore the implications of different sustainability-related scenarios. 其他人可能会调整他们对公司财务业绩的预测, 他们的模型假设, valuation ratios and the weights of certain securities based on the companies’ exposure to sustainability risks and opportunities.
All approaches have the same objective: to predict how sustainability factors may affect the expected cash flows of a given company and its risk premium. To do this, investors require quantitative and qualitative information on a broad range of sustainability issues. For instance, for investors to assess whether a given company is delivering on its quantitative climate-related commitments, 他们需要知道净零排放过渡计划的细节.
The practice of integrating sustainability information into valuation continues to develop. Exactly how different investors approach this process may soon become more apparent as they are increasingly required to report on the ESG characteristics of their investments and on the way they take into account ESG issues in investment decision-making.
希望和挑战
然而，透明的新时代是一把双刃剑.
On the one hand, greater clarity on how investors use corporate sustainability information can incentivize companies to take action on the sustainability risks and opportunities they face. 至于投资者, 他们会欢迎标准化, easily accessible sustainability information on companies – especially on smaller firms, 像彭博这样的集中式数据系统不太可能涵盖的领域. Closing existing data gaps will enable investors to factor sustainability issues into valuation and portfolio weighting more effectively by, for example, 确定“同类最佳”公司.
另一方面, even the best-resourced companies may find it challenging to comply with the emerging multitude of standards and rules on corporate sustainability reporting.
Therefore, there needs to be alignment between relevant global standards and jurisdictional rules. 最值得注意的是今年欧盟委员会发布的提案 国际正规博彩十大网站排名标准委员会, EFRAG该机构为欧盟委员会(European Commission)和美国提供咨询 美国证券交易委员会.
除了降低公司的报告负担, such alignment would improve the consistency of sustainability disclosures across jurisdictions. The PRI, WBCSD and the International Federation of Accountants have recently called for alignment between the three reporting initiatives, issuing a joint statement 由65家投资者、公司和专业会计师事务所签署.
如果设计有效, 可持续性披露标准和要求可以提高可及性, 企业正规博彩十大网站排名信息的可比性和可验证性, 推动可持续性信息在估值决策中的应用.
同时, 如上所述, transparency on how investors use sustainability information in the investment process is also needed.
The road ahead
旨在促进这种双向的透明度, the PRI and WBCSD have convened a diverse group of chief investment officers from investment firms and chief financial officers from listed companies. The executives have participated in a series of roundtables exploring what constitutes decision-useful sustainability information, 投资者如何使用它, 以及如何改善公司与投资者在可持续性方面的沟通. 我们打算在各自的工作计划中反映他们的意见.
革命制度党将重点关注:
- developing a framework to deepen the PRI’s understanding of signatories’ sustainability data needs and to inform the PRI’s engagement with standard-setters, 政策制定者和监管者;
- engaging with global and jurisdictional standard-setting and rule-making processes and initiatives on behalf of PRI signatories to ensure that investors’ data needs are understood and considered, 并提高签署国对这些发展的认识.
而水务署则继续致力:
- 理解并推进估值, 还有融资, in a way that ensures that action by businesses on sustainability risks and opportunities is recognized and rewarded;
- contributing and responding to the development of global standards for corporate sustainability reporting together with and on behalf of leading sustainable businesses, to ensure that such standards result in regular and consistent disclosures of decision-useful information.
In parallel, the PRI and WBCSD are considering areas for future collaboration and will provide an update on this in due course.
