Manama, Jan. 9 (BNA): The Bahrain Bourse participated in the work of the Gulf Stock Exchanges Committee (WHIVH) in Riyadh.
The CEO of the Bahrain Bourse, Shaikh Khalifa bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, attended the sixth meeting in which the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia endorsed the adoption of unified environmental, social and institutional governance standards for the GCC countries in all GCC stock exchanges.
The Gulf Exchanges Committee – the General Secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council, chaired by the Saudi Stock Exchange, published a unified set of environmental, social and corporate governance disclosure standards today. The metrics consist of 29 criteria (10 environmental, 10 social, and 9 governance metrics) aligned with the WFE’s Sustainable Exchanges initiative and include categories across greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, water use, gender wages, employee turnover, gender diversity and data privacy. Ethics and more.
The GCC ESG disclosure metrics are an important step towards standardizing ESG disclosure standards across the GCC region, given the different standards in reporting. The scales are optional and serve as a guideline for companies wishing to embark on an ESG disclosure journey.
“The establishment of a unified set of ESG disclosure metrics across all GCC markets aims to harmonize reporting and enhance transparency within the capital markets when dealing with ESG, as investors are becoming increasingly sophisticated and demand more accurate and transparent data to support their investment decision-making process.” Sheikh Khalifa bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, CEO, said.
“Greater focus is on the capital markets in the GCC, particularly with COP28 – 2023 taking place in the UAE, and it is essential to align reporting across the markets going forward, particularly on climate change, as this constitutes a significant milestone towards Achieving a zero-sum economy.” He said.
The Gulf Exchange Commission aims to support the development of regional capital markets, establish an advanced ecosystem for capital markets in the GCC region, and raise its position on the global stage.
MI