ESG Investor’s weekly round-up of news on technology and tools in the sustainable investing sector, including the Reporting Exchange, Workiva, MarketAxess, WeSustain and Diginex Solutions.
Index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) has been selected to develop an EU climate transition index to serve as a performance benchmark for four of the German federal government’s Federal Special Pension Funds. The S&P ESG Eurozone 60 Bund-SV Index is a customised index which incorporates the minimum standards for EU Climate Transition Benchmarks, as outlined in the Low Carbon Benchmarks Regulation, and is aligned with the Paris Agreement. As part of the country’s sustainability goals, the German government is aligning its pension fund investments with its efforts to curb global warming to no more than 1.5°C. S&P DJI has also launched New Zealand’s first carbon efficient indices in partnership with the New Zealand Exchange (NZX). The two new indices, S&P/NZX 50 Carbon Efficient Index and S&P/NZX 50 Portfolio Carbon Efficient Index, utilise S&P Trucost’s environmental dataset to weigh companies listed on the NZX according to their carbon intensity and sector impact. The indices are designed to incentivise NZX-listed companies to compare their carbon intensity to industry group peers around the world.
German ESG software provider WeSustain has been acquired by Cority, a Toronto-based enterprise SaaS provider specialising in environmental, health, safety, and quality management solutions. Cority’s customers include ExxonMobil, Pfizer, NASA, United Nations, Walmart, and Airbus. A specialized software developer with clients including ThyssenKrupp, McKesson, Merck, Commerzbank, WeSustain’s GRI-certified SaaS solutions span ESG, sustainability, compliance, and impact management – enabling integrated ESG and corporate sustainability management across the enterprise from a central platform. “We’re convinced that smart digital solutions have an essential role to play in enabling our clients to fulfil their potential for greater efficiency, innovation, and positive impact; and to build trust through greater transparency surrounding what they do,” said Dr. Manfred Heil, CEO, WeSustain.