The Emerging Markets Disclosure Project (EMDP), an international initiative to improve corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG or sustainability) reporting in emerging markets, today issued a renewed call to investors to sign onto its Investor Statement on Sustainability Reporting in Emerging Markets. Signatories to the statement affirm that the next generation of leading companies will distinguish themselves through their commitment to sustainability through robust ESG reporting and will be correspondingly rewarded by the market.
In June 2008, the EMDP’s coordinators announced the initial call on investors to join them in signing onto the EMDP Investor Statement on Sustainability Reporting in Emerging Markets, and 29 global institutional investors with close to $1 trillion in assets under management heeded that call. More than 15 other firms affiliated with the socially responsible investment movement, including investment advisors and research providers, also signed the statement in support of the initiative.
The EMDP is an initiative within the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) Clearinghouse and is being implemented under the leadership of a steering committee comprised of representatives from Boston Common Asset Management, Calvert Investments and the Social Investment Forum (SIF) and SIF’s International Working Group, with support from the PRI.
The EMDP is now asking signatories to confirm their support of the investor statement and, if appropriate, to please provide the EMDP with an up-to-date estimate of their assets under management by March 31, 2010. The EMDP is also calling on new investors including those who are hearing about the project for the first time and those who missed the opportunity to sign on in 2008, to sign onto the investor statement as well.
This renewed call to action comes as the EMDP enters its third and critical final phase, which is focused on outreach and engagement to promote greater disclosure of sustainability factors by corporations operating in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Africa and South Korea.
Click here for the EMDP webpage.
Click here to read the full Investor Statement.