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On October 10, 2019, to mark the publication of a Japanese translation of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and Climate Disclosure Standard Board's (CDSB) “TCFD Implementation Guide”, Japan Exchange Group, Inc. held a seminar to introduce and explain the guide to our listed companies.
Speakers included SASB and CDSB, as well as EY ShinNihon, who translated the guide, and topics included recent developments in disclosure abroad, and how the guide can be helpful to Japanese companies in particular. The seminar was attended by around 270 ESG professionals and others from Japanese listed companies.
SASB is an independent non-profit organization, founded in 2011, which has developed a set of accounting standards for companies to use when reporting sustainability-related information. The standards focus on financially material sustainability factors in each of 77 industries and are used by firms around the world, as well as a number of asset managers who use its metrics to guide investment and engagement strategies.
CDSB is an international consortium of business and environmental NGOs founded in 2007, committed to advancing and aligning the disclosure of climate and environmental information in the mainstream corporate report. It does so by offering companies the CDSB framework to report this information with the same rigor as financial information for the benefit of investors. CDSB also powers the TCFD Knowledge Hub.
Although hundreds of organizations around the world have expressed support for the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures since its recommendations were published in 2017, many companies have cited a need for greater guidance on how to actually disclose climate-related financial information in practice. The TCFD Implementation Guide was first published by SASB and CDSB in May 2019, as a practical resource to help companies enhance the robustness, consistency, comparability, and utility of TCFD reporting through SASB and CDSB’s frameworks, standards and resources.
| The “TCFD Implementation Guide” Japanese translation can be accessed from here |  |
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On July 16-18, 2019, Japan Exchange Group/Tokyo Stock Exchange and the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) held the ICGN Annual Conference 2019 in Tokyo.
The theme for this year’s conference was "Re-focusing corporate governance for sustainable value creation." Under that theme, there were fruitful discussions between listed companies, Japanese and non-Japanese institutional investors and other market participants, on topics such as how Japan’s governance reforms have progressed, points to focus on in the future of those reforms, and action that needs to be taken on ESG issues.
Following on from this, the “ICGN Stewardship and Sustainability Program”, an education program for investors and corporates, was held at TSE Hall on the 19th.
ICGN is an investor-led organization specializing in corporate governance issues. It has members from 43 countries/territories with collective assets under management of over USD 34 trillion. ICGN’s mission is to improve standards of efficiency in corporate governance and investor stewardship, in order to promote the development of efficient markets and sustainable economies worldwide.
On June 11, 2019, Japan Exchange Group and Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) co-hosted the “Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Forum“ at TSE Hall.
A wide range of speakers discussed the topic of implementing the TCFD’s recommendations, including representatives from the PRI, the Japan Financial Services Agency, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of the Environment, GPIF, and sustainability-minded companies and institutional investors. Around 400 investors, listed company representatives, and others attended the Forum.
PRI is an international network of investors supported by the UN, and first announced its six “Principles for Responsible Investment” in New York in 2006. Since then, the number of signatory organizations to the Principles (mostly institutional investors) has gradually increased, currently numbering over 2000 worldwide. The Principles include incorporating ESG issues into investment decision-making, asking for ESG disclosure from investee companies, and reporting on the signatory company’s own activities.
March 8 is designated as International Women‘s Day by the United Nations. Every year, in partnership with organizers the UN Global Compact, exchanges around the globe hold a “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” ceremony to show support for women’s active participation in society.
On March 8, 2019, JPX held a bell ringing ceremony at TSE in partnership with organizers the UN Global Compact, and was joined by representatives from UN Women, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, the International Finance Corporation, the World Federation of Exchanges, and Women in ETFs. This was followed by a Symposium at TSE Hall for listed companies and institutional investors, which looked deeper into the objectives of the bell ringing ceremony from a capital markets perspective.