On March 16, 2017 Nasdaq Baltic hosted a webinar presented by Geoffrey Mazullo, Principal, Emerging Markets ESG entitled, “A Practical Guide to ESG Reporting through Investors’ Eyes.” Mr. Mazullo is Chair of the Evaluation Committee of the Baltic Market Awards.
Directive 2014/95/EU on the disclosure of non-financial and diversity information (NFR Directive), amends the Accounting Directive 2013/34/EU to require certain large companies in the European Union (EU) to disclose in their annual report information on policies, risks and outcomes as regards environmental matters, social and employee aspects, respect for human rights, anticorruption and bribery issues, and diversity in their board of directors.
With this deadline approaching, this webinar provided a brief, practical overview of environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting – from the dual perspectives of regulatory requirements and investor interest in ESG disclosures.
38 persons, representing listed companies from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as well as Nasdaq Baltic and regulatory authorities – participated in the webinar. After the presentation, a question & answer session covered a range of issues, including:
- applicability of board diversity recommendations to specific companies/industries;
- bridging the information materiality gap between companies and investors;
- a cost-benefit analysis of ESG reporting;
- organization of the data collection and reporting process;
- the rationale for ESG reporting; and
- the relationship between ESG reporting and marketing.
You may listen to the webinar here.
Please contact Emerging Markets ESG if you would like to receive the presentation.
On March 23, 2017 Nasdaq Nordic and Baltic will publish their ESG Reporting Guide for Issuers.