MSCI launches tool to help companies compare ESG data
The tool – Corporate Sustainability Insights – allows firms to measure and test their ESG and climate data against their peers.
Data provider MSCI has launched Corporate Sustainability Insights, a tool designed to increase corporate understanding of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) and climate challenges and opportunities facing companies.
Corporate Sustainability Insights also gives executives at companies tracked by MSCI the ability to measure and compare their ESG and climate data versus peers, while also identifying potential disclosure gaps within their own operations.
The tool looks for companies to assess their risk exposure and alignment with global temperature goals, and offers help in identifying potential disclosure gaps in carbon-related commitments through the MSCI Target Explorer tool. Its analysis of climate-related risks and opportunities compared with industry peers is based on the recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
Beth Byington, global head of corporate ESG and climate solutions at MSCI, said: “The ESG and climate needs of companies have evolved dramatically as new reporting requirements from regulators and institutional investors have emerged in recent years.
“It is now more important than ever for listed companies to speak a common language with these audiences about financial opportunities and risks associated with subjects like climate change. We hope these deeper insights will allow them to take quick, decisive action to meet their unique sustainability goals.”
As of March 2022, 1,330 of the 2,900+ firms within the MSCI ACWI (All Country WorldIndex) had set emissions-reduction targets. The number of data points related to climate change that companies submitted to MSCI ESG Research rose from 9,914 to 14,648 between 2021 and 2022.
It is now more important than ever for listed companies to speak a common language about financial opportunities and risks associated with subjects like climate change.
MSCI indexes
In October last year, MSCI launched 12 Climate Action Indexes designed for equity investors seeking to finance the net-zero transition. The suite of indices identifies companies that have made progress towards emissions-reduction targets by selecting commercial businesses from across the economy using the 11 Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) sectors.
However, over 90% of MSCI’s ESG indices “are not aligned to the EU Taxonomy”, according to the senior managing partner at Lombard Odier Investment Managers.
