Announced at the World Economic Forum, Refinitiv will join forces with influential global bodies to create a first-of-its-kind alliance to monitor sustainable finance through data.
Tackling the issue of uncertainty head-on, the Alliance seeks to solve the question: what data do investors and governments need to meet the requirements of both regulators and customers for sustainable investments and products in pursuit of the 2030 Agenda?
Founding partners of the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance include the World Economic Forum, United Nations, IIF, OMFIF, Tsinghua University, ASIFMA, GFMA, Climate Bonds Initiative, FinTech4Good, Everledger, Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, Bank of Africa-BCME, GoImpact among others.
David Craig, CEO, Refinitiv, says: “The need to channel capital towards the UN SDGs is urgent and the financing requirement immense. Today, many asset managers state that they don’t have enough data to help finance major transitions such as changes in demographics, climate change or addressing the shifts in global markets. It is therefore critical to define and make ESG more of a science than an art.”
Tracking, managing and reporting impact data are essential disclosure standards for public and private companies, the current lack of useful data is widely accepted as a fundamental obstacle in the push toward sustainable finance adoption.
Acknowledging that data standardisation is vital if the integration of climate and environmental data is to become mainstream within capital markets, the Alliance will work to provide investors with decision-useful data through AI and machine-learning-powered data analytics and more informed analysis of strategic resilience.
Tim Adams, president and CEO, Institute of International Finance, comments: “Reaching the ambitious targets set forth in the UN SDGs will require mobilizing trillions of dollars’ worth of funding for sustainable projects.
“Currently the world is sitting on more than USD 300 trillion in global wealth, but there are obstacles to tapping this pool of capital—including a lack of high-quality, accessible, and actionable data. The Future of Sustainable Data Alliance is a critical step towards breaking down these barriers and scaling up funding for the Sustainable Development Goals.”