For the third consecutive year, Ecogain's Biodiversity Index, an evaluation of the sustainability reports of the largest Swedish, Nordic and Baltic companies based on how they identify, set targets, implement actions and monitor biodiversity, has been released. A total of 240 companies in eight countries have been reviewed, and this year it is the Swedish Vattenfall that performs best in both the Swedish and international rankings.
Biodiversity is one of the sustainability issues that is becoming increasingly relevant to business, and thus increasingly important in the decision-making process of investors and financial institutions. Companies are also increasingly required to include the issue in their sustainability efforts.
With its new ESG Data Hub, Nasdaq provides sustainability data on the business community to give investors a better informed investment case.
Nasdaq is sending a clear signal to companies that they must value biodiversity as the business-critical risk it is. Demands from investors, governments and customers will continue to increase. Therefore, it is necessary for companies to start taking biodiversity seriously to future-proof their business.
- Fredrik Höök, CEO Ecogain.
Several experts contribute to Nasdaq's new ESG Data Hub with data on companies in different sustainability areas. Ecogain becomes Nasdaq's official provider of corporate biodiversity data. The collaboration between Ecogain and Nasdaq was born out of the company data Ecogain collects and analyzes in its work on the Ecogain Biodiversity Index, the annual survey of large companies' biodiversity reporting.
As investors become aware of the critical importance of biodiversity, we want to help them better integrate biodiversity into their investment decision-making processes. That's why we are really looking forward to this collaboration with Ecogain, a leading expert voice on biodiversity.
- James McKeone, VP and European Head of Data at Nasdaq.
Nasdaq has previously provided a voluntary reporting platform where companies can choose to share their non-financial reporting. However, with the ESG Data Hub, a number of experts with expertise in different sustainability areas will contribute structured and detailed data for a more granular view of companies. To support transparency and global comparability, all data available on the platform is linked to the global sustainability goals set by the UN.
By partnering with leading experts across the ESG spectrum, the Nasdaq ESG Data Hub responds to the growing demand from investors for more specialized and high-quality data sets to enable them to make more intelligent and informed investment decisions.
- James McKeone, VP and European Head of Data at Nasdaq.
At present, biodiversity data covers large companies in the Nordics and Baltics, the countries reviewed in Ecogain's Biodiversity Index 2021. But already in 2022, the scope will be scaled up to parts of Europe and the US. The long-term plan is, as data models and measurement methods evolve, to move from currently reported data to measuring actual impacts in both business and nature.
Link to Nasdaq ESG Data Hub: https://www.nasdaq.com/nasdaq-ESG-hub
