With more market players taking into consideration the environmental and social impact of their investment decisions,
Investing while taking environmental, social and corporate governance standards into account, widely referred to as ESG investing, has become more prevalent in
"Although many companies were aware that they must work on ESG information disclosures, they had trouble finding where specifically to begin," said
About 98 percent of 48 asset management firms in
The handbook, given to 3,700 listed companies last year, explains in four steps how to identify ESG issues that are relevant, how to connect the issues to a business strategy and to create oversight, and lastly how to best disclose achievements.
It emphasizes the importance of focusing on ESG issues that are deeply related to the companies' business strategies so that investors can use the information as part of their mid- and long-term valuation calculations.
As a best practice case study, the handbook looks into the operations of a household appliance maker with a global supply chain.
The company issues annual updates on how it oversees and improves its suppliers' employee education programs, efforts to adhere to human rights standards and measures to address its environmental and climate change-related impacts.
"We are more than happy if the handbook helps to accelerate the information disclosure in the Japanese market," Miki said.
Globally, ESG investing assets stood at
In
Brokers said investing in green energy companies is expected to rise in
Although the release of carbon dioxide and other emissions is unavoidable in some businesses, awareness of ESG issues has been rising rapidly among Japanese companies, says
"As an investor, I expect that companies planning or acting (to achieve the goal) would foster innovation. And where innovation occurs, there will be investment opportunities," he said.
==Kyodo
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