LONDON, July 26 (Reuters) - Global regulators took a first step on Monday to unlock the "black box" of corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings, suggesting formal oversight of a sector which helps channel trillions of dollars into climate-friendly investment funds. Despite growing influence, ESG raters and data providers are largely unregulated, lack transparency in their methods, offer uneven coverage and harbour potential conflicts of interest, said the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which groups market regulators from the United States, Europe and Asia. Asset managers running ESG focused funds increasingly rely on about 160 raters globally to help pick stocks and bonds, raising investor protection questions, IOSCO said. Users,...

As world leaders prepare for the upcoming UN General Assembly (UNGA), the planet is facing simultaneous emergencies that are threatening our collective ability to respond: the ongoing global pandemic, increasingly extreme weather events, and a rise in humanitarian crises with far-reaching impacts for the world’s most vulnerable people, including women, girls, and those who have dedicated their lives in the pursuit of dignity and human rights.Like last year’s annual convening, this year’s UNGA — which takes place from Tuesday, September 14, until Thursday, September 30 — has been affected by the pandemic with multiple events and convenings taking place online instead of in person.

This Agenda is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. It also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom. We recognise that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. All countries and all stakeholders, acting in collaborative partnership, will implement this plan. We are resolved to free the human race from the tyranny of poverty and want and to heal and secure our planet. We are determined to take the bold and transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path. As we embark on this collective journey, we pledge that no one will be left behind. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals an...

How good a job are corporations doing in disclosing ESG policies and data to investors and other stakeholders? As the volume of regulations and guidance targeting corporate ESG disclosures globally has soared in the past few years,1 we have seen institutional investors seeking more transparent and consistent ESG data to facilitate better engagement with corporations and to incorporate ESG considerations in their investment decisions.We could find no published studies, however, quantifying ESG disclosure trends at a granular level or that compared corporate reporting practices across various markets and capitalization sizes. This information could help institutional investors better identify engagement targets or areas for additional due diligence.

Over the past crazy year, organizations have learned many important lessons—some, the hard way.From these many lessons that we are still experiencing, managers and supervisors have seen how ongoing, well-planned safety impacts productivity and quality of work. However, it is a major misconception that workplace safety and productivity are mutually exclusive, and in order for one area the benefit, the other must be negatively impacted. The reality is that safety and productivity actually complement each other.