The Mexican Stock Exchange has launched several projects to develop sustainable markets focused on investment with a sense of social-environmental responsibility and corporate governance to ensure the financial growth and the continuity of the companies.
The term sustainability must be understood beyond a simple series of environmental initiatives implemented by companies or governments that implement actions that decisively foster a better relationship with our environment and capitalize on financial resources.
Currently, stock exchanges are focusing their efforts on implementing initiatives to allow financial flows to contribute to the economies to become more sustainable, and for companies to have greater corporate transparency.
The Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV), due to its importance within the Mexican financial system, has initiated several funding mechanisms and options for investors to participate in assets labeled as “green.”
The Mexican Carbon Platform, MEXICO, is the first voluntary carbon market in the country to allow companies to compensate their Greenhouse Effect Gas Emissions (GEI) through the purchase of certified emissions reductions used for social-environmental projects.
Another example is IPC Sustainable, which brings together companies with the best practices in environmental, social and corporate governance practices, allowing investors to have an investment vehicle which represents the issuing companies that disclose their commitments in sustainability matters.
Additionally, BMV is a member of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges, a United Nations initiative to incentivize greater corporate transparency among the stock exchange participants.
With this same conviction to keep fostering the green markets, the initiative to list green bonds was put into operation so companies and governments can fund specific projects that benefit their communities and residents. These instruments are labeled so the resources can be expressly applied to reduce the GEI emissions, or to facilitate adapting to climate change.
In Latin America, the Mexican Stock Exchange is a pioneer in the issuance of green bonds, first with the one held by Nacional Financiera (Nafin), and later by Mexico City, which issued its green bond, thus becoming the first sub-national government and the first city in the region to place a bond of this kind.
Likewise, the Advisory Council for Climate Finance (CCFC) was created, comprised of representatives from the financial sector such as Afores (retirement funds), insurance firms, associations, commercial and development banks, issuing companies, investment funds and other institutions, whose purpose is to contribute to market practices, regulations and to promote the funding of green projects.
A sustainability guide is also being developed for the listed companies to become aware and voluntarily submit standardized information to allow the investing audience to know the efforts being made in that regard.
These actions are circumscribed within the goal set by the Mexican Stock Exchange to create markets committed to the common welfare and to providing funding through the different instruments it offers to allow economic growth and the continuity of the companies through time.
