"This year, we intend to take further steps towards the greening of stock exchange indices, that is, taking into account ESG factors and decarbonization targets in their determination," Aleksandra Bluj, vice president of GPW Benchmark told PAP.

“In the area of ​​the stock exchange index family, the task facing us this year is their so-called greening. When creating indices, the administrator should, and in some cases even must take into account what is happening in the area of ​​regulations, obligations, requirements, and market expectations in the context of ESG factors (Environmental, Social Responsibility, Corporate Governance) and take into account the decarbonization trajectory,” Aleksandra Bluj emphasized.

GPW Benchmark deals with the determination of stock and bond market indices and provides reference indicators for the money market WIBID and WIBOR. The company, part of the GPW Group, is the administrator of benchmarks within the meaning of the EU BMR Regulation, entered in the ESMA (The European Securities and Markets Authority) register, the institution supervising the EU capital market. In December 2020, GPW Benchmark obtained a permit from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) to operate as an administrator of interest rate benchmarks, including the preparation of WIBID and WIBOR Reference Rates. Obtaining permission to develop the WIBOR index means that GPW Benchmark has now become one of the three licensed administrators of the key index. 

“The second trend in the group of stock market indices is the building of international-comparable green index indices, which is introduced by BMR, ie Climate Transition Benchmark (CTB) or Paris-aligned Benchmark (PAB). These are indices, the methodology of which is directly related to the assessment of the decarbonization trajectories of their companies. This is a more unambiguous and uncompromising solution because it is not about evaluating or evaluating something at the input – in this case, we take hard data on decarbonization and its plans for listed companies. The administrator is obliged to monitor whether the companies within a given portfolio meet these quite ambitious goals. Of the two listed indices, the PAB is more stringent, and the CTB is slightly less,” Aleksandra Bluj said.

(WBJ)