The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) will ring the closing bell at NASDAQ, as part of headline participation in sustainable investment roundtable, New York, May 14.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) – pioneering developer of the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework – will be the featured guest at a prestigious event at New York’s NASDAQ OMX Exchange on 14 May 2010, titled: ‘Sustainable Investing: What’s at Stake for Investors & Public Companies?’

The invitation-only roundtable, organized by NASDAQ OMX Exchange in partnership with the sustainability rating specialist CRD Analytics, will begin with a keynote address by GRI Chairman, Prof. Mervyn King.

Prof. King will call on all companies to adopt globally standardized reporting practices for their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.

“We are looking forward to addressing some of the world’s largest corporations listed on the NASDAQ, highlighting how GRI provides the best way to unlock the economic value of sustainability reporting,” says Mike Wallace, Director, Sustainability Reporting Framework at GRI in Amsterdam, NL.

GRI’s participation in the roundtable exemplifies the active role it has been taking internationally for the past 12 years to provide guidance to companies, investors, governments, and NGOs on global ESG reporting trends. GRI has tracked more than 1,350 organizations that formally issued a GRI-based sustainability report in 2009 – this is a 25 percent increase on the prior year. Studies suggest there are many more GRI reporters than are formally documented.

The recognition by business of the importance of sustainability reporting, and of GRI’s role in driving its global adoption, is reflected by its central role in the May roundtable. In ringing of the NASDAQ closing bell, GRI will symbolically demonstrate its role at the heart of the business community, with the ceremony broadcast live on the iconic NASDAQ OMX video tower overlooking Times Square.

The Global Reporting Initiative has been engaging directly with the European Commission, the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), and other international governments to advocate for policy leadership in advancing ESG reporting.

The inclusion of ESG topics on the agenda of these international governments further clarifies what publicly traded companies must disclose to investors about climate-related ‘material’ effects on business operations. With developing guidance emerging from the European Commission, international governments, and specifically the US SEC pointing to the Global Reporting Framework, GRI is looking forward to sharing their developments in New York City. Additionally, GRI has been invited by the US SEC's Investor Advisory Committee (IAC) to present on GRI's involvement in global ESG reporting trends this summer.

GRI will also highlight the latest developments in global ESG reporting at its biennial conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on 26-28 May. The world’s biggest sustainability reporting event, the Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency will be attended by ESG experts and opinion leaders from across the globe. For more information on the conference, please visit www.amsterdamgriconference.org.

For more information on the sustainable investment roundtable at NASDAQ or GRI please contact:

Ms Gudrun Dohl
Media Communications Manager
+31(0)20-5310067
dohl@globalreporting.org

About NASDAQ
NASDAQ is the largest U.S. electronic stock market. With approximately 3,200 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. It is home to companies that are leaders across all areas of business, including technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media and biotechnology. NASDAQ is the primary market for trading NASDAQ-listed stocks. Nasdaq.com is the official website of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with approximately 3,700 listed companies.

For more information visit: www.nasdaqomx.com  

About CRD Analytics
CRD Analytics is an independent provider of investment analytics. The company's rigorous evaluation of financial, social, environmental and governance data is used to quantitatively determine the potential sustainability of a company, industry sector or investment portfolio, allowing for informed investment decisions and delivering optimized, risk-adjusted sustainable performance. Using its proprietary, patent-pending SmartViewTM Platform, CRD Analytics empowers its clients with actionable and performance-driven information distilled from large sets of complex data.

For more information visit: www.crdanalytics.com  

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