The World Bank Treasury organized a roundtable discussion on “Sovereign Issuer Engagement with Investors on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Issues” on October 21, 2019 as a first step to develop a framework to support public debt management offices on how to engage with investors on ESG and sustainability issues as part of their investor relations activities. The roundtable, building on the ESG Sovereign Investor Workshop hosted by the Treasury earlier this year, brought together sovereign issuers, asset owners and managers, rating agencies and ESG data providers.
Discussions included perspectives on relevant ESG issues for a sovereign bond investor; material ESG risks that impact the creditworthiness of sovereign bonds; challenges and opportunities to report on ESG and sustainability related issues; role of guidelines to enhance communication between investors and sovereign issuers.