The Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) is pleased to announce that the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX), its platform for sustainable securities, has been recognised by the United Nations Climate Change for its leadership in tackling climate change. LGX was awarded the prestigious prize in the category ‘Financing for Climate Friendly Investment’ at the United Nations Global Climate Action Awards 2020.
The awards, which are organised by the United Nations Climate Change’s Momentum for Change initiative, recognise global leaders in different industries throughout the world and the impact of their actions to address climate change.
Celebrating sustainability
LGX is the world’s leading platform for sustainable securities, and was created by LuxSE in 2016 as a direct contribution to the global climate goals defined in the Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Since then, LGX has solidified its position as the reference venue for sustainable securities issued worldwide, representing an ever-growing range of issuers and sectors.
“It is a great privilege to be recognised for our efforts and impact by the United Nations Climate Change initiative. This recognition strongly encourages us to continue to promote the sustainable finance agenda and help reorient capital flows towards green, social and sustainable investment projects. Given the current context, this is now more important than ever,” commented Julie Becker, Deputy CEO of LuxSE and Founder of LGX.
Paving the way
LGX received the UN Global Climate Action Award for its role in creating a solution to the challenge of climate change by facilitating sustainable investment. LGX offers issuers an opportunity to display their sustainable securities, while simultaneously granting investors access to complete information about sustainable investment products and transparent sustainability data. In this way, LGX has been facilitating sustainable investment since 2016 and helped accelerate the growth of sustainable finance.
LGX was one of only 13 projects worldwide recognised by the United Nations Climate Change this year. “I congratulate the winners of the 2020 UN Global Climate Action Awards, who provide tangible proof that climate action is under way around the world,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “It is exciting to see these climate solutions, which reinforce my call for decisive leadership on climate change by governments, businesses and cities, and for a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Let us keep pressing ahead to build a more sustainable and equitable future for all.”
Four years of promoting green finance
As of 30 September 2020, LGX encompasses 830 sustainable securities totalling EUR 320 billion, issued by around 140 issuers from 30 countries. Issuers that form part of the LGX community represent both public and private institutions, spanning multiple sectors.
In May this year, LuxSE launched the LGX Academy to raise awareness and strengthen sustainable finance education among financial professionals, students and the broader public. The LGX DataHub followed in September, a centralised data base for sustainability data points that allows asset managers and investors to compare the impact of different securities, and thereby make more informed investment decisions.
Read more about the reasons why LGX was awarded the prestigious UN prize at the UN Climate Change website here: https://unfccc.int/climate-action/momentum-for-change/financing-for-climate-friendly-investment/luxembourg-green-exchange
