The sustainability impact of governments is of growing interest to financial market participants, regulators and communities. A new Policy Insights Paper examines whether and how government entities should report on and disclose sustainability-related actions.
The report was written by Dr Angela Cummine, who joined the Institute between July and August 2022 as the inaugural Senior Policy Fellow on temporary leave from her role as Director, Sustainable Finance at NSW Treasury.
“Governments – as investors, issuers, regulators, procurers and owners – are under growing pressure to become more sustainable financial entities,” Cummine says in the report.
Up until now, the role of governments has been mostly limited to defining reporting and disclosure requirements for private entities. Yet there are good reasons for governments to adopt a more proactive approach focused on their own Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) impact.
“Proactive public reporting on sustainability actions could help governments protect their sovereign credit ratings, borrowing capacity, public wealth returns and social license with communities.”
The report proposes practical steps and a draft template for the NSW Government and other Australian governments to commence sustainability reporting and disclosure.
“There is a real opportunity for NSW to become an exemplar in government sustainability reporting and disclosure,” said Vafa Ghazavi, Executive Director for Research and Policy.
“We believe Dr Cummine’s timely report will be of tremendous value to public sector entities across Australia and beyond as they develop their approach to ESG reporting.”
