"We help companies develop sustainability strategies that create value."
Bahar Keskin, CSR Consulting Turkey
UNPRI introduced to Turkish investors and companies
The United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) was introduced to Turkish investors during a workshop on 21 January 2010. The workshop was held at the premises of the Istanbul Stock Exchange, which has become a signatory to PRI under the category of "Professional Service Partner".
In just three years the number of major global investors signing up to the PRI has soared from 50 to over 600, representing US$18 trillion of assets in 37 countries. It is a clear recognition by mainstream institutional investors of the importance of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues to investment processes.
We expect that the PRI Workshop and Istanbul Stock Exchange's signing up to the Principles would spark greater interest in responsible investment in the Turkish capital markets.
In any case, Turkish companies that would like to attract responsible investors, Turkish or international, should start developing strategies to manage and report their ESG performance. The third principle of UNPRI says "We will seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues by the entities in which we invest". We also expect that disclosure of ESG issues through a sustainability report will gain momentum in Turkey.
For more information:
UNPRI
Press Release UNPRI Workshop in Turkey (pdf)