China Development Financial (CDF, TWSE: 2883) has been championing ESG (environment, social, and governance) since 2015. The efforts have borne fruit with CDF being listed in the recently announced 2020 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI). CDF has made it into the component lists of both the DJSI World and DJSI Emerging Markets indices for the first time.
Among the 22 DJSI evaluation criteria, CDF was on the best-score list for ten criteria and obtained a full score in six criteria, with highly praised performances in the sustainable financing (responsible investments) and financial inclusion.
DJSI, a key benchmark used by global investment institutions to assess corporate ESG practices, is the world’s first corporate sustainability indicator launched by S&P Dow Jones Indices, a US firm.
CDF subsidiaries, including CDIB Capital Group, KGI Bank, KGI Securities Investment Trust, KGI Securities, and China Life have committed to complying with the “Stewardship Principles enacted by Taiwan Stock Exchange since January 2017. In addition, CDF became a TCFD supporter in December 2018, implementing climate change risk governance and management analysis.
This year, CDIB Capital Group and China Life established responsible investment policy in June, including ESG practice in their assessment and decision-making processes for investments and enabling CDF to gain leadership position in sustainability both at home and abroad.
Besides being recognized as a DJSI component company, CDF advanced into the top 50 of the 2020 TCSA (Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards) and was awarded “Growth Through Innovation”” and “Climate Leadership” for the second straight year. In this year’s corporate sustainability report competition, CDF won the gold medal for corporate sustainability and the silver medal for English reports.
CDF says the inclusion in the DJSI indices indicates that its sustainability program meets international standards. CDF will strive towards the sustainability goal set by the United Nations by implementing its core strategies in following five dimensions, “corporate governance,” “intelligent finance,” “talent development,” “low-carbon economy,” and “co-creation of society.”
