Bloomberg has launched a proprietary ESG scoring service, providing investors with data-driven insights on environmental and social performances in a business, as well as their board performance.
Initially, the service will cover Environmental and Social scores for 252 companies in the oil and gas sector, and Board Composition Scores for more than 4,300 companies across multiple industries, Bloomberg said.
The firm added the ES scores will begin with the oil & gas sectors as there is typically a stronger disclosure from these companies. They also account for more than half of carbon dioxide emissions related to fuel combustion and generate 15% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, according to the IEA.
The scores will enable investors to compare performance of company activities relating to climate change and health and safety, for example, relative to their industry peers.
Meanwhile, the Board Composition Scores will provide insight on board diversity, how well a board can supervise management, and if there are any risks in the board structures.
Patricia Torres, global head of Bloomberg Sustainable Finance Solutions, commented on the new scoring service: “ESG data is critical to the investment process. We see an opportunity to provide transparent and complete scoring methodologies along with the underlying data in order to support investment and finance professionals make informed decisions.
“By providing transparent ESG data and scores, we are helping investors decode raw data that is otherwise hard to compare across companies. For corporates, these scores offer a valuable, quantitative and normalized benchmark that will easily highlight their ESG performance.”
