FoSDA 2023 Working Groups

    FoSDA has committed to prioritizing four working groups this year, aiming to make meaningful contributions to the discussion and resolution of the most critical ESG data issues confronting the industry and regulators in 2023. 

    Policy & Regulations
    Working Group


    Data & Methods Working Group


    Mapping Taxonomies to Data
    Working Group

    Thematics in Focus Working Group
    (this year - biodiversity)

    Policy & Regulations Working Group

    The new working group will focus on providing strategic and technical input on matters related to policy and regulatory developments with respect to sustainability data analytics, indexes, and products. It will seek to engage with a broad range of stakeholders, including standard setters, policy makers, and regulators, and be a source of expertise to its members and broader financial markets participants as developments in this field continue to move at pace. 

    The Policy & Regulations Working Group will be co-chaired by Ola Ajadi, Head of Government Relations & Regulatory Strategy, UK MEA at LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) and Martina Macpherson, Head of ESG Product Management at SIX.

    Data & Methods Working Group

    Building on the work done in ESG Gaps & Holes in 2022, this workstream will dig deeper into the datasets that really matter for various use cases and financial market segments. It will To lead on the FoSDA Data & Methods research and provide technical data advisory to FoSDA’s other workstreams.

    Mapping Taxonomies To Data Working Group

    FoSDA’s taxonomy infographic was the single most requoted output from the FoSDA work in 2021. The market interest in understanding the development of global green, sustainability and impact taxonomies continues to grow. FoSDA’s role is to focus on what data is being identified as essential across the many global taxonomies and seeks to call out where there is commonality and divergence. The Taxonomy workstream will also review industry-specific elements of the taxonomies to map data to these sub-industries to build commonality and efficiency in the future use of these tools globally.

    This workstream is being co-chaired by Sean Kidney, CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative (CB).

    Thematics in Focus - Biodiversity

    This work builds on the early identification by FoSDA in our 2020 report that Biodiversity data was an example of a data “hole”. Interest and focus on Biodiversity and Nature-based solutions have gained traction and the need to be clear about the definitions of data in this space have become more urgent. 

    The working group will focus on enhancing awareness around biodiversity and nature finance, data availability and highlighting the most important forward-looking areas. This will be achieved through conducting research, engaging with experts in the field and publishing commentary papers and reports that highlight the most critical issues. The working group is chaired by Christopher Perceval, Senior Market Engagement Director at S&P Global Sustainable1.