finnCap Group PLC (LON:FACP) has partnered with sustainability fintech World Wide Generation (WWG) to launch a new app for small businesses that maps performance against the broker’s ESG scorecard.
The tracker is an app on a global multi-stakeholder platform called G17Eco, said the AIM-listed broker, which allows companies to monitor and measure their sustainability risks and opportunities.
The app incorporates metrics from finnCap’s ESG (environmental, social, governance) Scorecard, which provides small-cap companies with a yardstick against which to measure key policies, standards, and frameworks.
finnCap added that recent research has highlighted that while SMEs say they are aware of the growing importance of ESG, they are not doing much about it.
A recent study by small-cap trade body the QCA found that while 92% of companies considered themselves knowledgeable about ESG, actual practices suggest that the real number is considerably lower.
finnCap said its partnership with WWG aims to close this gap and will give coherent and evidence-based reporting of ESG activities in the way investors want from firms.
WWG is the technology partner for the UK Government and City of London backed Sustainable Development Capital Initiative, while it was recently mandated by the United Nations Data Hub to enable cities and governments to report their sustainability data through the G17Eco platform.
Sam Smith, finnCap’s chief executive, said: “We are delighted to begin this partnership with WWG to help businesses realise their growth ambitions responsibly by improving their ESG performance.
“We believe nothing similar exists in the marketplace, so we are proud to take a pioneering approach that helps companies solve a complex problem which is of increasing importance.”
Manjula Lee, chief executive of WWG, added: “We want to make sustainability reporting literally and acronymically SIMPLE (strategic, interconnected, meaningful, purposeful, long-term, educative).”
