(Environmental Finance) - The first environmental, social and governance (ESG) index of Middle Eastern and North African companies is due to be launched later this year – two years after it was first announced.

The Dubai-based Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance, index and ratings provider Standard & Poor's (S&P), and Credit Rating and Information Services of India Ltd. (Crisil) are developing the index, which will be based on constituents' ESG performance.

“The index will help some 400 listed companies in 11 countries better understand environmentally and socially responsible investment practices, and the importance of implementing sound corporate governance,” said [ASrIA member] International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, which is supporting the index's development.

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