Undoubtedly, the focus on E rather than S in the press and investor conversations is a result of the impression that E is more measurable and can be implemented with relative ease and displayed to investors. While much of the focus on sustainable investing has up to now tended to be on the environmental "E" of ESG, that is now slowly changing as investors increasingly consider social or S issues. In its simplest form, taxonomy simply refers to a system for naming and organizing things. This puts further measures in place to enhance the transparency and quality of disclosures by listed companies and establish taxonomy regulations for sustainable finance in Taiwan. This initiative was then followed by the 2020 Green Finance Action Plan 2.0. In response to the international trend toward green finance, Taiwan's government in 2017 began implementing the Green Finance Action Plan, with the objective of transforming Taiwan into a green, low-carbon economy boasting green investment - along with green consumption and lifestyles. I think it is also important to stress that much attention is now being focused on S not least by the Taiwan Financial Services Commission (FSC), which has identified it as one of its three core strategies in defining its Green Finance Action Plan 2. For instance, employers now are required to provide COVID-19 related health insurance and cannot pass on those costs to their employees. In fact, I have written articles before on the steps the Taiwan government is initiating to improve the rights of foreign domestic workers. Worker's rights, particularly those of foreign domestic workers, are very much in the news, especially given the country's reliance on foreign domestic workers to sustain economic growth. These are all important issues in Taiwan, which is certainly not lagging behind the rest of the world on these issues. At the national level, they relate to factors like whether human rights are being violated, workers' rights and gender equality. Social factors are clearly important and the definition of S also extends to include issues linked to how a company treats its staff, like employee safety, gender equality and living wages. The EU describes the type of activities that could be counted as socially sustainable as "those that contribute to tackling inequality or foster social cohesion, social integration and labor relations, or that relate to human capital or economically or socially disadvantaged communities.”
The basics of "environmental" in Taiwan's ESG Read More: 'One solution fits all’ package for ESG doesn’t exist
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