Future Forward: Driving Long-Term Value
This summary highlights key initiatives from Nasdaq’s 2025 Sustainability Report, featuring our efforts in workforce engagement, ethical governance, environmental stewardship, and client and community support.
A Letter from Nasdaq's Chair & CEO
Adena Friedman, Chair & CEO, Nasdaq Read the Full Letter"As a leading technology platform powering the world’s economies, Nasdaq’s focus is on serving as the trusted fabric of the financial system. That means we are Future Forward – architecting the world’s modern markets, powering the innovation economy, and building trust in the financial system."
Q&A with Nasdaq’s CFO and Corporate Sustainability Steering Committee Co-Chair
"Our sustainability approach is closely tied to how we think about long-term value across the company. Being “Future Forward” means aligning our work with the forces shaping the global financial system and reinforcing its transparency and resilience."Sarah Youngwood, EVP & CFO, Nasdaq
Our Approach to Sustainability
Our sustainability strategy is an evolution of our core purpose, designed to deliver long‑term value to our clients, colleagues, and communities. It guides how we partner with our stakeholders to power a more resilient and inclusive global economy. We focus on the sustainability topics that are most critical to our business and stakeholders—from advancing climate and technology solutions to championing transparent governance and empowering our workforce.
Nina Eisenman, Vice President, Head of Corporate Sustainability Strategy and Reporting, Nasdaq“Our approach to sustainability is focused on creating lasting value and is grounded in Nasdaq’s purpose to empower economic opportunity. We see sustainability not as a separate function, but as integral to our role as a trusted partner to our clients and a foundational part of the financial system."
Our Sustainability Ratings
Score | Ratings Agency | Highlights | Score Range |
|---|---|---|---|
AA | Image
| Highest scoring range for Corporate Governance, placing us in the Leader category and indicating that our corporate governance practices are well aligned with shareholder interests | AAA-CCC |
Environment: 1 | Image
| Our QualityScores indicate a high level of environmental and social disclosure, and a low governance risk | 1–10 (1 = lowest risk) |
6194th percentile | Image
| Included in the Dow Jones Best-in-Class World Index for the second consecutive year and the Dow Jones Best-in-Class North America Index for the tenth consecutive year | 0–100 (100 = best) |
A | Image
| Climate Change 2025 A List – Score is based on the comprehensiveness of disclosure, awareness and management of environmental risks, and demonstration of environmental leadership | A-D |
| Supplier Engagement Assessment 2025 A List – Recognized for our efforts to measure and reduce climate risk within our supply chain | |||
75 (Silver)91st percentile | Image
| Awarded a Silver Medal as recognition for the top 15% of organizations for sustainability performance | 0–100 (100 = best) |
14.9* | Image
| Low risk of experiencing significant financial impacts from sustainability factors | 0–10 (negligible risk) 10–20 (low risk) 20–30 (medium risk) 30–40 (high risk) 40+ (severe risk) |
Note: Ratings are as of April 30, 2026. The use by Nasdaq of any MSCI ESG Research LLC or its affiliates (“MSCI”) data and the use of the MSCI logos, trademarks, service marks, or names herein, do not constitute a sponsorship, endorsement, recommendation, or promotion of Nasdaq by MSCI. MSCI services and data are the property of MSCI or its information providers and are provided ’as-is’ and without warranty. MSCI names and logos are trademarks or service marks of MSCI.
*Copyright ©2026 Morningstar Sustainalytics. All rights reserved. This Sustainability Report contains information developed by Sustainalytics. Such information and data are proprietary of Sustainalytics and/or its third-party suppliers (Third Party Data) and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not constitute an endorsement of any product or project, nor any investment advice and are not warranted to be complete, timely, accurate, or suitable for a particular purpose. Their use is subject to conditions available at https://www.sustainalytics.com/legal-disclaimers.
2025 Highlights Include:
Dedicated AI Integration Team
Established a dedicated AI integration team to streamline implementation and accelerate adoption across business functions.
AI Tools for Employees
Upskilled employees with AI tools to improve decision making, productivity, and execution quality
Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Implemented internal Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools, agent-driven workflows, and deep research
Internal GenAI Platform
Enhanced internal GenAI Platform and launched employee‑led AI‑powered agent initiatives
NASDHACK’25
Hosted NASDHACK’25 where participant employees leveraged Nasdaq’s GenAI Platform to build AI agents for high-code and no-code hackathon projects
Community of "AI Champions”
Founded the “AI Champions” community to support the implementation of AI tools and best practices across the organization
Nasdaq Verafin
Enhanced Nasdaq Verafin with automation and agentic AI for evolving regulations and operational compliance efficiency
Nasdaq AxiomSL
Embedded advanced AI in AxiomSL, including generative assistants and ML analytics, to boost productivity, predictive insight, and regulatory agility
Nasdaq Calypso
Integrated AI features into our Calypso solution to meet the operational and analytical needs of today’s financial institutions
Market Surveillance Business
Advanced AI, machine learning, and market data in our market surveillance business to detect market abuse, streamline investigations, and improve efficiency while reducing false positives
Nasdaq Eqlipse
Enhanced our Eqlipse platform with AI, delivering a cloud native, end-to-end trade lifecycle foundation for advanced analytics and automation
Nasdaq Lens
Evolved our AI-powered platform, Nasdaq Lens, to enhance research, benchmarking, and disclosure drafting to help organizations stay aligned, compliant, and efficient
Nasdaq Boardvantage
Delivered AI‑powered workflows in Nasdaq Boardvantage, saving time for directors and governance teams
Our Support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Listings – U.S.
- Provide all-inclusive fee structure, encouraging growth of SMEs
- Provided curated content specifically for the SME community through Nasdaq Amplify, including timely articles, editorials, and market and regulatory updates
First North Growth Market – Nordics
- Nine companies transferred from Nasdaq’s First North Growth Market to Nasdaq’s Main Market in 2025
Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center
- Delivered over 16,000 touchpoints to entrepreneurs across over 100 countries, including emerging economies
Capital Markets Technology
- Advanced our partnership with AWS to deliver cloud‑based infrastructure, supporting market modernization and enhancing access for international investors
Regulatory Technology
- Selected by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to modernize market oversight through automated alerts and cross‑market analytics across traditional and digital asset classes
Financial Crime Management Technology
- Introduced Agentic AI Workforce to automate high‑volume anti‑money laundering compliance tasks for banks
Sustainability Solutions
- Sustainability & Climate Advisory launched a team to specifically support clients with advanced climate strategy, GHG accounting, and decarbonization needs
- Expanded Nasdaq Metrio’s regulatory capabilities to deliver CSRD workflows aligned to ESRS
Decarbonization & Climate Change Strategy
- Continued our climate strategy and green certifications
- Maintained our carbon neutrality program and made progress against our science-based targets
Evaluating & Engaging Our Supply Chain
- Expanded our engagement with our top suppliers encouraging them to disclose their environmental data through CDP’s Climate Change survey
Puro.earth
- Reached 657K CO2 Removal Certificates issued on behalf of suppliers, up 62% from 2024
- 109 certified projects from 22 countries
Nasdaq Sustainable Debt Market
- > €88 billion of total listed outstanding sustainable debt volume on (+21% from 2024)
Nasdaq Sustainable Bond Network
- > 2,200 of total issuers (+18% from 2024)
Continued Our Memberships With:
- Accounting for Sustainability (A4S)
- Business Roundtable (BRT) “Purpose of a Corporation”
- CDP Supply Chain
- Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)
- Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) Forum
- United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)
- United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
- United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchange (SSE) Initiative
- United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchange (SSE) Advisory Group on Carbon Markets
- World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) – Sustainability Working Group