Nasdaq Inc. has launched futures in the Nordic region tracking an index that complies with environmental, social and governance criteria.

The launch of the futures, based on the OMXS30 ESG Responsible index, is in response to increased efforts among institutions to integrate sustainability into their investment strategies. Nasdaq said it is the first-ever exchange-listed and ESG-compliant index future.

Alessandro Romani, head of European equity derivatives at Nasdaq, said in a press release that Nasdaq's existing OMXS30 index future contract is among the most traded in Europe and that it expects to see the same interest for the ESG version.

The futures are available for trading on Nasdaq Stockholm starting Oct. 15. Nasdaq is planning to launch corresponding ESG indexes for its two other Nordic benchmark indexes, the OMXC25 in Denmark and the OMXH25 in Finland, in the near future.