Top Story of the Week Corporate Sustainability Reporting – Up, Up, Up
Majority of Large Firms Join Trend KPMG, the global accounting firm, has been tracking the sustainability reporting of companies for two decades. A new study from the firm reveals that of the largest 250 companies in the world, 83% publish annual sustainability reports. (Question that raises – what’s with the 7% not reporting yet?) G&A Institute examined the reporting activities of the Fortune 500 companies and the S&P 500 Index companies in 2012 – more than half of the firms in each universe published reports (up from about 20% in 2011). You can review this analysis on our web site. More details are available in our Top Story from Greenbiz.com. Survey reveals a surge in corporate sustainability reporting
(Friday - December 13, 2013)
Source: GreenBiz - For the past 20 years, international accounting firm KPMG has been tracking the evolution of corporate sustainability reports. Recently, it revealed that a large majority of the world's biggest companies now produce the reports.... Sustainability in Focus Sustainable strategies win over skeptical emerging stock investors
(Friday - December 13, 2013)
Source: Reuters - Cajoled by developed world governments and shocked by disasters such as the Bangladesh factory collapse, investors in emerging market companies are looking more closely at environmental, social or governance issues before they... Linking CSR performance with pay sends clear sustainability signal
(Friday - December 13, 2013)
Source: Guardian - Back in 1993 when KPMG published its first Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting, it was a new and niche activity practiced by only one in 10 pioneering companies. Fast forward 20 years and things are very different... US: Updated Higg Index aids sustainability measurement
(Thursday - December 12, 2013) Associated Profiles : Sustainable Apparel Coalition
Source: just-style.com - The Higg Index sustainability measurement tool for the apparel supply chain has been updated with a new web interface and social impact modules, improved environmental content - and for the first time brings... Sustainability increasingly mainstream
(Thursday - December 12, 2013)
Source: Business Day - Businesses must cater to Kiwis' growing sustainability concerns or be left behind, a survey shows. Colmar Brunton's sustainability survey of 1000 Kiwis found Gen Y, people aged 13 to 29, were driven by sustainability concerns... Seeing is believing: CEOs experience sustainability challenges firsthand
(Thursday - December 12, 2013)
Source: Guardian - When former Walmart CEO Lee Scott traveled to see the aftermath of Katrina, his experience led directly to Walmart mobilizing its tremendous logistics infrastructure to aid disaster victims. It also made him realize the Earth's... Scandinavian-style sustainability
(Wednesday - December 11, 2013)
Source: Sustainable Industries - From a window seat, the first glimpse of Denmark’s sustainability ambition waves at air travelers as they make their descent into Copenhagen’s airport. Middelgrunden, a row of 20 towering turbines audaciously anchored to a reef...
Corporate Sustainability Reports Reach 86% of US Largest Companies
(Tuesday - December 10, 2013)
Source: Sustainable Business.com - For the past 20 years, international accounting firm KPMG has been tracking the evolution of Corporate Sustainability Reports, and now finds that a large majority of the world's biggest companies produce annual reports... Sustainability in the spotlight keeps banks on guard against greenwash
(Tuesday - December 10, 2013) Associated Profiles : UN - The Equator Principles
Source: Australian Financial Review - The bank did not comment on how investment decisions have changed. Within the finance industry, views on the Equator Principles themselves are mixed. Modeled partly on the World... Sustainability Mythbusters: Debunking the Sustainability Myths
(Tuesday - December 10, 2013)
Source: Environmental Leader - The business case for sustainability is no myth. It is real and can be measured in many direct and indirect ways. And while there are many companies out there who’ve made a real commitment to be sustainable and who are reaping... Why sustainable pay is the future of executive compensation
(Monday - December 09, 2013)
Source: Green Biz - When I was a director of a financial institution in the 1990s, we struggled in vain to get top executives to pay attention to the board’s sustainability priorities, to no avail. Then we stumbled upon the idea of rewarding the CEO... ESG Issues & Players Many U.S. Companies Already Preparing to Pay For The Carbon They Burn
(Friday - December 13, 2013)
Source: Wunderground.com - A group of 29 major American companies – in industries ranging from energy and retail to entertainment and information technology – have decided they're not waiting on the federal government to take action on climate change... U.S. Solar Gained 35% in Third Quarter Led by Big Plants
(Wednesday - December 11, 2013)
Source: Bloomberg - Developers installed 930 megawatts of photovoltaic solar capacity in the U.S. during the third quarter and are on pace to almost double that, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association... 2 Years and 900 Pages Later, the Volcker Rule Gets the Green Light
(Wednesday - December 11, 2013)
Source: Time - Five regulatory agencies signed off on the Volcker rule on Tuesday, bringing their two-year struggle to define the regulations to a close, sort of. In theory it will stop big banks from making risky trades that pose a threat to... Asset Managers, US Pension Funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds London Business School Signs Deal with China's Sovereign Wealth Fund
(Monday - December 09, 2013) Associated Profiles : State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) Investment Company (China)
Source: prnasia.com - One of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), has signed a landmark agreement with London Business... Bank of America agrees $315m settlement with Mississippi state pension fund over toxic debt
(Thursday - December 12, 2013) Associated Profiles : Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) of Mississippi
Source: Daily Telegraph - Lawyers for the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi filed the details of the settlement in a New York court late on Monday night in a move that brings to an end more than two years...
“Corporate Social Responsibility” Reports in China: Progress or Greenwashing?
(Friday - December 13, 2013)
Source: Bloomberg/BusinessWeek - Over the past decade, an increasing number of Chinese companies have begun to produce corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. Whether that’s led to more sustainable business practices is an open question... Watching the Watchers Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)
Headquarters: New York, NY USA
Established: 2003
KEY PARTNERS:
10 member U.S. states plus several observer U.S. states and Canadian provinces. OVERVIEW / MISSION
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) summarizes its activity: “RGGI is the first mandatory, market-based CO2 emissions reduction program in the United States.” RGGI also states that the organization's "exclusive purpose is to provide administrative and technical services to support the development and implementation of each Participating State's CO2 Budget Trading Program."
RGGI covers over 200 facilities: these are fossil fuel-fired electric power plants 25 megawatts or greater in size. The coalition hopes to reduce CO2 emissions with minimal effects on energy prices. The program went into effect January 1, 2009, and the first compliance period lasts three years. BACKGROUND
RGGI Inc. is a non-profit corporation that grew out of conversations between governors of northeastern U.S. states in 2003: they discussed developing “a regional cap-and-trade program addressing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.” Seven states signed a memorandum of understanding in 2005 and published, in 2006, a “model rule” with the proposed program. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maryland signed on in 2007, joining Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, andPennsylvania. The Canadian provinces of Ontario, New Brunswick, and Quebec are all observers. RGGI holds quarterly CO2 auctions to sell CO2 allowances rather than distributing them to power plants. Auction revenues will be reinvested into the region with the intention of benefiting consumers through energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other clean energy technologies, according to RGGI. | Check It Out...
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_______________________________ Corporate ESG Performance Factors & SustainabilityHQ Corporate ESG Performance Factors are important to financial analysts, asset owners and managers, and many stakeholders. The ESG framework or approach considers environmental issues and impacts, the company’s positioning and actions on social/societal issues, and important aspects of corporate governance. ESG key performance indicators are considered by investors as proxies for effective governance and management. Increasing numbers of of independent research and financial analysis firms monitor and measure these and advisie investors. The Sustainability HQ™ platform is an important profiling and monitoring resource for the G&A team, and for our clients and subscribers. ESG market players and corporate reputation influencers are profiled and monitored by G&A Institute. In these Highlights we provide some results of our continuous global scanning for ESG, sustainability and corporate responsibility news.. The Associated Profiles indicated are in our platforms. For more information, please email us atinfo@sustainabilityhq.com
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