|
ESG Performance Factors are important to a growing number of asset owners and managers. The ESG framework – considering environmental and energy issues and impacts, the company positioning and actions on social/societal issues, and effective corporate governance (or not) – is a style…an approach…an expanding set of guidelines….a framework…depending on the analyst and investor and their embrace of ESG factors in investment decision-making. ESG is not about intangibles or the non-financials – these factors are very tangible to investors and stakeholders. Yes, the financials are critical for all investors – but corporate performance on ESG factors is now a proxy for the quality of corporate management for many investors. And quality of management (and board) directly impacts the financials – determining access to capital markets, cost of capital, attractiveness to investors, buy-sell-hold decisions, and more. In these Highlights we offer the results of our continuous global scanning for news, commentary and research on ESG issues – for investors, and for the information of corporate boards, senior executives and managers. These are selections from the hundreds of public reports and original content contained in our Sustainability HQ™ platforms. We invite your comments, questions and inquiries. The Team at G&A Institute – your Sustainability Headquarters. Featured News Governance & Accountability Institute Now GRI Partner for U.S.A.(Source: CSR Wire - July 14, 2011) Governance & Accountability Institute today announces it has been appointed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as its sole Data Partner for the USA as part of the global GRI Data Partner program. ESG / Sustainability Rating the sustainability raters (Source: Guardian, 7-13-2011) Sustainability challenges are enormous. Ratings can help drive attention and capital (financial, human, consumer) to those companies best positioned to address these challenges. Rate the Raters is a project that aims to make sense of the expanding universe of corporate sustainability ratings and rankings and to improve the quality and transparency of such ratings. we found 108 in phase two and more are popping up every month – those who they are meant to help are left perplexed about which ratings to pay attention to, and what they all mean. We have seen numerous "most sustainable" lists populated with companies which have experienced notable ethical lapses and product recalls. Pushing Back on Proxy Firms (Source: CFO, 7-13-2011) This past proxy season, disagreements between proxy-advisory firms, an industry dominated by the ISS and Glass Lewis, and the companies they evaluate seemed to grow in anticipation of the first year of mandated say-on-pay and say-on-frequency votes. Moreover, hanging in the wings is the possibility that the Securities and Exchange Commission may be changing some of the ways these firms operate. Associated Profiles : Glass, Lewis & Co. LLC Commentary Chernobyl's Lingering Scars (Source: Joe Nocera, NY Times) Oddly enough, the 25th anniversary of the worst nuclear accident in history has been marked by journalism about animals. Two magazines, Wired and Harper’s, have published lengthy articles about the rebirth of animal life in the so-called exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine. Research/Reports The Future of CSR Reporting: Coca Cola Enterprises Releases Video Report (Source: Triple Pundit, 7-11-2011) It used to be that corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports were paper. Then the PDF format became the norm. Whether they were in electronic or paper format, however, the PR-heavy approach, often with pages laden with happy children, waterfalls, and people of every race holding hands, began to grate on stakeholders and organizations who vetted these reports. Associated Profiles : UN - Global Reporting Initiative GRI Sovereign Wealth Funds Gaddafi 'Running Out Of Fuel And Cash' ( Source: Sky News, 7-13-2011) Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is facing dramatic fuel shortages, and is running out of cash to pay his forces and his government, according to the latest US intelligence reports. Rebel forces that captured towns from Nalut to Kikla in Libya's western Nafusa mountains could cut a vital crude oil pipeline that feeds one of the government's major refineries in the town of al Zawiyah, US officials said. Associated Profiles : Libyan Investment Authority UAE sees $100 bln alternative energy investments by 2020 (Source: Yahoo Business, Reuters,, 7-12-2011) DUBAI -The United Arab Emirates sees private sector investment opportunities in alternative energy projects reaching $100 billion by 2020, the economy ministry said on Monday. "Investment opportunities in the market for alternative and sustainable energy projects that can be invested by the private sector in the UAE will be around $100 billion until 2020," the Gulf Arab state's economy ministry said in a statement distributed at a news conference. Associated Profiles : Abu Dhabi Investment Authority | Make SustainabilityHQ™ your daily headquarters for important news, commentary and research results – your HQs for Sustainability and ESG knowledge management. The key capital market players focused on Sustainability and ESG (environmental management, social issues and effective corporate governance) are profiled with an abundance of relevant information. Updates are continuous. The third party organizations helping to shape corporate valuations and corporate reputations are profiled and news about these players is updated every day. Log in and check it out! _______________________________ In-depth profiling and analysis of leaders in Corporate Sustainability. Learn from the Leaders to develop Your Winning Corporate Strategies _______________________________ Strategic Governance - Enabling Financial, Environmental, and Social Sustainability _______________________________
Navigating the way to Contents © 2009 - 2011 Copyrights for other providers | |
Are we rich or are we bankrupt? Part 1 (Source: Tamasek Review, 7-11-2011) With the Presidential Elections just weeks away and the fact that the president is supposed to act as a custodian of our financial reserves, it is amazing that the state of our reserves and hence our nation’s fiscal health is not more a subject of national debate. Associated Profiles : Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) United States Pension Funds Funded Status of U.S. Pensions Rises to 88.5 Percent in June, According to BNY Mellon Asset Management (Source: PR NewsWire, 7-13-2011) The funded status of the typical U.S. corporate pension plan in June increased 0.8 percentage points to 88.5 percent as assets fell less than liabilities, according to monthly statistics published by BNY Mellon Asset Management. Liabilities for the typical plan fell 2.1 percent as the Aa corporate discount rate increased 19 basis points to 5.53 percent from 5.34 percent, according to the BNY Mellon Pension Summary Report for May 2011. Plan liabilities are calculated using the yields of long-term investment grade corporate bonds. Higher yields on these bonds result in lower liabilities. CalPERS adds $12 billion to California economy, study says (Source: LA Times, 7-12-2011) The California Public Employees' Retirement System pumped nearly $12 billion into the state's economy last year through benefits paid to retirees and other beneficiaries, making it "a significant economic engine in most California communities," a new study says. findings of consultant Robert Fountain, a retired Cal State Sacramento economics professor, help to show how important the country's largest public pension is to the state's economy, fund officials said. Associated Profiles : California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS Commentary A victory for fiscal sanity on public pensions (Source: Twin Cities, 7-13-2011) A little-noticed ruling in Ramsey County District Court late last month may help Minnesota and other states that want to ensure the long-term health of their public employees' retirement plans. Judge Gregg Johnson upheld the constitutionality of state laws that lowered cost-of-living increases for state retirees. Those limits were part of bills in 2009 and 2010 aimed at making sure the state's plans remain healthy enough to provide promised benefits. Associated Profiles : Minnesota State Retirement System (MSRS) What’s next for Florida pension reform (Source: Miami Herald. 7-10-2011) This legislative session, our policymakers took up the challenge of reforming Florida’s inflated pension plan for state workers. After months of hearings and protests, the Senate and the House settled on a slate of reforms, including a 3-percent contribution by government workers to their own pensions. Our elected officials are to be applauded for taking the bold step to making Florida’s pension plan for state workers more comparable to the private sector. Associated Profiles : Florida Retirement System Pension Plan Watching the Watchers
KEY PARTNERS The Safe Food Coalition includes such members as the Consumer Federation of America, Safe Tables Our Priority, Consumers Union, and United Food & Commercial Workers International Union. “Member groups” have served on the National Advisory Committee on Biological Criteria for Food, the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Food , and the FDA Food Advisory Committee. OVERVIEW/MISSION “The Safe Food Coalition has led the successful effort to reform the nation's food safety inspection systems,” according to the Web site of the Consumer Federation of America, which coordinates SFC. News Sweeps UFCW Applauds New Food Safety Law, Calls For Full Funding & Further ... | ||
SustainabilityHQ Highlights is prepared by the Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. based on continuous monitoring of trends and developments in Sustainability and ESG. The SustainabilityHQ™ platform is available by subscription. Governance & Accountability Institute is a monitoring, research, intelligence-gathering and knowledge management organizations operating at the intersections of powerful forces reshaping relationship between stockholders and stakeholders, and the public corporation. For more information, contact us at 646.430.8230 or info@ga-institute.com. G&A Institute manages SustainabilityHQ. | ||
Safe Food Coalition