2016 A Year of Great Consequences and Positive Outcomes For Corporate Sustainability and Sustainable Investing? Graham Sinclair is one of the influentials, the thought leaders in sustainability. He shares his views on “mainstreaming sustainable investment” with us on the Triple Pundit platform. He sees 2016 as the year of the “new normal” for brand name asset owners and their managers to embrace ESG factors in their decision-making. An example is the CDP signatory base of now 822 financial institutions with US$95 trillion in Assets Under Management (AUM). Another strong signal is the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change – 120 members with 13 trillion Euros in AUM. And, PRI with 302 asset owners and 958 investment managers with $59 trillion AUM. And the worldwide professional analyst membership organization – CFA Institute – recently updated its CFA ESG Handbook to assist financial analysts and asset managers in better understanding and applying corporate ESG performance in their analysis and portfolio management. There is a lot going on in the mainstream investing community that Graham Sinclair walks us through. We encourage you to read his commentary and share it internally (with your investor relations team, the CEO and CFO, and others). G&A Institute will be sharing our views on the trends that we’re closely monitoring in sustainability -- feautred in Highlights over the next few weeks. Top Story of the Week Not Too Big to Fail: How Mega Investment Firms Do Sustainability
(Thursday - January 28, 2016)
Source: Triple Pundit - Mainstreaming sustainable investment: If the many investor initiatives aimed at corralling investors toward sustainability had not already made environmental, social and governance (ESG) the new normal, 2016 should do it. Sustainability in Focus How AstraZeneca, Fibria and Novelis embed sustainability into business
(Monday - January 25, 2016)
Source: GreenBiz - SustainAbility's recently released research, Sustainability Incorporated: Integrating Sustainability into Business, calls out the need for business to further embed sustainability into its core strategies. It highlights five...
Corporate sustainability needs to be ingrained in company culture
(Monday - January 25, 2016)
Source: The National - ...the question of exactly what sustainability means in a corporate setting will no doubt remain a talking point of many a boardroom discussion this year. What Sustainable Development is Really About
(Tuesday - January 26, 2016)
Source: Huff Post - Current conversations and dialogues relating to sustainable development are often congested with variations of words relating to the environment. Phrases such as "green energy", "green technology", "green solutions" or...
Everyone Can Be a Sustainability Manager
(Tuesday - January 26, 2016)
Source: Triple Pundit - The International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) is developing a formal certification process to provide “some definition and standardization of the competencies employers and seekers of consultants can come to...
What the fourth industrial revolution means for sustainability
(Tuesday - January 26, 2016)
Source: Green Biz - Against the backdrop of the Swiss Alps sparkling in the bright sun, I’ve been listening to some of the world’s most prominent business leaders discuss the next industrial revolution — and just what it will take to build a... Meet The Woman Driving Sustainability And Corporate Responsibility At Tiffany & Co.
(Wednesday - January 27, 2016)
Source: Forbes - Leading sustainability for a global brand is not only challenging, but requires knowledge of the entire organization. And then adding to the task is the additional job of running a major corporate foundation. For most companies,... Sustainable supply chains: The new information highway
(Thursday - January 28, 2016)
Source: GreenBiz - Any company can claim to be "sustainable," however, the degree to which it is can vary. Can a product or service truly be sustainable? Can the overall sustainability performance of a company be a proxy for the sustainability... Ignored at COP21, sustainable agriculture is vital to climate mitigation
(Friday - January 29, 2016) Associated Profiles : Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)
Source: EurActiv.com - EurActiv France reports. "Three quarters of French methane emissions come from agriculture," said Jean Jouzel, the vice-president of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). "But in spite of this,... Here’s What It Takes to Land Your Sustainability Dream Job
(Friday - January 29, 2016)
Source: Sustainable Brands - As sustainable business enters the mainstream, there is a growing need for a skilled labor force that can meet the needs of socially and environmentally focused firms. The rate of growth for jobs with “environmental compliance”... ESG Issues & Players By 2050, our oceans will hold more plastic than fish
(Monday - January 25, 2016)
Source: USA Today - Use of plastic has increased 20-fold in the past half-century; production of the ubiquitous material is expected to double again in the next 20 years (and nearly quadruple over the next 50). And, CNN Money reports, nearly a third... How we changed corporate behavior
(Monday - January 25, 2016)
Source: CNBC - Socially responsible investing encourages organizations to avoid buying stock in companies that fall short of certain ethical standards. But investors can use their clout to improve the behavior of companies in their portfolios... If Exxon's Punished for Climate Change, It'll Be for Lying to Investors
Tuesday - January 26, 2016)
Source: Wired - Last week, California’s attorney general announced it was investigating to see whether Exxon had lied about the risks of climate change. New York’s attorney general launched a similar inquest last November.
In Davos, Big Business Sends Mixed Signals on Climate Amid Calls for Carbon Pricing
(Tuesday - January 26, 2016)
Source: Huff Post - You must be really blind if you don't see that we are at a tipping point and into a transition," he said, referring to the shift from a fossil fuel economy to a renewable one and echoing the words of UK Central Banker Mark... Asset Managers, US Pension Funds,
Sovereign Wealth Funds Mideast funds more bullish on stock, bearish on bonds - poll - Most positive balance on equities since Feb 2014
(Thursday - January 28, 2016) Associated Profiles : Invest AD
Source: MENAFN - portfolio manager at Abu Dhabi-based Invest AD. Meanwhile, 36 percent of fund managers expect to reduce their allocations to regional fixed income, with none planning to raise them the biggest bearish balance for bonds... NYC's pension operations need to be brought into 21st century: comptroller
(Wednesday - January 27, 2016) Associated Profiles : New York City Comptroller’s Office: Bureau of Asset Management
Source: Reuters - The report on the Bureau of Asset Management, which oversees the investments of $160 billion of New York City pension funds, concluded that the unit's "current investment strategy presents a very high level of... State pension fund wants to limit number of boards directors can serve on
(Sunday - January 24, 2016) Associated Profiles : Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (Massachusetts), Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board Profile
Source: The Boston Globe - "Some people make a career out of being on corporate boards," said state treasurer Deborah Goldberg, who serves on the committee and chairs the "Pension Reserves Investment Management board", in an interview.... Fed keeps rates unchanged, wary eye on global markets
(Thursday - January 28, 2016)
Source: Reuters - The U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and said it was "closely monitoring" global economic and financial developments, signaling it had accounted for a stock market selloff but wasn't ready to... G&A 2016 Honor Roll Spotlight In the G&A Honor Roll we feature the talented interns that work with us on our many various research and client related projects. Each of the interns listed on this page has made a significant contribution to the G&A Institute and to the field of Sustainability in general. We thank our Honor Roll members here:
 Alex Cohen
Honor Roll 2016
Alex Cohen is an MBA candidate graduating from Baruch in December 2015 with concentrations in sustainability and international business. He previously graduated from Bentley University with a BA in international studies and spent four years working in finance before deciding to pursue his passion for sustainability. His primary focus is the connection between profit and sustainability and how business can pursue both simultaneously. Watching the Watchers  United States Business Council for Sustainable Development
Headquarters: Austin, Texas
Established: 2002
ESG/Sustainability Focus: Yes, focus on "authentic sustainability projects"
KEY PARTNERS
Regional partner of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Has several dozen members and affiliate members, plus nine affiliated partner.
OVERVIEW/MISSION
The United States Business Council for Sustainable Development says its mission is to "…demonstrate how sustainable development creates business value. We show first-hand the benefits sustainable development can provide a company's triple bottom line - generating economic returns while improving the environment and society."
STRUCTURE
USBCSD was formed in 2002 as a regional partner of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, an international group encompassing about 200 companies from over 30 countries.
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17 Weeks / 17 SDGs Initiative  The Global Sourcing Council (GSC) proudly commits its support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda by educating and inspiring companies to do their part and take action to help achieve extraordinary sustainable results throughout the globe. To join us, please download our GSC 17/17 SDG Prospectus and contact Louis Coppola or Wanda Lopuch.
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G&A Institute Sustainability Update™
Informative, insightful, thought provoking
Governance & Accountability Institute's blog focusing on the sustainable world evolving daily before our eyes. Read it, absorb it, question it and challenge. Recent posts: Davos at 47 Years – Always Interesting News From the Gathering in Switzerland of Business – Government – NGO Leaders G&A Institute Supports The Global Sourcing Council’s “17 Weeks / 17 SDGs Initiative” 3BL Media and G&A Institute Join Forces To Improve Distribution and Benchmarking of Sustainability Reports _______________________________
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Sustainability Coaching, Team Building & Training
Getting everyone up-to-speed on ESG and Sustainability; understanding the complexity of ESG issues and frameworks; assembling the Corporate Sustainability team and preparing them for strategy-setting and program implementation. Learn more About G&A's Sustainability Coaching, Team Building & Training _______________________________
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Exchanges Newsletter
Published by Ceres and the UN SSE, this monthly collection of articles keeps readers up to date on efforts to convince all of the worlds’ stock exchanges to implement mandatory environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure listing requirements. For the latest news on these matters, read their newsletter or simply subscribe for free monthly editions. Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility Reporting G&A Institute is the Global Reporting
Initiative's (GRI) sole data partner for the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland. As the data partner we monitor, analyze and database information on all Sustainability reports issued in these territories. For a list of recently issued Sustainability reports please follow the links below:
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