Capitalizing on Capital Markets Through ESG – A Commentary This Week on Forbes’ Blog by Chris Skroupa… In the American investment community, asset owners, their managers, and a growing number of financial analysts are considering the ESG strategies, performance and outcomes of companies in portfolio – or being considered for portfolio or inclusion in benchmark or index. That has been the case in Europe for a much longer period. U.S. corporate boards and managements are adopting effective ESG strategies to guide their “sustainability journey,” and to address the investor concerns. And so there is the “business case” and the “investment case” and the “supply chain case” and so on – responding to the rising interest in ESG performance and the sustainability journey on the part of stockholders and stakeholders. This is creating the “new, new normal” in investing, and in corporate strategy-setting. Result? In our survey of S&P 500 Index companies’ focus on sustainability, we found that in 2013 three out of four U.S. companies in the widely-used benchmark were publishing reports to tell the story of their sustainability journey. This week, Forbes’ contributing commentator Chris Skroupa of Skytop Strategies published an interview with G&A Institute’s leadership, Hank Boerner and Louis D. Coppola: Capitalizing on Capital Markets Through ESG.” It’s the Top Story this week (below). Chris came to know and appreciate the work of the G&A team through our collaboration to present an important event at the NASDAQ Market Site in June. There’s information in Chris’s report. We invite your reading! Top Story of the Week Capitalizing on Capital Markets Through ESG
(Monday - March 16, 2015)
Source: Forbes - Henry (Hank) Boerner, chairman and chief executive officer of Governance & Accountability Institute (G&A Institute), has served as board member and chair of the Issues Management Council, a global professional membership... Sustainability in Focus Corporate Sustainability: The Board’s Role in Oversight
(Friday - March 13, 2015)
Source: Corporate Counsel - MCC interviews Robyn Bew, director of research, National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), which recently published its Director’s Handbook on Oversight of Corporate Sustainability Activities. Sustainable Funds' Virtuous Cycle: More Demand, More Options
(Friday - March 13, 2015)
Source: ABC News - More people are looking for investments that not only rise in value but also hold true to their personal values. Enter sustainable mutual funds, which are also referred to as socially responsible funds or impact investments. Just... Sustainability in Fashion with Ted Baker and Pentland
(Thursday - March 12, 2015) Associated Profiles : Sustainable Apparel Coalition
Source: The Financial - As well as being a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, we are longstanding members of the Ethical Trading Initiative and Sustainable Apparel Coalition, and a Better Work program... Sustainability in the Operating Room
(Thursday - March 12, 2015)
Source: Health & Hospitals Network - Hospital sustainability programs reduce costs and enhance the quality of patient care. However, given the long list of priorities that hospitals must tackle, sustainability too often falls by the wayside. Today, the benefits of... Proxy Preview 2015 Examines Record-Breaking Number of Sustainability-Related Shareholder Resolutions
(Wednesday - March 11, 2015) Associated Profiles : As You Sow
Source: sustainablebrands.com - This month, shareholder advocacy organization As You Sow released its 10th annual Proxy Preview report, detailing the record-breaking 433 social and environmental shareholder resolutions... How to Become a Sustainability Wizard
(Wednesday - March 11, 2015)
Source: CFO Magazine - If you want to expand your company’s sustainability efforts but aren’t quite sure how to go about it, you’re in luck. And you have His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, otherwise known as Prince Charles, to thank for it. The business of sustainability
(Wednesday - March 11, 2015) Associated Profiles : Corporate Knights
Source: Business Mirror. - Annually, a G100 survey or The Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations is conducted by Corporate Knights, a Toronto-based media and investment advisory company. Based on the latest...
Lessons from history: why what we say about sustainability matters
(Wednesday - March 11, 2015)
Source: The Guardian - What does the history of the American progressive movement in the early 20th century have to do with sustainable business in the early 21st? Lately I’ve been reflecting on the relevance of my earlier academic research to the day... Strategizing for sustainable electronics
(Tuesday - March 10, 2015) Associated Profiles : Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT®)
Source: Recycling Today - These voluntary standards, which are developed in an open and consensus-driven fashion, create the structure of the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool... Top Companies Communicate Sustainability to Consumers in Innovative Ways
(Tuesday - March 10, 2015)
Source: Just Means - A company’s communication with consumers on sustainability does not have to be confined to annual CSR reports alone. A growing number of companies are now using social media and other innovative platforms to disseminate... Six Myths of Sustainable Design
(Monday - March 09, 2015)
Source: Huff Post - A couple of weeks ago, the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce published an opinion piece titled, "Why green building has hit the wall, and what to do about it." The author, long-time green building advocate Jerry Yudelson, laments... The problem with sustainability marketing? Not enough me, me, me
(Monday - March 09, 2015)
Source: Guardian - Why is selling sustainability still so hard? It shouldn’t be. We know that consumers “care.” We have surveys in abundance revealing people pay attention to social and environmental credentials, especially in the millennial... The Growing Need for Business Sustainability
(Monday - March 09, 2015)
Source: Ventures Africa - The Lifespan of an average company on the S&P 500 Index has reduced significantly from 67 years in 1920 to 15 years today. Over this period we have witnessed the rise and rise of some (Google) and the rise and fall of others as... ESG Issues & Players Wind Power Without U.S. Subsidy to Become Cheaper Than Gas
(Friday - March 13, 2015)
Source: Bloomberg - Wind power will be cheaper than electricity produced from natural gas within a decade, even without a federal tax incentive, according to a U.S. Energy Department analysis. Socially responsible investors seek to change the world
(Thursday - March 12, 2015) Associated Profiles : ICCR
Source: Washington Jewish Week - That is according to Laura Berry, executive director of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, a New York-based coalition of nearly 300 organizations with more than $100 billion... History Suggests OPEC's Days Could Be Numbered
(Wednesday - March 11, 2015)
Source: Bloomberg - As OPEC 's refusal to curb oil production contributes to a nine-month plunge in prices, a new paper suggests the group's days may be numbered. World must achieve international water goals to preempt looming conflicts born of desperation: UN
(Tuesday - March 10, 2015) Associated Profiles : Global Water Partnership
Source: Phys.org - Prepared in association with the Global Water Partnership and Canada's McMaster University, the report says the success of global efforts on the scale required rests in large part on a crackdown on... Stock Exchanges Around the World Ring the Bell for Gender Equality
(Tuesday - March 10, 2015) Associated Profiles : UN - Global Compact
Source:- The FINANCIAL -- Stock exchanges from around the world joined UN Women, UN Global Compact and the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative to ring their opening or... Asset Managers, US Pension Funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds High-powered team to probe complaints linked to 1MDB
(Wednesday - March 11, 2015) Associated Profiles : 1Malaysia Development Berhad (MDB, formerly known as Terengganu 'Investment Authority)
Source:- AsiaOne - A high-powered task force has been formed to investigate complaints related to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), adding more pressure on the debt-laden state investment agency. This comes as... Why Hedge Funds Still Make Sense for Pension Funds
(Tuesday - March 10, 2015) Associated Profiles : California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS)
Source:- New York Times - In addition, more ambitious funds could head into equities or other risky assets. For example, Calpers officials announced that they were looking at increasing commercial real-estate investments.... Dollar at 12-year peak versus euro, emerging markets spooked
(Tuesday - March 10, 2015)
Source: Reuters - The U.S. dollar hit multi-year highs against the euro and yen on Tuesday on the growing chance of the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates by mid-year, the prospect of which also hurt stocks and currencies from emerging markets. Are U.S. Stocks Overvalued?
(Thursday - March 12, 2015)
Source: Forbes - The question as to whether U.S. stocks are currently overvalued continues to trouble global markets. This is especially true as stocks have seen much higher volatility so far in 2015. Here’s a quick answer: on an abstract and... Watching the Watchers  African Biodiversity Network
Headquarters: Thika, Kenya
Established: 1996-2002
ESG/Sustainability Focus: Yes: focus on “biodiversity and community livelihood in Africa.”
KEY PARTNERS
International partners are The Gaia Foundation and GRAIN; ABN works with numerous other partners from 12 Eastern, Western, and Southern African countries.
Signatory of Time to Act! and member of Alliance for Food Sovereignty.
OVERVIEW/MISSION
The African Biodiversity Network describes itself as “a regional network of individuals and organisations seeking African solutions to the ecological and socio-economic challenges that face the continent.” Though ABN has numerous global partners and funders, it stresses indigenous knowledge and unified approaches to Africa’s social and environmental problems.
ABN states its vision as “Vibrant and resilient African communities rooted in their own biological, cultural, and spiritual diversity, governing their own lives and livelihoods, in harmony with healthy ecosystems.” NEWS SWEEPS
Scientists torn over Kenya's recent GM food ban
(Saturday - February 28, 2015) Associated Profiles : African Biodiversity Network
- Nature - But the African Biodiversity Network (ABN), a regional research network based in Kenya, supports the step taken by the government and calls for the ban's strict implementation. "The ban should be strictly...
Take the flour back
(Saturday - February 28, 2015) Associated Profiles : African Biodiversity Network
- Indymedia Uk - Gathuru Mburu, co-ordinator of the African Biodiversity Network, spoke on the global fight for control of our food supply. Mburu explained that: Experimenting with staple crops is a serious...
45 million hectares of land has been or is about to be signed over to foreign investors in Africa
(Saturday - February 28, 2015) Associated Profiles : African Biodiversity Network
- financialafrik.com - Rural communities are being displaced from their agricultural, grazing, forests and traditional lands by international investors, Teresa Anderson of the Gaia Foundation, the UK partner of the African...
Op-Ed Special Feature
Op-Ed: Winston Churchill: the ESG community must fight climate change with massive stewardship push (part 1)
(Friday - March 13, 2015)
Source: Responsible Investor - As you have been seeing and experiencing, anthropogenic climate change is disrupting how we live. Continuing to act as though it is not a major challenge that has been worsening year upon year offers our children and theirs the... 
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March 17, 2015
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GRI G4 MATERIALITY WEBINAR
The Missing Piece - True Stakeholder Engagement Enabled by Convetit / G&A Institute Partnership Thursday, March 26, 2015
12:00 pm Noon – 1:00 pm EST
Presented by G&A EVP and Co-Founder Louis Coppola and Convetit COO and Co-Founder Tiffany Franke Is your company properly incorporating the GRI G4 requirement of engaging stakeholders particularly when determining your most material sustainability issues? You are invited to a Webinar on Thursday, March 26 at noon EST to learn how the G&A Institute can help you fulfill this requirement, more effectively, efficiently, and affordably than ever before. The hour-long discussion will cover: - Why leveraging this partnership is valuable to your business
- G&A data integration with Convetit’s innovative engagement platform
- A live demonstration of the Convetit platform
(with audience participation in a real ThinkTank!) - Audience questions
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Check It Out...
G&A Institute Sustainability Update™
Informative, insightful, thought provoking
The Governance & Accountability Instituteblog focusing on the sustainable world evolving daily before our eyes. Read it, absorb it, question it and challenge. G&A's Sustainability Update™
Insights & perspectives for your sustainable journey...
Recent Posts Communicating About Corporate Sustainability – The Challenges It’s Morning, Again, In America…Or Is It? _______________________________ Governance & Accountability Institute Research Reports
   
 
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Shareholder Activism Program
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G&A's 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 _______________________________ 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 Sustainability HQ™ platforms. For more information, please email us at info@sustainabilityhq.com
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