Newsletter

ESG / Sustainability

Green America Launches Green Deals: “Groupon For Greenies  
(Source: Green America)  Green America and its partner Q4 Marketing have launched Green Deals -- a Web site that provides people who care about good deals and going green with daily deals from local and national online green companies.  Over 100,000 people are already signed on to Green Deals.  All participating companies meet Green America’s strict standards for social and environmental responsibility in their policies, practices, and products.

The Top Ten CSR Stories of 2010: Halos and Horns
(Source: Francesca Rheannon, CSRWire)  When it comes to stories that are likely to have a major influence on sustainability and CSR -- for good or ill -- for years to come, 2010 furnishes an embarrassment of riches. How to choose among them for a top 10 list? Not an easy task. What follows is by no means an exhaustive inventory of important stories during the past year; there were many that should have made the cut, but didn’t.

CalPERS 2010 Majority Vote Initiative Successful at Top Companies 
(Source; CalPERS) The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has achieved positive results in connection with the 2010 Majority Vote Initiative the System embarked on last spring. CalPERS initially had asked 58 U.S. companies to voluntarily adopt a majority vote rule in place of a plurality policy that allows candidates for uncontested board seats to be elected with a single “for” vote. In plurality voting, shareowners can oppose candidates by casting “withhold” votes, but that option gives them no voice in the meeting outcome.

What Poses the Biggest Sustainability Challenge to Your Company in 2011? 
(Source: GreenBiz.com)  As 2010 draws to a close, GreenBiz asked executives from a range of companies -- all of whom have been featured in the news this year -- to tell us about the most exciting green prospects, challenges and changes they anticipate for 2011, and what they think 2011 will look like from the perspective of 2012.

Sovereign Wealth Funds

APG calls on BP to integrate safety into pay following Deepwater
(Source:Responsible Investor)  APG, the Dutch asset management giant owned by the ABP civil service pension fund, is calling for BP to set up a pay system more closely tied to safety in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year. APG has noted the oil major has set up a new safety department and that fourth-quarter bonuses were entirely dependent on safety performance, but says the initiatives are just a “first step”.

China relaxes rules for currency forwards
(Source:  Forexyard) BEIJING - China will allow more banks to sell currency forwards to their clients to further develop demand and the nation's nascent derivatives market, the country's foreign exchange regulator said on Tuesday. Smaller Chinese banks that were previously barred from selling currency forwards can now partner their bigger, approved counterparts to offer forward contracts to clients, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on its website.

Azerbaijan State Oil Fund to invest in 2011 up to $600 million in development of extractive industry in Caspian
(Source:  ABC.AZ) Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev has approved the main directions of spending the finances of the State Oil Fund (SOFAZ) in 2011. According to the SOFAZ Investment Program, its investment policy remains conservative and aimed at minimizing the risk of loss of basic capital and bringing the total value of Fund’s investment portfolio up to AZN 19.4 bn following 2011. At the same time SOFAZ is prescribed to keep at least $100 million in cash.

Norwegian Finance Ministry’s response to Burma accusations  
(Source: Responsible Investor) The Norwegian Finance Ministry has made the following response to Responsible-Investor.com about EarthRights International’s Broken Ethics report on the Government Pension Fund’s investments in oil and gas companies in Burma: The Norwegian government is worried about the situation for human rights in Burma. Norway is therefore supporting the EU’s common position towards the country, which includes some restrictive measures, and we have forbid the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) from investing in Burmese government debt.

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United States Pension Funds

Pension Fund Losses Hit States Hard, Data Show 
(Source: NY Times) When total state government revenues across the nation plummeted by a record-breaking 30.8 percent in 2009, the steep investment losses of pension funds proved to be an even bigger drain on state coffers than recession-battered tax collections, according to census data released Wednesday.

US pension funds prepare to sue BP over oil spill
(Source: The Telegraph - UK)  The two funds were named as lead plaintiffs against BP and its directors and managers, as investors seek to recoup some of their losses.  A Houston judge agreed New York state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Ohio state attorney General Richard Cordray could represent investors who bought either BP common stock or US depositary receipts (ADRs) from June 2005 to June 2010.

School Workers Say Wachovia Blew $30M
(Source: Courthouse News Service)  Wachovia and Wells Fargo Banks cost Ohio school workers' pension plan $30 million by "improper investment of cash collateral as part of the securities lending program that Wachovia operated," the pension plan claims in Federal Court. The School Employees Retirement System of Ohio, which represents non-certificated employees, calls the banks' securities lending  "Head, we win together; tails, you lose alone."

Scary truths found in CalPERS report 
(Source: The Modesto Bee)  The private firm hired by the California Public Employees' Retirement System to investigate allegations of influence peddling, bribery, excessive fees and other questionable practices at the giant public pension fund has issued its first set of recommendations. The recommendations ought to evoke alarm and pointed questions from state and local government officials who are struggling to pay huge pension bills. Why haven't the common-sense safeguards been in place at CalPERS all along?

Watching the Watchers

World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland, with offices in Washington, DC, USA, and Brussels, Belgium
Established: 1992, as Business Council for Sustainable Development

KEY PARTNERS
Collaborations with International Union for the Conservation of Nature, World Resources Institute, World Economic Forum, International Institute for Sustainable Development, among others.

OVERVIEW / MISSION
WBCSD describes itself as "a CEO-led, global association of 200 companies" located in 35 countries and 20 major industrial sectors. WBCSD focuses on business and sustainable development, and its network includes almost 60 [national and regional] business councils and partners.

The mission statement for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is: “Our mission is to provide business leadership as a catalyst for change toward sustainable development, and to support the business license to operate, innovate and grow in a world increasingly shaped by sustainable development issues.”

WBCSD’s strategy emphasizes collaboration between government, business, and civil society, and concentrates its work on four areas: energy and climate, development, the business role, and ecosystems.  WBCSD produces numerous varied publications: two titles from March 2009 are “Mobility for Development” and “Water, Energy and Climate Change.”

News Sweeps - World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
Eskom CEO on sustainability council
(Thursday - December 23, 2010) - ... CEO of state power company Eskom, has been appointed to the executive committee of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. ...  [more] 

The Green Brewhaha: Sustainability at Squatters Pub Brewery
(Thursday - December 23, 2010) - ... of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol created by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). ...

Issues of water scarcity begin to present in hot-spot nations
(Tuesday - December 21, 2010)  - In countries and regions most impacted by the demands of swelling populations, worries have existed around the health of freshwater reserves - and now real questions of water scarcity are emerging.

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