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Newsletter

Source: Governance & Accountability Institute

Sustainability-Highlights-Header
June 11, 2013

SERVICES  |  RESEARCH  |  EVENTS  |  WEBINARS  |  BLOG  |  ARCHIVE

Top Stories of the Week

Encouraging More Companies to Report Their Sustainability Performance   
(Wednesday - June 05, 2013)
Source: Triple Pundit - We were recently invited by our friends at Trucost to moderate a webinar. Our shared goal was to encourage more companies to start reporting their sustainability performance. You can download the webinar from the Trucost site...

Sustainability in Focus

A More Accurate Pulse on Sustainability      
(Thursday - June 06, 2013)
Source: World Bank - Today, the World Bank published the ANS indicator for more than 200 countries in the Little Green Data Book, the World Bank’s annual compilation of environment data. Also known as genuine savings, ANS monitors whether depletion...

Sustainability: An Investment Perspective    
(Wednesday - June 05, 2013)
Source: CFA Institute - The notion of socially responsible investing (SRI) has been with us in some form for a very long time, but as a professional category of investing, it has faced challenges of definition, not least because social responsibility is...

Financial Services Still Aren’t Trying Hard Enough to Embrace Sustainability   
(Tuesday - June 04, 2013)
Source: Triple Pundit - Sustainability is a word that is not often associated with financial services. Today, words with a negative connotation, such as greed and hubris, seem more closely aligned with this sector. What is the likelihood of this...

Beyond G4: Connecting The Dots on Sustainability Reporting and Disclosure Practices   
(Tuesday - June 04, 2013) Associated Profiles : UN - Global Reporting Initiative GRI
Source: CSR Wire - There are also questions about the accuracy and completeness of the data reported and its relevance to financial performance ... could devalue sustainability and reduce it to a narrow set of indicators within an annual...

12 Takeaways on the Future of Sustainable Business    
(Tuesday - June 04, 2013)
Source: Greenbiz.com - Each year, the World Environment Center’s member companies assemble to discuss our common needs and opportunities to build more sustainable businesses. We’ve just finished our latest get-together in Washington, DC, and we’d...

The Pain & Pleasure of Sustainability Reporting      
(Monday - June 03, 2013)
Source: Green Biz - Whew! Another EMC sustainability report out the door, much to our relief. If you haven't produced a sustainability report, you should know that it's hard. Harder than you can imagine. And totally worth it.

ESG Issues & Players

Corporate Governance in the UK and Europe: Purpose and Perspectives   
(Tuesday - June 04, 2013)
Source: Who's Who Legal - It is not so very long since the subject of corporate governance was a minority interest one: recognized within the investment, legal and academic fields but not much further. The global financial crisis and the ensuing spotlight...

Proposed fracking rules put nation’s drinking water at risk
(Tuesday - June 04, 2013)
Source: The Hill - In a move its predecessor would be proud of, the Obama administration has bowed to industry pressure and proposed rules on hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” on public lands that put the nation’s water supply at risk of...

The Fingerprints of Climate Change on Two Extreme Natural Disasters
(Monday - June 03, 2013) Associated Profiles: MapleCroft
Source:  Environmental Graffiti - Extenuating drought was present both in the Sahel crisis and in Haiti this summer. Last year, the risk analysis firm Maplecroft identified Haiti as the world’s most vulnerable nation to climate...

Asset Managers, US Pension Funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds

Dodd-Frank Reforms May Take Years to Implement   
(Thursday - June 06, 2013)
Source: Fox Business - The Dodd-Frank financial reform law could take years to implement as regulators bicker over how to interpret the legislation nearly three years after it was enacted, a top regulatory official tells the FOX Business Network.

New York City Pension Fund Opposing Wal-Mart Board
(Thursday - June 06, 2013)
Source: CBS News - The New York City Pension Funds plans to vote against nine of Wal-Mart's 14 board nominees at the retailer's annual shareholder meeting Friday. City Comptroller John Liu's office oversees the fund. He said Wednesday the fund is...

Middle East: The Shadowy World of Gulf Sovereign Wealth
(Wednesday - June 05, 2013) Associated Profiles : Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
Source: euromoney.com - The strategies and dimensions of Gulf sovereign wealth funds are an arcane subject made more mysterious by the lack â apart from Abu Dhabi's fund â of published annual reports. Euromoney pieces...

Watching the Watchers

Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR)

Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts
Established: Launched November 2003 at the United Nations Institutional Investor Summit in New York - 300 institutions participated.

Key Partners
Ceres, United Nations, large institutional investors


OVERVIEW/MISSION
"INCR supports 100 institutional investors with assets totaling $10 trillion by identifying the financial opportunities and risks in climate change and by tackling the policy and governance issues that impede investor progress toward more sustainable capital markets."

BACKGROUND
Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR) is a project of Ceres - the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies. CERES was founded after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and its initial corporate pledges on the environment were "the Valdez Principles," which later become the Ceres Principles and, most recently, the United Nations Global Reporting Initiative.

From the INCR:  "With its unique capacity to foster constructive engagement between investors, companies, environmentalists and policymakers, INCR has grown from 10 institutional investors managing $600 billion in 2003, to 100 members managing nearly $10 trillion in assets today."

News Sweeps
Ceres and World Resources Institute Join Growing Blue - KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana News Weather & Sports
(Thursday - May 30, 2013) Associated Profiles : Investor Network on Climate Risk
12 KSLA - About Ceres Ceres is a nonprofit that mobilizes business and investor leadership on sustainability challenges such as water scarcity and climate change. It directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk...

Nation's Largest Public Pension Fund Joins Growing Group of Investors Pressuring Exxon Mobil on Global Warming 
(Wednesday - May 29, 2013) Associated Profiles : Investor Network on Climate Risk
PR Newswire - Ceres also directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk, a network of more than 55 institutional investors with collective assets totaling $4 trillion...

2013 Ceres Conference - An Interview with Tim Brennan, Treasurer & CFO at Unitarian Universalism   
(Friday - May 24, 2013) Associated Profiles: Investor Network on Climate Risk
Just Means - Ceres also directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a network of 100 institutional investors with collective assets totaling more than $10 trillion.

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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Governance & Accountability Institute Service Highlight

Top 8 Reasons to Contact Governance & Accountability Institute. Is this one yours? Competitive Benchmarking Analysis
http://www.ga-institute.com/uploads/pics/G_A-Benchmarking-Graphic-iStock_000014477887.jpgIt is always helpful to know what peers and competitors are doing in certain practices -- what are the best practices of investment and industry peers in terms of transparency, disclosure and structured reporting on their sustainability performance?  What story do peers tell of their sustainability journey -- the strategies adopted, internal organization for success, implemented programs and initiatives, the third party recognitions they earned?  What is the story being told through their disclosures and reporting of the success of the sustainability journey?  Learn more About G&A's Competitive Benchmarking Analysis

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Governance & Accountability Institute Research Reports

Learn more @ G&A!

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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 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 at info@sustainabilityhq.com
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For more on:

ESG & Sustainability Players
- Shaping Perceptions, Valuations & Decision-Making

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs)
- State-Owned Global Investors

US Public Sector Investors 
- State and Municipal Retirement Funds

Asset Managers
- Investors adopting ESG guidelines / policies & shaping market trends

Featured Events

Navigating the way to sustainability...

Contents © 2009 - 2013
All Rights Reserved

Copyrights for other providers
are noted where appropriate.
Please credit the source if quoted.
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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 Instiute is the “Sustainability Headquarters™” for clients in the corporate, investment, public and social sectors.  The G&A team provides research, monitoring, advisory and strategic information resources to clients in the corporate, investment, public and social sectors.The G&A services portfolio includes:
ESG Counseling, Strategies & Benchmarking | Competitive Benchmarking |
Sustainability Coaching, Team Building & Training | Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility Reporting | ESG & CR Issues Monitoring & Research | Stakeholder Identification, Monitoring & Engagement |
Awards & Recognitions Program | External Assurance

SustainabilityHQ™ is managed and published by Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc.
For more information, contact us at:
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