Our team is watching the watchers for you. We scan the globe for news, commentary and research in key areas of interest for both investors and asset managers and for corporate boards and executives and managers. As Sustainability and ESG frameworks are adopted by more investors, the market is determining winners, laggards and losers. Track the trends, the news, updates, the important developments – makeSustainability HQ™ your headquarters for ESG knowledge management. ESG / Sustainability Sustainability’s Influence on Stock Value
(Source: Triple Pundit) Political discourse over sustainability, in the USA, always seems to debate this single notion: that implementing sustainability initiatives – whether those are to increase the use of renewable energy, or to introduce any form of environmental regulation – are costs which put businesses at a competitive disadvantage resulting in job losses. The camps for and against this argument are fiercely polarized, rendering only glacial political progress – if indeed, any progress at all. ICCR Welcomes the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Right
(Source: ICCR) NEW YORK, NY - Yesterday, the United Nations released the final report of the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Business and Human Rights (UNSRSG), Professor John Ruggie that will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council for formal endorsement in June. The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), a coalition of 300 faith-based and socially responsible institutional investors, welcomes the “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” as a defining framework for the future work that needs to be done to improve the on-the-ground impact of corporations on the full range of human rights of individuals and communities. Associated Profiles: ICCR Japan earthquake, tsunami likely world's costliest natural disaster at up to $309 billion
(Source: The Canadian Press) TOKYO — Japan's government said the cost of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeast could reach $309 billion, making it the world's most expensive natural disaster on record. The extensive damage to housing, roads, utilities and businesses across seven prefectures has resulted in direct losses of between 16 trillion yen ($198 billion) and 25 trillion yen ($309 billion), according to a Cabinet Office estimate Wednesday. Associated Profiles : Goldman Sachs - Sustain ESG going mainstream
(Source: Money Management) Environmental, social and governance factors are becoming increasingly mainstream investment issues that will transform portfolio management, according to investment management consultant Michael Dieschbourg. Private and government policies worldwide are re-shaping the investment environment, Dieschbourg said at the van Eyk conference in Sydney yesterday. Associated Profiles : Mercer Sovereign Wealth Funds China's wealth fund ready to boost LatAm investment
(Source: Reuters) China's $300 billion sovereign wealth fund is prepared to invest more in resource-rich Latin America because it is confident in the region's growth prospects, a senior official said on Wednesday. Jin Liqun, chairman of the China Investment Corp. supervisory board , told an investor forum he had just returned from a trip to Brazil, Argentina and Chile and saw great potential for trade and investment. Associated Profiles : China Investment Corporation Emirates invests heavily in arms industry
(Source: UPI) ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates-- Raytheon is expected to establish local manufacturing plants when it upgrades the United Arab Emirates' Patriot missile systems, boosting a burgeoning defense and aerospace industry that's becoming the most advanced in the Arab world.Abu Dhabi, the richest of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, spearheads the nascent defense industry emerging in the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council -- the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. Associated Profiles : Aabar Investments PJSC Sanctions in 72 hours: How the U.S. pulled off a major freeze of Libyan assets
(Source: Washington Post) The Treasury Department team had been working nonstop on a plan to freeze Libyan assets in U.S. banks, hoping they might snare $100 million or more and prevent Moammar Gaddafi from tapping it as he unleashed deadly attacks against protesters who wanted him gone. Now, at 2:22 Friday afternoon, Feb. 25, an e-mail arrived from a Treasury official with startling news. Their $100 million estimate was off — orders of magnitude off. The e-mail said there was in “excess of $29.7 Billion — yes, that’s a B. Associated Profiles : Libyan 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!
Governance & Accountability Institute - Benchmarking Services In-depth profiling and analysis of leaders in Corporate Sustainability. Learn from the Leaders to develop Your Winning Corporate Strategies
For information: hboerner@ga-institute.com
Tel: 646 – 430 - 8239 Navigating the way to
Sustainability... Contents © 2009, 2010
All Rights Reserved Copyrights for other providers
are noted where appropriate.
Please credit the source if quoted. |
United States Pension Funds A few big pensions equal a lot of anger
(Source: Florida Today.com) Gov. Rick Scott last week launched a website, FloridaHasARightToKnow.com, that reveals the salaries and wages of 130,697 state employees by name and the retirement benefits of 542 former public employees with annual pensions exceeding $100,000. The biggest recipient of pension benefits from the Florida Retirement System got more in 2010 for being retired than all but two of the 130,697 listed in the salary database got for working. This retiree got $213,262.44 in annualized pension benefits in 2010. Read on to find out who it is (names aren't listed on the pension benefits website the governor put up). Associated Profiles : Florida Retirement System Pension Pla Comptroller wants $113B NY pension funds online, giving peek at stocks bought with tax dollars
(Source: Washington Post) The city’s comptroller announced Monday that he plans to make public the inner workings of one of the nation’s largest public pension fund systems, letting residents see which companies’ stocks are being bought with their tax dollars and monitor the performance of more than $113 billion in investments. Associated Profiles : New York City Comptroller’s Office: Bureau of Asset Managemen NY Judge Steps Away From Hevesi Case
(Source: Law 360) A New York state court judge transferred former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi's corruption case to another judge Monday but said his friendship with the defense attorney's estranged father had nothing to do with his decision. Judge Lewis Bart Stone of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County, said the "counter-story" swirling around the recusal issue "dims" the case against Hevesi, who is accused of kickbacks in exchange for approving investments in New York's state pension fund. Associated Profiles : New York State Common Retirement FundWatching the Watchers As You Sow (AYS)
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Established: 1992
ESG/Sustainability Focus: Yes: focus on corporate responsibility.
KEY PARTNERS
Collaborates with numerous organizations, including Proxy Impact, Social Investment Forum (SIF), Sustainable Investments Institute (SI2), Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), Trillium Asset Management, Walden Asset Management, and Green Century.
Clients include Domini Social Investments and Calvert Group – two of the largest SRI asset managers and mutual fund companies in the US.
Also – clients and partners include these firms: Disney; McDonald's; Dell; HP; Starbucks; Coca-Cola; Time-Warner; Gap; Home Depot; Staples.
OVERVIEW/MISSION
As You Sow states that its mission is: "To promote corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, grantmaking, and innovative legal strategies."
The organization's vision is "A safe, just, and sustainable world in which environmental health and human rights are central to corporate decision making."
The organization's focus is on: Corporate Responsibility; Sustainability; Human Rights; Health & Safety; Environmental Enforcement; Grantmaking.
As You Sow has been a prominent player in proxy voting and shareholder action for many years
News Sweeps - Activist Investors Turn to Social Media to Enlist Support (The New York Times Dealbook, March 24, 2011)
- Not a Peet's Peep from Starbucks at Annual Meeting (The Seattle Times, March 23, 2011)
- Starbucks: How I Voted (CorpGov.net, March 22, 2011)
- Pressing Starbucks to Follow Through on Recycling Commitments (Triple Pundit, March 21, 2011)
- Foundations Turning to Shareholder Role (Philanthropy Journal, March 4, 2011)
|
