In this newsletter we bring you the results of our continuous monitoring of important ESG / sustainability developments in recent days. We select highlights of news, commentary and research from literally hundreds of possible choices each week. We call your attention to commentary (top, below) of Mike Wallace, the leader of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Focal Point USA efforts. Mike is a familiar voice at conferences, bringing the GRI perspective to corporate managers, investors and analysts, large institutions, and trade and professional associations. Mike describes a very important – and perhaps overlooked – aspect of sustainability reporting: The U.S. public sector efforts, including the comprehensive reporting of federal agencies such as the U.S. Army. (Executive Order 13514 is driving change through the cabinet agencies and their vast supply chains.) If the federal government, or even state and city government, is your customer – this is must reading. Top Stories of the Week  Get ready: Sustainability reporting becoming inevitable
(Saturday - May 04, 2013)Source: Mike Wallace, director, Global Reporting Initiative's Focal Point US - Part of the GRI Focal Point’s role in the U.S. is to connect the “sustainability dots” -- not just those dots related to the financial market’s interest in publicly traded companies and sustainability performance, but dots all...
Sustainability in Focus Has sustainability become a risky business?
(Wednesday - May 08, 2013)
Source: GreenBiz - A new report released by Ernst & Young presents a disconcerting paradox when it comes to corporate sustainability efforts. While more companies are concerned about increased risk and proximity of natural resource shortages,...
Will more science expertise fix the sustainability crisis?
(Wednesday - May 08, 2013)
Source: SciDev,Net - Knowledge and science for sustainable development are intimately interlinked. Not only did the very notion of sustainability emerge from the scientific community, a constant flow of scientific reports on burning topics ranging... Employee Engagement Drives Sustainability Strategy
(Wednesday - May 08, 2013)
Source: Environmental Leader - Have you considered how employee engagement can drive your sustainability strategy and how you can also leverage sustainability initiatives to engage your employees and create a values-driven culture of collaboration and... Unilever’s Aggressive Sustainability Practices Have Paid Off
(Tuesday - May 07, 2013)
Source: Fastcoexist.com - Mega-corporation Unilever, owner of everything from Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to Dove soap, announced that it has managed to make massive cuts to its carbon emissions while shaving millions off its operating budget. The Death of ‘Sustainability’
(Tuesday - May 07, 2013)
Source: Desmogblog.com - Can destroying a tropical rainforest be “sustainable”? Well, according to a decision taken yesterday by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the major industry-NGO body, this greatest of environmental crimes is now... Sustainability awareness high in Asean but accountability still weak
(Tuesday - May 07, 2013) Associated Profiles : Corporate Knights
- www99.bangkokpost.com - In the survey that PwC undertook earlier this year, only 3% of the companies had good leadership structures in place to dive sustainability forward, while only about 20% even talked about the issue during... Scandic stands its ground as the best hotel chain on sustainability
(Tuesday - May 07, 2013) Associated Profiles : UN - Global Compact
- mynewsdesk.com - With around 160 hotels in eight countries, 29,910 hotel rooms and a turnover of EUR 923 million, Scandic is the largest hotel chain in the Nordic countries. We want to be more than just a hotel â Scandic is... How UPS makes the business case for sustainability projects
(Tuesday - May 07, 2013)
Source: GreenBiz - When UPS adds new alternative fuel or advanced technology vehicles to its fleet, it doesn't simply choose just any alternative-fuel vehicle. The company only adopts new vehicles when they're proven to be economically viable, have... Sustainability Busts Out of Its Cubicle, Permeates DOT, HUD, and EPA
(Monday - May 06, 2013)
Source: D.C. Street Blogs - The Partnership for Sustainable Communities has had a rough couple of years. The program got zeroed out of the 2012 budget, and the 2013 budget is just a carbon copy of 2012. But they’re looking to make a comeback. Cities Leading the Way on Sustainability
(Monday - May 06, 2013)
Source: Urbanland - With the memory of lower Manhattan darkened by Superstorm Sandy still fresh, cities see a new urgency in sustainability. Given the political environment in the U.S. Congress, they are also largely on their own in the short term.... 5 ways to communicate sustainability beyond words
(Thursday - May 02, 2013)
Source: Greenbiz - Gone are the days when we used only words to tell a great story. Today, especially when communicating sustainability, we rely more on the old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
Leslie Dach Leaving Walmart Sustainable in All the Wrong Ways
(Wednesday - May 01, 2013) Associated Profiles : World Resources Institute
- nlpc.org - Obviously Dach wasn’t telling the whole truth about Walmart’s solar initiatives, which Marketplace interviewer Jeremy Hobson suggested in a follow-up. But if I were to go to my bosses at American... ESG Issues & Players U.S. envoy sees new plan energizing global climate talks
(Wednesday - May 08, 2013)
Source: Reuters - The United States' new proposal to let countries draft their own emissions reduction plans rather than working toward a common target can unlock languishing U.N. climate negotiations, the U.S. climate change envoy said on Tuesday. Obama Will Approve Keystone – What Then? An Energy And Innovation Agenda Both Sides Could Support
(Monday - May 06, 2013)
Source: CSR Wire - Environmentalists hope President Obama will kill the Keystone XL pipeline. But privately, many expect to lose this battle. They worry: what's next for the movement? 'Things Could Get Ugly': Fracking Set to Escalate US Water Wars
(Saturday - May 04, 2013) Associated Profiles : World Resources Institute
- Common Dreams - A new study released Thursday shows that a "significant portion" of fracking, a water intensive process, is happening in already water-stressed regions of the United States, most prominently Texas and... It's Incredibly Difficult To Prove That Clothing Is 'Ethically Made'
(Thursday - May 02, 2013) Associated Profiles : TransFair USA
- The Business Insider - "Clothing is one of our more challenging practices," says ... Behnke says that the company's catalog and website that features some of the garment workers in countries including Peru are resonating with... Asset Managers, US Pension Funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds Risk Awareness Increased Sharply Since Financial Crisis Says EIU Study
(Wednesday - May 08, 2013) Associated Profiles : State Street Global Advisors (SSgA)
- Challenges - Investment institutions are more acutely aware of the risks they face since the global financial crisis but many still need to improve the way those risks are communicated internally, according to new research by the... Retirement system should dump fossil fuel holdings
(Tuesday - May 07, 2013) Associated Profiles : Standard & Poors, Maine Public Employees Retirement System (MainePERS)
- Morning Sentinel - In L.D. 1461, "An Act to Require the State to Divest Itself of Assets Invested in the Fossil Fuel Industry," Maine citizens are calling on the Public Employees Retirement System to ... more respiratory... David Cameron's rift with China could cost UK billions
(Tuesday - May 07, 2013) Associated Profiles : China Investment Corporation
- Daily Telegraph - Last May, China warned Mr. Cameron and Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, of serious consequences for Britain after the private meeting with the Dalai Lama in St Paul’s Cathedral.... | 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:
 _______________________________ Executive Analysis from Governance & Accountability Institute 
_______________________________ 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
_______________________________
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 |
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.
_______________________________ |
Join us on LinkedIN
Follow us on Twitter
Like us on Facebook
Sign up for G&A Update
Sign up for SHQ Highlights
Fair Trade Federation