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With the new oil spill cap put in place over the weekend seeming to last long enough for permanent fixes to come on line, the BP oil spill crisis is likely to shift out of disaster response mode and accountants will ramp up the tallying of costs. However, one group of investors that managed to shuck their exposure early on, often before the crisis even hit, will be counting profits instead, gains secured by following the emerging use of ESG investment screens, analysis that considers environmental, social and governance factors.
via BP: the landmine ESG investors avoided – Thomas Van Dyck.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – The International Criminal Court on Monday charged Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with three counts of genocide in Darfur, a move that will pile further diplomatic pressure on his isolated regime.
The decision marked the first time the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal has issued genocide charges.
An arrest warrant for al-Bashir said there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that since April 2003 Sudanese forces attempted genocide against the Darfur tribal groups Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.
Last year, judges issued a warrant against the president for crimes against humanity, but refused to indict al-Bashir on genocide charges as sought by prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo. The prosecutor appealed that ruling, and four months ago an appellate court ruled that the lower court’s decision was legally wrong.
Prosecutors then filed their case again, and on Monday judges issued an arrest warrant charging al-Bashir with three counts of genocide: by killing, by causing mental and physical harm, and “by deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction.”
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley urged al-Bashir to submit himself to the International Criminal Court to face the genocide charges. “We believe that he should present himself to the ICC and answer the charges that have been leveled against him,” Crowley said.
via Int’l Court charges Sudan president with genocide.
NEW YORK, Jul. 14 /CSRwire/ – TIAA-CREF, the nation’s largest pension system and self-proclaimed leader in corporate social responsibility, has come under fire from a coalition of academics and activists who are questioning TIAA-CREF’s commitment on a range of social responsibility issues.
“TIAA-CREF’s tagline is ‘financial services for the greater good,’ but it seems like the only good they are concerned about is the bottom line,” said James Keady, Director of Educating for Justice and long-time active member of the coalition that is attempting to hold TIAA-CREF publicly accountable on these issues.
Coalition reps will be at the upcoming CREF annual meeting on Tuesday, July 20, 9:30 AM, at TIAA-CREF’s NYC headquarters and they plan to publicly pressure the group to stop outsourcing jobs overseas; to stop firing whistle-blowers; to stop investing in sweatshops; and to stop paying its CEO 10 million dollars a year.
“After years of member lobbying, TIAA-CREF finally agreed to talk to some of the companies we have focused on,” said Keady. “Unfortunately, TIAA-CREF’s method of ‘quiet diplomacy’ over the past five years has not led to any substantive changes.”
The coalition believes that TIAA-CREF can and should do more. Its Policy Statement on Corporate Governance reads, “While quiet diplomacy remains our core strategy…the TIAA-CREF engagement program involves many different activities and initiatives, including engaging in public dialogue and commentary… engaging in collective action with other investors… seeking regulatory or legislative relief… commencing or supporting litigation. … It is time for TIAA-CREF to get aggressive with these companies.”
via At The Annual CREF Meeting, Shareholders Call on TIAA-CREF to Walk its Talk – Press Releases on CSRwire.com.
Independent analysis by Trucost shows select Calvert funds have less carbon risk
1/14/2010
Calvert has made a business priority out of moving the needle on the issue of climate change. We have focused on promoting new carbon policies, evaluating how companies respond to carbon risk, engaging with companies to improve, and assessing our company’s own carbon footprint. Our most important impact as a company is that made through our products—that is, the carbon footprint of our funds.
Calvert has examined the carbon profiles of companies in our funds for over ten years, and this is a vital part of our overall assessment of whether a company makes the grade for our Signature™ funds. In the interest of measuring the impact of this important ongoing analysis on our funds, in September 2009 Calvert partnered with Trucost, the world’s leading provider of carbon data and analysis on companies, to conduct an analysis of the carbon footprints of three of our SRI funds. The results confirm what we have believed for some time: that these funds have lower carbon intensity than their benchmarks.
via Calvert Investments – ~News Article.
The Green Century Balanced Fund is the first U.S.-based mutual fund to disclose its own carbon footprint, which is 66% less than the carbon intensity of the S&P 500® Index.
The Green Century Balanced Fund announced the results of its carbon footprint analysis, performed by leading environmental data and analysis firm Trucost. Based on measuring the tons of carbon emissions of the companies held by the Balanced Fund and those of the companies included in the S&P 500® Index, the carbon intensity of the Balanced Fund is two-thirds less than that of the S&P 500® Index.
Read the Carbon Footprint Report
via Balanced Fund Discloses Carbon Footprint.
Achieves Historically High Votes on Coal Ash Disposal, Natural Gas Fracturing, Other Environmental Threats
July 7, 2010 – As the Gulf oil disaster focuses national attention on the huge environmental problems caused by corporate irresponsibility and the enormous tolls environmental impacts can have on shareholders, Green Century Capital Management (Green Century) shares a more positive story – shareholders are taking action to change the corporate course and advocate for improved corporate responsibility.
“Shareholder advocacy is a critical component of environmentally-responsible investing,” said Larisa Ruoff, Director of Shareholder Advocacy for Green Century. “Recent environmental disasters such as the BP* oil well blowout and the Massey* mine tragedy are stark reminders that a company’s environmental performance can have dramatic implications for shareholder value. Green Century believes it is now more important than ever to use the rights and responsibilities that come along with stock ownership to encourage companies to increase transparency, mitigate risk and protect shareholder value.”
Green Century files shareholder resolutions each year calling on companies to address environmental problems related to corporate operations or policies. According to Green Century, the filing of shareholder resolutions, which are distributed to all shareholders and voted upon at a company’s annual shareholder meeting, allows critical environmental issues to be raised with a company’s Board of Directors, top management, and shareholders.
“The resolutions that we file and the pressure we are able to put on companies are powerful ways to protect both the environment and our shareholder value,” said Ruoff.
via Green Century Posts Record Results on Shareholder Advocacy.
In the world of megabytes and Wi-Fi, the answer to a critical question often hovers in the electronic ether, a mere mouse click or two away. The realm of the ERISA fiduciary sometimes seems complex, especially for the 401k plan sponsor more concerned with meeting this month’s production quota or the quarterly sales target. Fortunately, like most industries, a handful of web-sites have sprung up offering useful information geared specifically to 401k plan sponsors and fiduciaries. Some of these sites are free and some are member-only. Some are sponsored by not-for-profit groups and others come from ongoing businesses. Fiduciary News has invested much research time into discovering those providing the most comprehensive – and credible – advice:
via 10 Useful Web-Sites for 401k Plan Sponsors & Any ERISA Fiduciary.
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