California legislators yesterday approved a mandate for 33 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020.
The California Assembly raised the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS), voting 59-19 in favor of Senate Bill 1X 2, which the state Senate approved 26-11 in February. Governor Jerry Brown is expected to sign the legislation, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported.
California’s current, codified RPS requires California utilities to derive 20 percent of their electricity sources from renewable sources by the end of 2010. The utilities failed to make this standard, with Pacific Gas & Electric reaching 17.7 percent and Southern California Edison just missing the target at 19.4 percent, the San Francisco Chronicle said.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Why Boardwalk Capital is Creating its Own Sustainability Indexes
Consistency matters.
Earlier this month, many of Europe’s leading resource companies and financial institutions were unceremoniously dumped from the STOXX European Sustainability Indices. Needless to say, some investors were left scratching their heads.
Did dozens of European companies suddenly become less "sustainable"? Not necessarily.
Prominent firms such as Anglo American, Total, ENI, and Repsol were among the newly-excluded resource and energy companies. Other notable deletions include Barclays and Standard Chartered (banks), Munich Re (insurance), BASF, AstraZeneca, Diageo and British American Tobacco.
What prompted such a drastic change? The unfortunate answer is that newly-hired index manager, Bank Sarasin, essentially has a different view of the world and what it means to be "sustainable". New rules, new index...
In contrast, the Boardwalk Sustainability Indexes are driven by in-house research derived from mosaic of globally-recognized external research partners. And since we implement customized portfolios based on these indexes, we recognize that unnecessary trading is expensive and detracts from client portfolio returns.
We expect indexes to change constituents based on new information. But changes driven by administrative matters are unacceptable.
Earlier this month, many of Europe’s leading resource companies and financial institutions were unceremoniously dumped from the STOXX European Sustainability Indices. Needless to say, some investors were left scratching their heads.
Did dozens of European companies suddenly become less "sustainable"? Not necessarily.
Prominent firms such as Anglo American, Total, ENI, and Repsol were among the newly-excluded resource and energy companies. Other notable deletions include Barclays and Standard Chartered (banks), Munich Re (insurance), BASF, AstraZeneca, Diageo and British American Tobacco.
What prompted such a drastic change? The unfortunate answer is that newly-hired index manager, Bank Sarasin, essentially has a different view of the world and what it means to be "sustainable". New rules, new index...
In contrast, the Boardwalk Sustainability Indexes are driven by in-house research derived from mosaic of globally-recognized external research partners. And since we implement customized portfolios based on these indexes, we recognize that unnecessary trading is expensive and detracts from client portfolio returns.
We expect indexes to change constituents based on new information. But changes driven by administrative matters are unacceptable.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
BP facing pressure from proxy advisory firms
Oil giant BP is facing pressure on pay and safety from two of the world’s biggest shareholder voting advisory firms, Glass, Lewis and Co. and ISS, ahead of its annual general meeting (AGM) next month. This despite the fact that there is no resolution relating to the Deepwater Horizon incident on the AGM agenda.
Glass Lewis is recommending that its clients (who control $17 trn in assets) vote against approving BP's Annual Report and Accounts (essentially stating that they do not believe the report fully presents the events of the past year.) They are also recommending a vote against several board members who sit on the firm's Safety, Ethics and Environmental Assurance Committee
The mutiny among large shareholders and proxy advisors comes as BP faces concerns that criminal charges will be filed against the company's managers. If the firm is found to be "grossly negligent" leading up to the Deepwater Horizon incident, it may be unable to force its exploration partners to pay their 35% share in the cleanup cost. The clean up bill now totals some $42 bn.
Read more at Responsible Investor.com.
Glass Lewis is recommending that its clients (who control $17 trn in assets) vote against approving BP's Annual Report and Accounts (essentially stating that they do not believe the report fully presents the events of the past year.) They are also recommending a vote against several board members who sit on the firm's Safety, Ethics and Environmental Assurance Committee
The mutiny among large shareholders and proxy advisors comes as BP faces concerns that criminal charges will be filed against the company's managers. If the firm is found to be "grossly negligent" leading up to the Deepwater Horizon incident, it may be unable to force its exploration partners to pay their 35% share in the cleanup cost. The clean up bill now totals some $42 bn.
Read more at Responsible Investor.com.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Nestle CEO emphasizes creating "shared value" over philanthropy
Chief executives should not use shareholders' money for philanthropy, says Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, who instead focuses the world's biggest food maker on making money by doing good.
The growing corporate trend has been dubbed 'creating shared value' and Nestle now publishes an annual progress report on goals such as increasing the nutritional value of products and reducing its use of water and quantity of greenhouse gas emissions.
Brabeck spoke about the concept at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York last week. He said Nestle concentrates its efforts on rural development, water and nutrition. 'Creating shared value has a big attractiveness because it really takes into consideration the interests of both sides (business and society),' Brabeck told Reuters on Tuesday. 'We have integrated this now into the purpose of our company.
Read more at Reuters
The growing corporate trend has been dubbed 'creating shared value' and Nestle now publishes an annual progress report on goals such as increasing the nutritional value of products and reducing its use of water and quantity of greenhouse gas emissions.
Brabeck spoke about the concept at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York last week. He said Nestle concentrates its efforts on rural development, water and nutrition. 'Creating shared value has a big attractiveness because it really takes into consideration the interests of both sides (business and society),' Brabeck told Reuters on Tuesday. 'We have integrated this now into the purpose of our company.
Read more at Reuters
Monday, March 21, 2011
Oracle, Home Depot deleted from FTSE4Good Index
US software giant Oracle Corp. is to be deleted from the FTSE4Good index series, index firm FTSE’s corporate responsibility standards suite, over human and labour rights.
Oracle is one of seven companies that will be deleted as of March 18 as part of the latest semi-annual review.
The others are Home Depot (environmental management and human and labour rights), National Semiconductor (human/labour rights), Kurita Water Industries (bribery), Shin-Etsu Chemical (bribery), UMECO (bribery) and Morgan Crucible (weapons systems). They failed to meet tougher requirements in time for the review.
The FTSE4Good Index Series has been designed to objectively measure the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards. FTSE Group is an independent index-management company jointly owned by the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange.
Read more here
Oracle is one of seven companies that will be deleted as of March 18 as part of the latest semi-annual review.
The others are Home Depot (environmental management and human and labour rights), National Semiconductor (human/labour rights), Kurita Water Industries (bribery), Shin-Etsu Chemical (bribery), UMECO (bribery) and Morgan Crucible (weapons systems). They failed to meet tougher requirements in time for the review.
The FTSE4Good Index Series has been designed to objectively measure the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards. FTSE Group is an independent index-management company jointly owned by the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange.
Read more here
Friday, March 11, 2011
Boardwalk Capital joins signatories of the UN Principles of Responsible Investment
Earlier this month, Boardwalk Capital Management cemented its place among the ranks of sustainable and responsible investment firms. By becoming a signatory to the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investment, Boardwalk joins more than 700 firms, representing more than $17 trillion dollars, in adopting these ideals as part of their core investment philosophy.
Signatories to the UN PRI agree to incorporate environmental, social and governance issues into their decision making. They also agree to be "active" owners, promoting proper disclosure and behavior among their portfolio companies.
We are delighted to affirm these core values and look forward to the active exchange of ideas and best practices among the UN PRI membership.
For more information on the UN PRI, please visit http://www.unpri.org/principles.
Signatories to the UN PRI agree to incorporate environmental, social and governance issues into their decision making. They also agree to be "active" owners, promoting proper disclosure and behavior among their portfolio companies.
We are delighted to affirm these core values and look forward to the active exchange of ideas and best practices among the UN PRI membership.
For more information on the UN PRI, please visit http://www.unpri.org/principles.
Monday, March 7, 2011
40 percent of World's largest companies have no female directors
In its 2011 Women on Boards Report, GovernanceMetrics International, the leading independent global corporate governance and ESG research firm, shows that 40 percent of the world’s largest publicly listed companies have not appointed even one woman to their boards.
Even in major markets like Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States women continue to be grossly under-represented on corporate boards. Not surprisingly, the issue of board diversity is generating a healthy level of public debate.
Read more
Even in major markets like Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States women continue to be grossly under-represented on corporate boards. Not surprisingly, the issue of board diversity is generating a healthy level of public debate.
Read more
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Report Suggests Investors Risk Trillions from Climate Change (Mercer pension consultants)
According to a report released Feb. 15 by consulting firm Mercer, inaction and lack of cooperation surrounding climate change has the potential to cost institutional investors trillions of dollars over the next 20 years.
The report, Climate Change Scenarios – Implications for Strategic Asset Allocation, was a collaborative effort between Mercer and a group of global investors who represented approximately $2 trillion in assets under management. It analyzes, through four climate change scenarios that extend to 2030, the potential financial impact on investors’ portfolios, and then identifies a number of steps that can be taken through asset allocation to mitigate the risks.
Read more here
The report, Climate Change Scenarios – Implications for Strategic Asset Allocation, was a collaborative effort between Mercer and a group of global investors who represented approximately $2 trillion in assets under management. It analyzes, through four climate change scenarios that extend to 2030, the potential financial impact on investors’ portfolios, and then identifies a number of steps that can be taken through asset allocation to mitigate the risks.
Read more here
Shareholder Resolutions Accelerate for Coal, Power and Oil Firms
BOSTON - Affirming the financial risks that climate change and other environmental concerns pose to leading energy companies, investors have announced the filing of 66 climate and energy related shareholder resolutions with 41 coal, electric power and oil companies in the 2011 proxy season, making 2011 a record for shareholder engagement in the energy sector, even in the face of Congressional inaction on climate change.
The surge in resolutions represents a 50 percent increase over the 44 resolutions filed with 31 coal, oil and electric power companies last year. Click to read more
The surge in resolutions represents a 50 percent increase over the 44 resolutions filed with 31 coal, oil and electric power companies last year. Click to read more
TIAA-CREF Advocates "Robust" Dialogue with Companies
TIAA-CREF, the US institutional investing giant with $453bn in assets under management, has updated its corporate governance policy to facilitate “a more robust” dialogue between companies and shareholders. The 37-page statement addresses executive pay, board elections, political contributions, and labour and human rights.
The revision is intended to inform people about the corporate governance and social responsibility practices it expects of companies in its portfolio. It also discloses how TIAA-CREF would vote on proxy resolutions at the more than 8,000 companies it invests in around the world.
“We’ve updated our guidelines to facilitate a more robust dialog between companies and their shareholders and to encourage more sustainable value creation,” said TIAA-CREF’s chief executive Roger Ferguson. Read more here
The revision is intended to inform people about the corporate governance and social responsibility practices it expects of companies in its portfolio. It also discloses how TIAA-CREF would vote on proxy resolutions at the more than 8,000 companies it invests in around the world.
“We’ve updated our guidelines to facilitate a more robust dialog between companies and their shareholders and to encourage more sustainable value creation,” said TIAA-CREF’s chief executive Roger Ferguson. Read more here
Blackrock Launches Sustainable ETFs on London Exchange
Global asset manager BlackRock has launched two environmental, social and governance-themed equity funds on the London Stock Exchange.
The firm's iShares exchange traded funds (ETFs) arm said the move, which features a global and a European fund, is in response to investors’ demand for funds which invest according to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. Read more here
The firm's iShares exchange traded funds (ETFs) arm said the move, which features a global and a European fund, is in response to investors’ demand for funds which invest according to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. Read more here
Surprise! News Corp is the World's First Carbon Neutral Company
And the award for first carbon neutral media company in the world goes to? Drum roll please! News Corp. Yes, you read right. The parent company of Fox News is a leader when it comes to climate change.
News Corp made the announcement just days ago. They achieved carbon neutrality through a combination of increases in efficiency and use of renewable energy as well as carbon offsets. Perhaps this shouldn't come as such a surprise. News Corp has ranked highly in the Carbon Disclosure Project reports for years.
Read more here
News Corp made the announcement just days ago. They achieved carbon neutrality through a combination of increases in efficiency and use of renewable energy as well as carbon offsets. Perhaps this shouldn't come as such a surprise. News Corp has ranked highly in the Carbon Disclosure Project reports for years.
Read more here
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