The Sustainable Investor

15 Companies Tell Congress To Renew Key Wind Power Tax Credit

2012-02-17T23:10:00.001-05:00

In a recent letter to Congress, fifteen of the country's largest consumers of alternative energy, including Starbucks, Yahoo! and Campbell's Soup, voiced their support for renewing the Production Tax Credit, set to expire in December 2012.

The letter states that the "PTC has enabled the industry to slash wind energy costs – 90% since 1980..."

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Vanguard's John Bogle -- At It Again... "A Tax Break for Gambling?"

2012-02-17T22:44:00.002-05:00

John Bogle, the esteemed founder of the Vanguard Group, has probably done more to save investors money than any individual on the planet. His core philosophy has always been at odds with the investment management industry -- identifying that most active managers fail to beat their benchmarks, net of fees. His relentless pressure on the industry to lower fees has not made him many friends, so his most recent remarks should come as no surprise.
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Apple Takes It Up a Notch

2012-02-14T08:47:00.003-05:00

Investor and consumer pressure can move mountains. Finally, Apple has agreed to take a hard look at the working conditions in its factories around the world.

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The Dollar Payoff from CSR and Sustainability

2012-01-18T00:37:00.007-05:00

If investors needed proof of the financial value from sustainability -- it's here.

Researchers at the Harvard Business School reviewed 18 years of data on more than 700 companies. Their findings were remarkable. "High sustainability" companies have not only been more profitable than their less responsible peers, their shares have performed significantly better.
Read more »

A Slowly Boiling Frog... Investor Summit on Climate Risk

2012-01-15T18:29:00.004-05:00

On January 12, 2012, Boardwalk Capital joined nearly 500 of the world’s investors and most powerful financial players at the United Nations.

Collectively, more than $20 trillion in assets were present, united by a desire to catalyze the large-scale investment needed to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate potentially catastrophic climate impacts. This was the fourth Investor Summit on Climate Risk and Energy Solutions.

Particularly interesting were the opportunities presented in financing energy infrastructure and low carbon equity management that were supported by some of the world's largest pension plans -- CalPERS, British Telecom and California Teachers along with State Treasurers from North Carolina, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Perhaps the most poinient moment was when Rob McCord, Pennsylvania State Treasurer likened investors to a frog in a pot of hot water. A slow change is difficult to detect, until it is too late.

The investors in the room are choosing not to wait for governments to act. They are pressuring companies and political actors to move swiftly to combat this growing threat, repositioning portfolios away from high risk enterprises and seeking investment opportunities in emerging industries and from mitigation beneficiaries. The reason is clear: Literally trillions will be spent on clean energy solutions and on amending old ones.

Read more at Ceres.org

Solar surge drives record clean energy investment in 2011

2012-01-15T18:02:00.002-05:00

Global investment in clean energy reached a new record of $260bn in 2011, up 5% on 2010 and almost five times the total of $53.6bn in 2004. The largest single type of investment was the asset finance of utility-scale renewable energy projects.

Investment in solar far outstripped that in wind, and perhaps of most note, US clean energy investment moved back ahead of China for the first time since 2008, according to the latest authoritative data from analysis company Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Last year also saw the one trillionth dollar invested in clean energy globally since the company started compiling data in 2004.

Read more at Bloomberg New Energy Finance

Leveling the (Carbon) Playing Field

2012-01-15T16:16:00.010-05:00

The International Energy Agency’s annual World Energy Outlook, released in November, sent a stark message to the participants at the climate negotiations in Durban: "The world is locking itself into an insecure, inefficient and high-carbon energy system. And time is running out to take action before changes become irreversible".

While such talk of "irreversible changes" may be subject to debate, no one is questioning whether or not a lower carbon future is preferable. All things equal, clean energy sources lack the emission, national security and trade balance challenges of higher carbon alternatives.

Europe has blazed the lower carbon trail, but China and Brazil are both working to contain CO2 emissions. And last year, Australia became one of the first countries to enact a carbon tax on its largest emitters, with the proceeds being used for tax cuts and pension enhancements for the population at large.

The concept of "polluter pays" is well established in solid waste (ask any construction company about the cost of landfill access). Now it is merely being applied to gaseous pollutants.

In the United States, The Save Our Climate Act (H.R, 3242) was introduced last year to place a revenue-neutral tax on carbon at the source (with these funds then returned to each citizen in the form of a "dividend".) The affect of such legislation would be to provide businesses and consumers with a predictable carbon cost on which to base decisions. Lower carbon choices become relatively less expensive to investors and consumers, and carbon dioxide levels would eventually decline from the inevitable behavioral shift.

The benefits to the USA of such legislation are potentially numerous. The American Solar Energy Association estimates that carbon legislation of this type would add 4.2 million new jobs to the US economy over ten years. Technological leadership would more easily follow from clear and transparent policies. And any reduction in the $200 billion spent annually on imported oil would improve our national security and trade deficits.

While the likelihood of such legislation being enacted in an election year is quite modest, the direction is clear: A lower carbon future awaits.

Google Invests $94 Million in Solar Energy

2011-12-27T13:33:00.002-05:00

Dispense with your concerns that Google's interest in alternative energy is waning.

While the firm did recently close a high profile energy research group, Google just announced it has made a new $94 million investment in a portfolio of four solar photovoltaic projects currently under construction by Recurrent Energy near Sacramento, CA.

“This investment represents our first investment in the U.S. in larger scale solar PV power plants that generate energy for the grid—instead of on individual rooftops. These projects have a total capacity of 88 MW, equivalent to the electricity consumed by more than 13,000 homes”, Google said on its blog.

The internet giant said this new investment brings its total alternative energy investments to more than $915 million. In 2011 it helped more than 10,000 homeowners to install solar PV panels on their rooftops.

Read more at CleanTechies.com

Buffett Buys Second Solar Project

2011-12-25T17:35:00.001-05:00

Just a week after its first foray into solar, Warren Buffett's energy utility is acquiring another big solar project, also being developed by First Solar. MidAmerican Energy says it's buying a 49 percent stake in the 290 megawatt (MW) Agua Caliente project in Arizona. The plant is owned by NRG Energy and supported by a $967 million Dept of Energy loan guarantee. First Solar is expected to complete the $1.8 billion project in 2014.

Last week, MidAmerican announced it would buy its first solar project, the 550 MW Topaz Solar Farm in California. "We are aggressively pursuing opportunities to expand our presence in the renewable energy sector," says Greg Abel, MidAmerican CEO.

Utility-scale solar plants offer good, stable returns with little downside risk, since all the power is sold to utility PG&E, and they offer valuable tax credits.

Procter & Gamble: Sustainability Competition Pays Dividends

2011-12-23T15:33:00.001-05:00

Procter & Gamble CEO Bob McDonald declared a bold vision -- one that includes making all products and packaging with recycled or renewable materials, and ensuring that no waste from P&G products touches a landfill. Prominent in the vision, too, is powering all plants with renewable energy. Because all of this will take decades to achieve, P&G also declared a series of shorter-term, 10-year goals to guarantee that the company is making progress. The 2020 renewable energy goal is to power 30% of P&G's energy needs for 180 plants worldwide with renewable sources.

The challenges of such an undertaking were immense, so P&G created a tournament and included outsiders for their energy, expertise and imagination. The fruits of their labor will be seen over many years but the process and initial results are fascinating. Read more here.

Water Will Be the Critical Limiting Factor of 21st Century Production

2011-12-16T18:10:00.000-05:00

Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Committee recently released a report in which it argues that the “perfect storm” of declining water supply and rising demand are likely to make water the critical limiting resource of our time. The report, entitled Peak Water: The Preeminent 21st Century Commodity Story, paints a convincing picture of a world that is on the brink of a severe water crisis.

The many interrelated forces converging to exacerbate the water scarcity problem are likely to soon have a visible and painful impact on the world:

Steadily Increasing Demand: Although population growth is the major cause of increasing global water withdrawal levels, the overall rise in demand for water has outpaced population growth by a factor of two. The withdrawal rate in the US is expected to increase by between 10 and 20 percent over 1995 levels by 2025.

Extreme Drought Risk: Steadily increasing temperatures from climate change and global exploitation of water resources have significantly increased the threat of drought. By 2030, nearly two thirds of the US is likely to be drastically drier which will put large parts of the nation at risk for extreme drought.

Disappearing Snow Cover: In the Northern Hemisphere, monthly snow cover has declined 1.3 percent every ten years for the last decade. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) predicts that Earth’s middle latitudes will experience snow losses of 60 to 80 percent by the end of the century.

Mounting Agricultural Pressures: Agriculture uses account for 70% of all water withdrawals. Growing global affluence is increasing demand for more water-intensive foods like meat, which requires 10 times more water than rice to produce. Global efforts to reduce poverty and famine will also require increasing agriculture output, and therefore water use.

Rapid Urbanization: Currently more than half of the global population lives in cities. In 1990, the world had 10 cities with populations of over 10 million; by 2020, the UN predicts that number to increase to 27. Urbanization, which is usually associated with an increasing standard of living, can increase a person’s demand for water to five times that of the basic water requirement.

Sustainable companies, especially those to whom water is already a critical resource (beverages, mining, paper, etc.) are already working to reduce their water intensity. This will obviously have significant ramifications beyond the commercial water usage, so each of us needs to consider this risk factor in our investing, and life, decisions.

Read more at Triple Pundit.com

WSJ: Investing With Heart and Head

2011-12-13T15:14:00.000-05:00

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the strong and persistent growth of Sustainable and Responsible Investing (SRI) as a mainstream investment style.

According to Eurosif, a Paris-based research firm, Europe's high-net-worth individuals (+$1 million in financial assets) had dedicated almost $1 trillion, or around 11% of their wealth, to "sustainable" investing at the end of 2010. That's an increase of 35% over the figure for 2008, even while such individuals' total assets under management shrank during that two-year period because of the global economic crisis.

What's more, the definition of SRI is expanding to include so-called "impact" investments. This often includes microfinance, "triple bottom line" private equity and venture capital, small business lending and even municipal bonds when targeted to "quality of life" areas such as hospitals, schools, water and other "impact" segments.

Read more at WSJ.com

ExxonMobil Forecasts Major Shift to Greener Vehicles

2011-12-12T10:49:00.002-05:00

A new report from ExxonMobil predicts that nearly half of the world’s cars will either be hybrids or powered by alternative fuels by 2040.

While hybrids now account for just about 1 percent of all vehicles worldwide, the oil giant forecasts that hybrids and alternative energy vehicles will move to the mainstream as governments increasingly push for better fuel efficiency.

The ExxonMobil report, “The Outlook for Energy: A View to 2040,” predicts that overall energy demand will remain flat in developed nations over the next three decades, but demand in developing nations such as China and India will increase nearly 60 percent from 2010 to 2040.

The report also predicts a worldwide boom in shale gas production and forecasts that 30 percent of the world’s electricity will be produced from natural gas, while demand for coal will peak before seeing “its first long-term decline in modern history.” Article courtesy CleanTechies.com

CSR reports are scandalously misleading, researchers say

2011-12-06T08:28:00.005-05:00

What are we supposed to believe???

A recent U.K. study of more than 4,000 corporate environmental reports found that they routinely contain "irrelevant data, unsubstantiated claims, gaps in data and inaccurate figures."

"In financial reporting, to leave out an undisclosed part of the company in the calculation of profits would be a scandal. In sustainability reporting, it is common practice," said research-team leader Ralf Barkemeyer.

For this reason, Boardwalk Capital has teamed with independent researcher Sustainalytics. Their 40+ analysts are charged with getting the real scoop on who is walking the walk, and who is just talk.

Nuns buy into Fortune 500 firms to spur social change

2011-11-21T18:00:00.002-05:00

An order of nuns has emerged as a powerful voice for corporate responsibility. The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia invest in Fortune 500 companies through their retirement fund and seek socially responsible business reform, traveling to shareholder meetings if necessary. The order's targets have included the CEOs of Goldman Sachs, McDonald's and Wells Fargo. "We want social returns, as well as financial ones. ... We're not here to put corporations down. We're here to improve their sense of responsibility,” said Sister Nora Nash.

“You’re not going to get any sympathy for cutting off a nun at your annual meeting,” says Robert McCormick, chief policy officer of Glass, Lewis & Company, a firm that specializes in shareholder proxy votes. With their moral authority, he said, the Sisters of St. Francis “can really bring attention to issues.”

Wind energy costs rapidly approaching other sources

2011-11-17T21:16:00.002-05:00

The best wind energy plants in the world already produce power as economically as coal, gas and nuclear generators, and the average wind farm will be fully competitive by 2016. These are the findings of a new report by London-based Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

The researches suggested that land-based wind farm plants will be "fully competitive" with conventional electricity sources in five years: "The best wind farm plants in the world already produce power as economically as coal, gas and nuclear generators; the average wind farm will be fully competitive by 2016."

Furthermore, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), documented wind's increasing role in U.S. electricity generation: From some 6 billion kWh in 2000 to 95 billion kWh in 2010.

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Sustainability Culture Saves DuPont Billions

2011-11-17T16:41:00.002-05:00

Upwards of 40 percent of industry’s energy efficiency improvement opportunities can be realized through low or no-cost projects rooted in corporate culture change, according to a white paper from DuPont.

DuPont has seen its smaller efficiency projects return impressive savings that can be re-invested into larger capital projects. In a recent two year period, these small projects generated an internal rate of return of about 75 percent for DuPont.

The key to DuPont's model is the formation of multi-disciplinary, cross-functional teams. By bringing insight from different internal groups, DuPont has literally saved billions in energy costs.

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HP Raises the Bar by Recycling 2 Billion Pounds of Electronics and Supplies

2011-11-16T10:04:00.000-05:00

This month Hewlett Packard celebrated a significant milestone: The IT firm has recycled 2 billion pounds of electronic products and supplies since it launched the program in 1987. The HP Planet Partners program operates in 58 countries and territories, helping HP recycle more used IT equipment than any other company.

In fact, HP recycled six times more IT equipment than IBM and over 75% more than Dell in 2010. And in 2009, HP recycled more IT equipment in two months than Apple did in the entire year.

Beyond recycling, HP has recovered an additional 410 million pounds of computer and printing hardware to date for reuse and remarketing. And in the last six years, HP has put approximately 20 million used IT products back into use through these efforts.

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Cloud computing can cut carbon emissions by half and save $ billions

2011-11-07T18:21:00.001-05:00

Blue-chip companies could reduce their carbon emissions by 50% if they migrate their data storage operations to the cloud, a new study says.

The study conducted by the Carbon Disclosure Project in London focused on large IT companies in France and the UK. The study suggested that by 2020, U.S. companies with annual revenues of more than $1 billion can save $12.3 billion in energy costs and achieve carbon reductions equivalent to 200 million barrels of oil a year if they shift to shared data networks.

A solar moment with the Georgia PSC Commissioner

2011-11-03T19:34:00.002-04:00

Lauren "Bubba" McDonald is the Commissioner of the Georgia Public Service Commission. If you live in Georgia, he's has more to do with your electric bill than anyone else, save the kids who won't turn out the lights when they leave the room.

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. McDonald, along with Mr. Steve Valk who heads the local chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby. Steve arranged the meeting after reading of the Commissioner's increasingly encouraging comments on alternative energy. Boardwalk's recent signing of the Global Investor Statement on Climate Change, meant that I could bring the sustainable investor perspective to the conversation.

In summary, the Commissioner was receptive to a variety of opinions, and sees solar playing a larger and larger role in Georgia's energy future. He acknowledged that it is a fast growing industry, not just in his state, but across the country. And while he's not one for "mandates", he says that he "was elected to take action." And sometimes that includes mandates (on power purchases from alternative sources.)

We expect to continue the conversation. In fact, he even invited us to visit him at his "home office" in the North Georgia mountains.

You need not ask me twice, Mr. Commissioner. See you again soon.

US SIF: Press Release: Study: “Alternative Investment” Assets in Sustainable & Responsible Investing Jumped 16 Percent in 2010 (10/26/2011)

2011-10-26T15:22:00.000-04:00

A recent US SIF Foundation report finds strong growth in "Sustainable" Private Equity, Venture Capital, Property Investment and Hedge Funds.

According to Sustainability Trends in Alternative Investments in the United States, $80.9 billion was invested in 375 alternative investment funds incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria at the outset of 2011, reflecting a 15.9-percent growth in combined assets since the beginning of 2010...

Read more at US SIF:

Why some leading companies “get it” while others risk green-wash

2011-10-20T17:17:00.000-04:00

Sustainabililty leaders "are starting to go one step further than the rest of the pack, such that their machinery for delivering sustainability is becoming part of the way they do business," according to Mark Line, executive chairman of Two Tomorrows Group.

His company's new report, the Tomorrow’s Value Rating 2011, reveals that there is a danger that leading companies are taking existing practices and passing them under the sustainability lens to give a compelling green picture of the company. That's called greenwashing.

As the report states, companies such as General Electric, Nike, Unilever and Nestle have taken the other approach, making sustainability a core business strategy.

Profit-motivated sustainability efforts are laudable, and produce financial benefits. They fail to enhance the company's brand, however, if they are not perceived to be authentically part of the company's DNA. Today's consumers are highly perceptive. When a firm's environmental PR says one thing but their actions often say another, the program is destined to fall short.

Superior share price performance of carbon leaders shows that investors value full disclosure over hidden problems and environmental responsibility over recklessness. That Fortune magazine's Best Places to Work list has performed twice as well as the broader market, indicates a strong connection between employee satisfaction and customer loyalty.

Companies who embody and communicate a core commitment to these business principles are companies that we are more able to trust -- not to be perfect, but to admit their failings and strive for constant improvement.

Read more at Two Tomorrows

SRI policies take off at European pension funds

2011-10-11T18:25:00.000-04:00

A majority of European corporate pension funds have a socially responsible investment (SRI) policy in place, according to a survey by the European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif).

The survey found 56% of funds have such a policy in place, based on 169 responses from funds in 12 member states. Of the remaining funds, around a quarter expect to put such a policy in place in the next year.

Meanwhile 66% of funds feel that having an SRI policy is part of their fiduciary duty and 60% of funds feel that environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors influence their long-term performance.

Read more at Eurosif

Canada’s tar sands could be banned from Europe

2011-10-08T10:29:00.000-04:00

Interesting news for investors and environmentalists: The European Union says crude oil extracted from Alberta’s tar sands should be ranked as a dirtier fuel source than oil tapped from conventional oil wells, a move that could effectively ban the import of the controversial oil.

The European Commission endorsed a measure that would essentially rate fossil fuels based on the CO2 emitted during extraction, refining, and combustion. The EU has proposed that tar sands oil be ascribed a greenhouse gas value of 107 grams per megajoule of fuel, compared with 87.5 grams for ordinary crude oil.

“With today’s proposal we send clear signal: as fossil fuels will be a reality in foreseeable future it's important to give them a right value,” said EU Climate Change commissioner Connie Hedegaard.

Sustainable investors such as Boardwalk Capital have viewed the biggest tar sands companies as a riskier investment proposition in a carbon-constrained future. It is distinctly possible that their reserves need to be substantially discounted, reducing asset values and share prices -- a risk that investors need not bear.

Half of Multinationals to Choose Suppliers Based on CO2 Emissions

2011-09-27T20:50:00.001-04:00

Attention companies: Ignore carbon emissions at your peril. That big client of yours isn't ignoring theirs, and they just might fire you for dragging them down...

According to a study by Carbon Trust Advisory, fully one-half of multinational companies plan to select suppliers based on carbon performance.

The research says that 29% of suppliers are likely to lose their places on green supply chains if they do not have adequate performance records on carbon. The research also finds that 58% of multinationals will in the future pay a premium for low carbon suppliers to reduce their overall corporate carbon footprints.

Read more at Environmental Leader.com:

Crazy Army Greenies! U.S. Army Embarks On $7 billion Renewable Energy Program

2011-09-26T14:23:00.002-04:00

The U.S. Army has embarked on an ambitious $7 billion series of utility-scale renewable energy projects.

The new program will build twenty utility-scale renewable energy installations that rely on a mix of solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass power. The installations will be constructed on land owned by the Department of Defense, at Army bases throughout the U.S.

The program calls for the Army to use its land as equity to leverage about $7 billion in private investment for the twenty projects.

The Army’s goal is to provide its bases with reliable energy sources that are insulated from price spikes, shortages and grid disruptions. Rather than paying up front for the installations, the Army will utilize Power PurchaseAgreements wherein private companies would build the renewable energy installations in exchange for a commitment from the Army to purchase the energy.

Read more at TPM Idea Lab

Tax Plan to Turn Old Buildings ‘Green’ Finds Favor

2011-09-21T12:36:00.001-04:00

A business consortium that includes Lockheed Martin and Barclays bank plans to invest as much as $650 million over the next few years to slash the energy consumption of buildings in the Miami and Sacramento areas. It is the most ambitious effort yet to jump-start a national market for energy upgrades that many people believe could eventually be worth billions.

This looks like a win, win, win. Contractors get work, retrofitting old buildings with efficiency-enhancing changes. The property owner has no up-front costs but is guaranteed the cost savings (typically one-third of their utilities cost.) Barclays finances these projects, bundling the loans into bonds that investors can buy. Payback comes via a property tax surcharge that is less than the amount saved on utilities.

While the program has met some legal challenges for residential users, commercial properties appear to be moving forward with this innovative new program.

Read more at NYTimes.com

Global Energy Consumption to Grow 53 Percent by 2035

2011-09-21T09:13:00.001-04:00

Wondering why China is so hot for alternative energy? Why they wish to completely dominate the manufacture of solar panels? Why China cares more about climate issues that the US does? Here's the answer:

A new report by the U.S. Energy Information Agency predicts that worldwide energy consumption will surge 53 percent in the next 25 years, with China and India accounting for about half of the growth.

As their economies continue to expand, China and India are expected to double their energy demand by 2035, and combined they will consume about 31 percent of the world’s energy, according to the report, International Energy Outlook 2011.

There just isn't enough oil, coal, natural gas or even uranium to meet that demand for long. And with the air quality problems that these nations already have, something had to give!

Read more at CleanTechies.com

The Power of Sustainability on Campus

2011-09-18T09:37:00.002-04:00

In its new report Greening the Bottom Line, the Sustainable Endowments Institute provides a close look at the impressive financial benefits that colleges are receiving for their sustainablility efforts.

In short, the report highlights 52 institutions that have created green revolving funds (GRFs) to invest endowment money in efficiency projects, tracking the return on those investments. Some have reported ROIs in excess of 30 percent, which greatly exceeds the typical investment return of even the most aggressively-managed endowment portfolio.

Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes -- 2011. Where is the US Leadership?

2011-09-17T17:47:00.002-04:00

Dow Jones in conjunction with SAM has updated their sustainability indexes for 2011, and just one American company has been identified as being at the top of its industry. Pepsico gained the top ranking in the Food and Beverage sector. (Pepsico is also a constituent of the Boardwalk ESG Titans portfolio.)

DJ and SAM review 19 sectors to identify companies that meet specific criteria for across environmental, social and economic dimensions. SuperSector Leaders, such as Pepsico, have the highest scores in that sector.

While the world's largest stock markets (US, UK, Germany, France and Japan) account for well over half of the world's stock market value, together they placed a paltry FIVE sector leaders combined. In contrast, smaller countries fared much better: South Korea with four members, Netherlands (3), Australia (2), Switzerland (2) and Spain (2). Even Brazil had one. Clearly, bigger isn't necessarily better.

In many ways, sustainability is an indication of preparedness for change -- change that is fast and unpredictable. It is apparent then that we need to look to the smaller markets for many of tomorrow's leaders.

Green Power Partnership: Companies Using 100% Renewable Power

2011-09-17T11:19:00.001-04:00

Many companies have made a commitment to utilize renewable power sources whenever possible. We applaud their commitment to reducing greenhouse gas and other emissions, and evaluate this factor as part of our environmental assessment of each potential portfolio investment.

While "wherever possible" sounds fine, we have found scores of companies and organizations that get ALL of their power from renewable sources. Leading the pack is Kohl's Department Stores. Kohl's has been adding showy alternative energy projects to its stores for some time, but to attain the 101% level, the company has also purchased Renewable Energy Certificates (REC's) that certify power from green sources. Kohl's is now country's second largest green power user -- 1.4 billion kilowatt hours per year.

Perhaps it is not surprising that Whole Foods Market has also reached the 100% level, through a combination of on-side generation and REC's. Nokia achieved this distinction, as did Georgia-based Interface Inc. Law firms Sutherland Asbill & Brennan and Kilpatrick Stockton LLP were able to satisfy 100% of their power demands from wind energy, sourced through REC's.

While energy hungry tech giant Intel couldn't reach the 100% level, the company did rank as the nation's largest green power user-- gulping more than 2.5 billion kw/h per year, and some 88% of their needs. We think congratulations are still in order.

Read the EPA rankings here

Venture Capitalists Adopting 'Impact Investing'

2011-09-17T09:08:00.002-04:00

Having endured a decade of small returns, some venture capitalists and institutional investors are adopting a strategy called "impact investing," and that's good news for educational technology.

Impact investing in general refers to investors seeking a so-called "double bottom line." That is, they want investments that not only make money but also have a positive impact on society.

Read more at Investors.com

Global investment in clean energy hits $243 bn: UN

2011-09-17T09:06:00.002-04:00

Global investment in clean energy rose to a record $243 billion dollars last year with the vast majority concentrated in the world's top 20 economies, the United Nations said.

Over the past two years more than 50 national public climate funds have been created. There are 45 carbon markets and more than 6,000 private equity funds providing billions of dollars for climate change action.
Read more

US report spreads blame for BP oil spill

2011-09-17T09:02:00.001-04:00

A key US government report spreads the blame for the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday, citing a bad cement job and poor management decisions by BP and its subcontractors.

The finding by the agency that regulates offshore drilling will likely strengthen the British energy giant's legal case for spreading the massive costs of the spill with Halliburton, which performed the cement job, and rig owner Transocean.

Read more at Global Energy Watch

Abbott Labs: On the ground in Haiti

2011-08-29T15:21:00.001-04:00

Pharmaceutal giant Abbott Laboratories did more than just throw money at the problem of malnutrition in Haiti. They built a factory that employs local workers for construction, uses local farm products and will employ local residents to run the plant.

Toyota, Ford to collaborate on hybrid trucks

2011-08-28T16:02:00.002-04:00

Toyota Motor Corp and Ford Motor Co will work together to develop hybrid trucks and SUVs that will be ready for market by the end of the decade, the two companies said last week.

Ford and Toyota plan to collaborate on product development for the future rear-wheel drive hybrid vehicles, as well as for telephone, Internet and entertainment systems. Read More at Reuters:

GE Data Center Achieves LEED Platinum Status

2011-08-24T19:03:00.002-04:00

General Electric, a Boardwalk Sustainability Leader company, showed the investors why it is worthy of inclusion in this highly-selective list. The company's new data center has set new standards for energy efficiency, materials re-use, local sourcing and waste recycling.

Only 6 percent of all LEED-certified buildings have achieved Platinum certification. Considering that GE’s new building is a data centre in Kentucky only exemplifies how impressive this latest award is.

A recent McKinsey study estimates that CO2 emissions from data centres will quadruple in the coming years, exceeding emissions from the airlines industry by 2020.

One GE exec sums it up: "Our new high-efficiency data center will help us manage energy costs so we can compete in a global marketplace.”

Read more at Green Building Elements

Responsible Companies Access Cheaper Funding

2011-08-24T08:49:00.001-04:00

According to a new study, corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives do bring one very important benefit to their companies -- a superior ability to raise money for strategic investments and initiatives.

Researchers at the Harvard and London Business Schools analyzed the corporate social responsibility scores of 2,439 publicly traded companies. They found that companies with high CSR scores have a much easier time raising money than their less socially-responsible competitors.

They suggest that firms with great CSR scores can access capital at better interest rates than other firms, starting a ‘virtuous cycle’: Companies with great CSR scores are better able to raise money for their strategic investments and initiatives, which in turn improve their stock market returns -- and that makes it easier for them to raise money.

Read more at BNET

NextEra Energy plans billions of dollars for wind investments

2011-08-09T18:08:00.001-04:00

US power producer NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE) intends to invest between $2.7 billion and $3.1 billion in wind farms over the next three years, according to CEO Lewis Hay, who spoke during a quarterly conference call last week.

The company is the largest wind producer in the US with approximately 8.3 gigawatts (GW) of capacity and expects to add another 2 GW by the of 2012.

How Southern Company keeps out solar competion

2011-08-02T00:29:00.000-04:00

Georgia has about 12 laws on the books to make it difficult for solar power to compete head to head with fossil power. All twelve were lobbied for successfully by Georgia Power, and its parent Southern Company using a total of 63 lobbyists to fight the recent federal clean energy bill.

Read more at Clean Technica

What really matters to investors? Earnings or economics?

2011-07-31T09:24:00.009-04:00

If you are like most investors, you dislike uncertainty.

The debt negotiations, the potential downgrade from AAA, and the most recent economic figures -- have given us plenty of uncertainty. But at least we investors have the luxury of being able to sell our shares today and buy them back tomorrow, right?

Business leaders don't have that luxury. They must invest with longer time periods in mind, and with scant opportunity to get their money back if conditions turn ugly. Is it any wonder then that leading indicators of business activity (durable goods sales, surveys of future expectations, and even unemployment) have looked more and more bleak in recent weeks?

Business leaders and US consumers both react to uncertainty by changing their spending patterns in the short term. High unemployment, declining real estate prices and high personal debt levels are all legitimate reasons for consumer spending to remain restrained. Unfortunately, much is riding on the consumer, since we account for about 2/3 of all US economic activity...

Contrary to US economic activity (which was already "slow" and is now merely "sputtering"), corporate earnings have held up rather well. Nearly 80% of earnings reports this quarter have met analysts' expectations. In other words, the economy is disappointing us, but earnings really aren't.

How does one reconcile weak economics with decent earnings?

Consider this: We consumers are more important to the US economy than we are to US companies. Domestic sales now account for less than half of the revenue of the S&P500. And most, if not all of the incremental growth for S&P500 firms is coming from overseas markets.

When China became GM's largest market, it told us that times have truly changed. The US market still matters, of course. But for many companies, other markets might matter more.

Perhaps as investors we should think a bit differently. Conditions might not be as dire as the headlines indicate.

Large investors urge Russell 1000 companies to adopt ESG practices

2011-07-25T19:16:00.000-04:00

California Public Employees’ Retirement System, California State Teachers’ Retirement System and other major institutional investors called on the 1,000 largest U.S. companies to “embrace a new reality” and imbed environmental, social and governance concerns into their business models.

“Environmental and social sustainability issues can no longer be considered off-balance-sheet issues,” the letter said. “Rather they are material, financial issues posing both risks and opportunities to the long-term success of corporations.”

We couldn't agree more.

Read more at Pensions & Investments

Despite its own Sustainability Index, Nasdaq Blacklisted for Lack of Corporate Transparency

2011-07-23T19:53:00.000-04:00

A classic case of "Do as we say, not as we do..."

In a terrible twist of irony, Nasdaq (NDAQ), home of the NASDAQ OMX CRD Sustainability 100 Index was one of 58 large coporations 'black-listed' for their lack of transparency on issues related to corporate responsibility.

Each year, in its well-regarded 100 Best Corporate Citizens list, Corporate Responsibility Magazine doesn't just identify the best. They also single out those companies who show a complete disregard for disclosure on issues such as the environment, philanthropy, employee relations.

According to the magazine's editor and publisher Dirk Olin, "We track hundreds of data points of transparency for the Best list, but the companies tied for least transparent disclose exactly zero items." To paraphrase another participant, "It's a pretty low bar. Disclose one item and your off the list."

Interestingly, more than half of the black list is occupied by financial firms. Isn't a lack of transparency what got us into this mess in the first place?

C'mon guys... You can do better.

Read more at Matter Network

Chevron: A Boardwalk Sustainabilty Leader with Big Green Aims

2011-07-23T18:50:00.002-04:00

Chevron is one of the six “supermajor” oil companies in the world. Interestingly, the firm has also been involved in a large number of clean technology initiatives, and is now the world's largest producer of geothermal energy. (Please see the link below for info.)

We named company a Boardwalk Sustainability Leader in 2011, but not because they dabble in the latest green sectors, but because our research suggests that their environmental policies, safety practices, leadership structure are among the industry's best. These characteristics lead to long term business sustainability. We may applaud their community and philanthropic practices, and feel delighted by their green initiatives, but as investors we hold their feet to the fire, demanding continuous improvement, year after year.

We have seen that oil and gas drilling (especially in deep water) is high pressure, dangerous and dirty work. Chevron hasn't always been at the top of the class here. These days, however, the company can claim amazing progress -- reducing spill frequency and volume, improving worker safety, increasing its own energy efficiency while enacting a plan to that is reducing greenhouse gas and other emissions around the world. Yes, this is an oil company, and their processes and products have massive environmental impact. But thanks to interactions with shareholders and consumers, pressure to mitigate that impact has had positive results -- for the environment, for workers and for the company's share price.

Read more about Chevron's renewable energy initatives at CleanTechies.com

2011-07-21T09:22:00.000-04:00

If you are like most investors, you dislike uncertainty.

The debt negotiations, the potential downgrade from AAA, and the most recent economic figures -- have given us plenty of uncertainty. But at least we investors have the luxury of being able to sell our shares today and buy them back tomorrow, right? Business leaders don't have that luxury. They must invest with longer time periods in mind, and with scant opportunity to get their money back if conditions turn ugly. Is it any wonder then that leading indicators of business activity (durable goods sales, surveys of future expectations, and even unemployment) have looked more and more bleak in recent weeks?

Business leaders and US consumers both react to uncertainty by changing their spending patterns in the short term. High unemployment, declining real estate prices and high personal debt levels are all legitimate reasons for consumer spending to remain restrained. Unfortunately, much is riding on the consumer, since we account for about 2/3 of all US economic activity...

Contrary to US economic activity (which was already "slow" and is now merely "sputtering"), corporate earnings have held up rather well. Nearly 80% of earnings reports this quarter have met analysts' expectations. In other words, the economy is disappointing us, but earnings really aren't.

How does one reconcile weak economics with decent earnings?

Consider this: We consumers are more important to the US economy than we are to US companies. Domestic sales now account for less than half of the revenue of the S&P500. And most, if not all of the incremental growth for S&P500 firms is coming from overseas markets.

When China became GM's largest market, it told us that times have truly changed. The US market still matters, of course. But for many companies, other markets might matter more.

Perhaps as investors we should think a bit differently. Conditions might not be as dire as the headlines indicate.

Shareholder Activism Moved the Needle on Sustainability in 2011

2011-07-08T23:24:00.001-04:00

A record number of shareholder resolutions were filed over the past year, calling for companies to be more responsible in handling corporate sustainability challenges. The net response to these actions was surprisingly positive, and some companies chose to engage on issues before votes were taken -- illustrating the growing impact of the strategy as well as a dawning realization by shareholders of the power they can wield.

As signatories to the UN principles for Responsible Investment, Boardwalk Capital has committed to being "active owners". We plan to publicly disclose all shareholder/company engagements via our Twitter feed: Boardwalk_SRI. And to promote cooperation among investors, we plan to post our corporate research and sustainability assessments on the web for all to see.

Three states named as finalists for $1.4 billion solar project

2011-07-06T20:34:00.000-04:00

Seven counties in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina are in contention to be chosen by National Solar Power, a utility solar company based in Melbourne, Florida, as the location for the construction of the world's largest solar farm.

Sumter and Tatnall Counties in Georgia and Guilford County in North Carolina were selected as possible locations to house a 400-megawatt solar project. This would be the world's largest photovoltaic power plant, according to National Solar Power.

The project would be made up of 20 related 200-acre solar farms, NSP said. Each would generate 20-megawatts of energy. The current largest solar plant is an 80-megawatt solar plant in Ontario, Canada.

This project would be capable of generating enough energy to power 32,000 homes, NSP said.

Read more at Cooler Planet News

Is the Blue Planet Running Dry?

2011-06-27T23:02:00.003-04:00

John F. Kennedy once said that whoever solved the world’s water problem should receive two Nobel Prizes–one for science, one for peace. Kennedy’s words still ring true today. One billion people lack access to clean drinking water, and experts say water will become even more scarce in the future.

The UN Climate Report 2007 predicts that global warming will cause precipitation levels in many developing countries to drop further. And demand for water could increase by 50 percent during the next 30 years, mostly in large developing countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

Companies depending on these emerging markets for revenue growth will first need to address these water challenges... Read more at Knowledge.Allianz.com

Water increasingly important in Ford sustainability program

2011-06-26T17:12:00.002-04:00

Automaker Ford’s corporate sustainability strategy has two big focuses: to reduce the impact of the vehicles it manufactures and to reduce the footprint of the operations that make those products. Boardwalk's research suggests that they have been successful, ranking Ford as the most advanced US automaker on efficiency, process and environmental impact.

“We have really elevated water as a significant issue,” said John Viera, Ford’s global director for sustainability and vehicle environment matters. The company has already dramatically decreased its consumption — by up to 49 percent per vehicle in some cases... Read more

SEC Investigates US Firms Over Libyan Connections

2011-06-24T10:16:00.004-04:00

The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Occidental Petroleum Corp. over their connections to Libya. The disclosure follows the SEC's investigation into whether Goldman Sachs and other financial firms possibly violated bribery laws in dealings with the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), which is reportedly controlled by Moammar Gadhafi.

Responsible investors may not be able to identify such issues before they are evident to the public, but scrutiny of corporate governance policies and historic problems can identify patterns of higher risk behavior... Read more.

Water Wars Threaten Credit of Metro Governments

2011-06-17T18:29:00.005-04:00

Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings issued a report last month, warning that it may downgrade the credit scores of metro Atlanta governments if a federal court does not side with Georgia on access to drinking water from Lake Lanier. On June 28, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals panel did side with Atlanta, and gave the Army Corps of Engineers one year to determine water allocations from the lake.

In 2009, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson ruled that the metro area did not have legal authority to continue to withdraw water at current levels from Lanier. The judge set a July 2012 deadline for Georgia to settle the issue or lose substantial access to the lake. That deadline is no longer in effect.

Voters in America’s Auto & Manufacturing Heartland Want 60 MPG Fuel Economy Standard by 2025

2011-06-17T18:10:00.003-04:00

A new poll of 1600 likely voters in Michigan and Ohio found overwhelming support for an increase in the automakers' corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) requirements to 60 miles per gallon by 2025 and to reduce vehicle carbon dioxide pollution.

“The American voter – the American consumer – is speaking loudly in these key states,” said Ceres President Mindy Lubber. “It isn’t just $4-a-gallon fatigue. These voters clearly recognize that our economic, environmental and national security futures are also rolled up in saving money at the pump and making America far more energy independent." Read more at Ceres.com

ESG Performance Top 100 Brands: Reputation versus Reality

2011-06-17T15:44:00.005-04:00

Google, Apple and Honda have earned reputations that far exceed their actual sustainability performance according to a recent report by Brandlogic and CRD Analytics.

The study of 100 leading brands across nine industries found that 66 had perceived sustainability performance that exceeded their actual performance. Such brands included Visa, AT&T, Starbucks, Yahoo! and Toyota.

Boardwalk's Capital's own independent research found glaring holes in Apple's supply chain and environmental controls. On the flip side, we have previously highlighted UPS's efficiency improvements and on Google's commitment to alternative energy sources...

Read more at Environmental Leader and access the Brandlogic report here.

World's biggest companies failing on water risk management

2011-06-17T09:53:00.002-04:00

A new report from independent research firm EIRIS has concluded that only a tiny fraction of large global companies are taking action on managing water scarcity. Among the findings are that 54% of 2,000 global companies are exposed to water risks, but only 0.22% have adequate management systems, policies and reporting mechanisms in place to tackle the risks.

"The era of cheap and easy access for water is coming to an end for companies", says the EIRIS analyst. "This poses a potentially greater threat to business than the loss of other natural resources, including oil, yet the majority of companies and investors remain unaware of the risks they face." Read more

Google creates $280-million solar power fund

2011-06-14T17:19:00.001-04:00

In a move that could boost solar energy use in homes, Google Inc. is creating a $280-million fund to help finance rooftop installations -- the largest green investment it has ever made. "Google's leading the way and other companies could follow suit," said Lyndon Rive, chief executive of SolarCity, Google's partner in the project. "It's not just about a dramatic environmental impact, it's also a good return." Read more at LATimes.com

A Look Inside HP's Social Good Machine

2011-06-07T17:47:00.003-04:00

Hewlett Packard is launching three social good campaigns aimed at improving health care technology in developing countries. Instead of throwing cash at causes, HP is using its technology to help non-profits expand their reach and improve efficiency at the same time.

Current campaigns focus on Malaria Detection, Counterfeit Drug Identification and Mobile Health Monitoring (all using HP's Palm Pre devices, of course.) All cynicism aside, these programs will save lives while utilizing HP's unique talents to improve conditions in Africa and Southeast Asia... Read more at Mashable.com

New UPS truck boasts 40% less fuel usage

2011-05-31T14:40:00.001-04:00

With more than 70,000 delivery vehicles worldwide, traveling in excess of 3 billion miles per year, fuel efficiency is always on their minds at UPS. And while the company has toyed with natural gas, fuel cells and other technologies to improve efficiency, the company recently announced a seemingly low-tech plan to launch a line of trucks with plastic bodies instead of conventional aluminum paneling.

The decrease in weight (1000 lbs.) will permit a smaller diesel engine to be employed, and should reduce total fuel usage by about 40% A fleetwide rollout of this "technology" would save more than 84 million gallons of fuel.

Coke Appoints First Sustainability Officer

2011-05-31T14:21:00.001-04:00

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) has created a global Office of Sustainability and appointed its first Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) in an effort to better integrate ongoing initiatives.

Beatriz Perez, who is currently Chief Marketing Officer for Coca-Cola North America, will serve as CSO beginning July 1. She will work to integrate Coca-Cola's sustainability initiatives in water, climate protection, packaging and recycling. Read more at Sustainable Business

$400 billion in California Pension Assets Take Another Step into Sustainable Investing

2011-05-30T18:21:00.000-04:00

The $152.9 billion California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) announced that it would be taking “significant step” in its already broad sustainable investing program. From now on, all performance-related discussions with its external managers will include an analysis of how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues factor into their strategies.

"No matter what you’re doing with us, there are ESG risks that we think will have a long-term impact on the portfolio, and we want to be sure that you’re articulating for us how you’re looking at them,” said Jack Ehnes, CEO of CalSTRS .

Likewise for the California State Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), the nation’s largest public pension fund with $236 billion under management. CalPERS’ CEO, Anne Stausboll, pledged that the behemoth pension plan would fully integrate ESG factors in all investment decisions, and across all asset classes.

As goes CalPERS, so goes the industry? Perhaps. As one of the world's most sophisticated investors, CalPERS has consistently led the industry in adopting what ultimately become more standard portfolio elements. New vehicles can't just "do good for society", but must meet strict return projections to keep their plans solvent into the next century.

Investing for the next century? Perhaps this is why CalPERS is so concerned about ESG risks.

Read more at Ceres.org

The Keys to Alcoa's Aggressive Sustainability Program

2011-05-30T17:50:00.001-04:00

One year after setting ambitious sustainability goals, Alcoa is on track to meet its targets, says Kevin Anton, the company's chief sustainability officer.

Alcoa has already met greenhouse-gas-reduction goals originally scheduled to be achieved in 2020, Anton says, and now needs to focus on maintaining its momentum. "You want to set real stretch targets that may make operating people in the company feel uncomfortable because they're not sure how they're going to get there," he said. "A strong target and incentive compensation matched to it will drive innovation."

Twenty percent of variable compensation is tied to some aspect of sustainability, such as energy, greenhouse gas emissions, safety or diversity in the workplace. "If you want to get well-compensated at Alcoa, you need to be pulling the sustainability lever hard." Read more at Green Biz

Is Wal-Mart Tops in Cleantech?

2011-05-30T17:08:00.007-04:00

Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer by revenue, and while it has often been criticized for its labor policies (among other things) it has recently received kudos for its sustainability efforts. Watershed Capital's Shawn Lesser believes that Wal-Mart is a model for other for other corporations in this area.

Wal-Mart has "saved $3 billion a year by reducing packaging size on all its products," he says. It has "installed electrical generators in its refrigerated trucks to cut down on engine idling." With more than 100,000 suppliers,Wal-Mart has unprecidented scale with which to change the face of sustainability across its supply chain.

In Wal-Mart's annual sustainability report, the company claims to have:

Improved energy efficiency by 25-30% in model stores versus existing units
Reduced plastic bag waste by nearly 48 million pounds
Saved $20 million a year by reducing printouts of store reports
Reduced its overall carbon emissions rate by 16% from ’05 to ’08.
Donated over a million pounds of food to food banks each year.

Wal-Mart will continue to have its challenges and its critics, but for now, its environmental efforts deserve some applause. Shareholders should be similarly pleased by increased efficiency, lower energy costs and its even stronger competitive position. Read about the other Dow30 constituents at Clean Techies.com

Does Corporate Social Responsibility Build Customer Loyalty?

2011-05-30T10:47:00.002-04:00

Corporate Social Responsibility intitiatives such as Pepsico's $15 million clean water program or Walmart's $2 billion in food bank support can surely create goodwill with customers. But after the cost of undertaking and publisizing such programs, what is the NET return to the company?

Advertising Age magazine sought to answer this question, studying the net financial impact of four dimensions of CSR performance -- environmental friendliness, treating employees fairly, community support, and sourcing from local growers and suppliers. Their conclusion: That consumers seem to modify their purchase behavior only when the CSR domain directly affects their actual experience with the company or brand. Broad initiatives like environmental friendliness and community support build only goodwill, but initiatives like offering locally sourced products and fair employee compensation -- actions related directly to the products and people that consumers face -- bring both goodwill and a higher share of wallet from consumers.

Read more at Advertising Age

Google's expanding clean energy empire

2011-05-30T10:18:00.001-04:00

Google has committed another $55 million to its expanding clean energy business, using an innovative "leveraged lease" structure to accelerate tax credits on the investment.

The company's involvement in clean energy stems from the company's fundamental belief that "things involving clean energy are good business opportunities," said Rick Needham, director of green-business operations and strategy for Google. "We've spent time and effort and have found ways to source what we consider "economic renewable energy" that provides us long-term price hedges. Others can do the same," Needham added.

Read more at Greentech Media

Germany accelerates nuclear decommissioning

2011-05-30T09:44:00.000-04:00

Last week, Germany announced that it intends to close all of its nuclear plants by 2022, in the wake of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami that critically damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex. The country's main nuclear utilities, E.On and DWE expected their pre-1980 facilities to be winding down, but hoped for a longer time to do so. Alternative energy companies with large German businesses, including Vestas Wind Systems (Denmark) and Spanish wind turbine firm Gamesa, rose sharply on the news.

Bloomberg Claims 200% ROI on Sustainability Efforts

2011-05-09T09:56:00.000-04:00

Every dollar that Bloomberg has spent on sustainability has saved two dollars in operating costs, according to the company’s first public sustainability report.

The media and financial services company said that demand reduction and capital investment projects have led to over $25 million in net savings since 2008. According to the report, last year Bloomberg met its targets on renewable energy credits, external energy star compliance, waste diversion and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, but missed goals related to on-site renewable energy, paper use and recycled content.

Read More at Environmental Leader.com

Mandatory Sustainability Reporting Improves Corporate Behavior

2011-04-29T09:38:00.000-04:00

Requiring that companies report on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives leads to broad improvement in socially responsible management practices, according to new academic research.

A working paper based on the research - The Consequences of Mandatory Corporate Sustainability Reporting by Ioannis Ioannou of the London Business School and George Serafeim of the Harvard Business School – concludes “that sustainability reporting not only increases transparency but can also change corporate behavior.”

According to the researchers, “mandatory disclosure of sustainability information leads to a) an increase in the social responsibility of business leaders, b) a prioritization of sustainable development, c) a prioritization of employee training, d) more efficient supervision of managers by boards of directors, e) an increase in the implementation of ethical practices by firms, e) a decrease in bribery and corruption, and f) an improvement of managerial credibility within society.

Read more at Business Ethics.com

Anheuser-Busch in a Big Push for Water Efficiency

2011-04-29T09:36:00.000-04:00

This week Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) released its 2010 Global Citizenship Report. The report is timely, considering the greater attention businesses devote to water, a resource that is most critical for AB InBev’s long-term success. With 114,000 people employed in 23 countries, the beer brewing and beverage giant has a huge impact on environmental and social issues around the world. The company also can influence kindred companies both large and small to take a second look at how their supply chain and operations affect the communities in which they conduct business.

AB InBev’s 57-page report covers topics across the sphere of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The company’s management and employees have tackled drought, water efficiency, responsible drinking (the original social responsibility), volunteerism, and workplace inclusion.

On average, one liter of beer production requires five liters of water. This is a huge issue for beverage producers, and not every market has equal access to clean water. AB InBev has gotten that ratio down to 4:1 and is aiming for 3.5 in 2012.

Read more at Triple Pundit.com

Georgia Carpet Maker -- America's Greenest CEO

2011-04-27T14:24:00.000-04:00

Think of a green businessman and Ray Anderson isn't likely to be the first to come to mind. He's not a fresh-out-of-business-school, Silicon Valley visionary — he's well over 70 years old, and his accent marks him as a lifelong Georgian. He doesn't make solar panels or wind turbines or cellulosic biofuel. His company, Interface, manufactures carpet tiles, which is about as ordinary as you can get.

But Fortune has described Anderson as 'America's greenest CEO,' and the title fits, because there is no one else in the corporate world who has so taken to heart the essential lessons of sustainability — and then put them into practice. 'From my experience, it's a false choice between the economy and ecology,' Anderson told me recently. 'We can have both — and we have to have both."

In 1994, after reading a book titled The Ecology of Commerce, Anderson charged his engineers with calculating the company's environmental footprint. He was shocked to learn that it took over one million pounds of raw materials each year to support the business. Since that time, Anderson has put Interface on the path to sustainability, ruthlessly pursuing efficiencies and increasing recycling. Anderson says, "Our products are the best they have ever been, and so are our people. People need a higher purpose to identify with, and this is the highest purpose of all."

Read more at TIME.com

Majority of European firms fail on carbon reporting

2011-04-26T16:04:00.000-04:00

Less than half of Europe's top 300 firms are publishing full and verified carbon emission data, with French and Swiss companies ranking worst at greenhouse gas reporting, a study showed Tuesday.

British financial services company Aviva placed first in the rankings based on emissions and levels of disclosure and verification, while Polish mining company KGHM came in last, according to the non-profit Environmental Investment Organisation (EIO).

Swiss telecom operator Swisscom ranked first among non-financial companies while unsurprisingly utilities were overall the biggest emitters, accounting for nearly 46 of all climate-changing greenhouse gases.

The EIO compiled its Environmental Tracing Europe 300 Carbon Ranking index and plans to release further regional indexes and a global index in the coming months to provide tools for the investment community to tackle climate change." Read more

Walmart's CSR Report Shows the Power, and Limits, of Efficiency

2011-04-26T15:53:00.000-04:00

Arguably, Walmart has done more than any environmental group, politician, government regulator or Silicon Valley clean tech firm to nudge the U.S. economy towards sustainability in the last five years.

Walmart's 2011 Global Responsibility Report, published last week, makes clear that despite the recession and some recently rough going for the company -- lately its stock has lagged the S&P500 -- Walmart is pushing ahead towards its big goals: To generate no waste, to be 100 percent-powered by renewable energy and to sell lots more products that sustain people and the environment.

Yet a closer look at the report demonstrates that there are limits to what any company, even one as vast as Walmart, can do. Most of its environmental gains have come from doing what Walmart has always done very well -- driving efficiency in its stores and supply chain. When sustainable initiatives cost more money, as they sometimes do, progress has been halting.

Still, Walmart deserves at least two cheers, maybe two-and-half for its efforts, particularly in the current political climate.

Read more at GreenBiz.com

Whole Foods Launches New Standards for Household Cleaning Products

2011-04-21T09:44:00.001-04:00

Whole Foods announced last week that it has introduced the Whole Foods Market Eco-Scale, a color-coded rating system for all household cleaners in its stores.

The system is tiered, and products are based on the specific set of environmental standards each of them meet. Every product will now be evaluated for environmental impact, safety, efficacy, source, labeling and animal testing. Based on the product evaluation, it will be rated red, orange, yellow or green on the Eco-Scale. Certain ingredients are prohibited in order for a cleaning product to meet the specific standards for each level of the Eco-Scale rating system and, with that, all products that do not at least meet the orange tier will be removed from the shelf by Earth Day 2012.

Whole Foods hopes that the Eco-Scale system will allow customers to make informed choices and, at the same time, encourage producers to create better products.

Read more at Triple Pundit.com

CalPERS commits $100 million to sustainable investment product

2011-04-17T09:53:00.000-04:00

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has committed a total of $400 million to three emerging managers in the pension fund’s Manager Development Program for public equity investment. Continuing CalPERS' commitment to progressive investment management approaches, the plan earmarked $100 million each to Quotient, an employee-owned investment company for a new environmental, social and governance product.

CalPERS will receive an undisclosed equity stake in each of the new firms in exchange for working capital.

“These emerging managers will play an important role in our effort to nurture potential diverse major players in the financial markets,” said Joseph Dear, CalPERS Chief Investment Officer.

Read more at Finance GreenWatch

$546bn investor group backs EPA to address greenhouse gases

2011-04-01T11:04:00.002-04:00

A group of 44 international investors with $546bn in assets under management have written to the leaders of the US Senate urging them to back the Environmental Protection Agency on greenhouse gas regulations.

They warn the US risks falling behind other countries in the “new energy economy” as well as identifying risks for companies in their investment portfolios.

Signatories to the March 29 letter include US-based socially responsible investors such as Calvert Asset Management, Domini Social Investments, Christian Brothers Investment Services, Trillium Asset Management and Walden Asset Management.

Read more at Responsible Investor.com

California Assembly Approves 33% Renewable Mandate

2011-03-31T15:30:00.000-04:00

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.

Why Boardwalk Capital is Creating its Own Sustainability Indexes

2011-03-30T16:36:00.001-04:00

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.

BP facing pressure from proxy advisory firms

2011-03-29T09:06:00.003-04:00

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.

Nestle CEO emphasizes creating "shared value" over philanthropy

2011-03-28T17:38:00.003-04:00

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

Oracle, Home Depot deleted from FTSE4Good Index

2011-03-21T11:33:00.002-04:00

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

Boardwalk Capital joins signatories of the UN Principles of Responsible Investment

2011-03-11T12:06:00.000-05:00

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.

40 percent of World's largest companies have no female directors

2011-03-07T22:08:00.000-05:00

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.

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Report Suggests Investors Risk Trillions from Climate Change (Mercer pension consultants)

2011-03-01T19:02:00.000-05:00

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

Shareholder Resolutions Accelerate for Coal, Power and Oil Firms

2011-03-01T19:01:00.000-05:00

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

TIAA-CREF Advocates "Robust" Dialogue with Companies

2011-03-01T17:40:00.000-05:00

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

Blackrock Launches Sustainable ETFs on London Exchange

2011-03-01T17:33:00.000-05:00

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

Surprise! News Corp is the World's First Carbon Neutral Company

2011-03-01T08:20:00.002-05:00

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

Institutional Investors Urge Oil Majors to Isolate Qaddifi Regime

2011-02-28T17:29:00.000-05:00

US institutional investors have called on oil giants including BP, Shell, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhilips with business in Libya to halt revenue payments to the government and pay them into an escrow account after the shooting of hundreds of protesters in the country. The call comes after United Nations Security Council sanctions against Libya were approved last weekend followed by a European Union arms embargo, asset freeze and visa ban. The investors belong to the Conflict Risk Network (CRN), a hundred-strong group, which includes the $140.6bn New York State Common Retirement Fund. Read more here

Secretive Libya wealth fund vital for reconstruction | Reuters

2011-02-26T19:08:00.000-05:00

Libya's secretive sovereign wealth fund could hold the key to any post-conflict reconstruction and future economic development with its $70 billion in assets including lucrative stakes in Western firms.

Libyan Investment Authority, set up in 2006 to manage the country's oil revenues, has assets of around $70 billion, equivalent to nearly 75 percent of the country's economy. It owns stakes in a clutch of European bluechips ranging from Italian bank UniCredit to British publisher Pearson.

LIA, which is roughly the same size as Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, publishes little information, but a rare annual report in 2009 shows how liquid the fund is. It had more than 78 percent in 'short-term financial instruments abroad' and had only $8 billion in long-term equity investments in North Africa, Asia and Europe.
Read more here

Obama's budget to call for slashing oil tax breaks, boosting clean energy

2011-02-14T14:15:00.001-05:00

President Obama is expected to call on Congress Monday to eliminate billions of dollars in oil industry tax breaks, while setting aside money for his top clean-energy policy priorities. The budget will include $8bn for clean energy programs and R&D while cutting some $3.6bn per year in oil industry tax breaks.

Obama will send his fiscal year 2012 budget request to Congress on Monday. The budget comes as Republicans are calling for massive cuts in spending, unveiling a proposal this week to fund the government through the end of this fiscal year that would cut $100 billion in spending when compared to Obama’s 2011 budget request. Click here to read more

Shareholders press oil firms on tar sands issues

2011-02-09T09:43:00.001-05:00

Shareholders plan to question French oil giant Total SA on their "tar sands" activites at the company's forthcoming annual shareholder meeting. Fellow oil firms BP and Shell have faced shareholder resolutions on the tar sands issue in the past. For its part, Total says environmental stewardship is a priority and cites its position as the top-ranked oil and gas company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. It acknowledges that oil sands development is challenging in terms of CO2 emissions, water consumption, land footprint and tailings management. Read more at Responsible Investor.com

More than Green: Sustainable and Responsible Investing will Become the New Standard

2011-01-29T09:57:00.002-05:00

Is your investment portfolio positioned for a future that may look vastly different from the past?

Some of the world’s largest investors are asking this very question. They are rightly concerned that large trends such as climate change, surging population growth, and resource scarcity will negatively impact their returns over time... Click here to read more

Why Sustainable Investing is Critical to Your Retirement Plans

2011-01-28T10:00:00.001-05:00

There once was a time when most American workers had a defined benefit pension plan. Today, it is more likely that you are responsible for your own retirement plan. Whether or not you are covered by a traditional “pension plan”, someone is charged with managing risk. Risk is more than market volatility. It is company specific, as well. “Could carbon legislation be one of those risks?” investors ask. “How could a company’s reputation and brand be damaged from environmental or social missteps?” Many large pension managers are trying to mitigate risks by building sustainable and responsible portfolios.

Click here to read more

Betting on Siemens with Offshore Wind

2011-01-27T11:15:00.001-05:00

A late comer to the wind turbine manufacturing industry, Siemens AG entered the wind business six years ago when it purchased the veteran Danish wind turbine manufacturer Bonus Energy. Europe’s largest engineering firm, Siemens is also one of the world’s primary suppliers of transmission infrastructure equipment.

In 2010, the company’s 3 and 3.6 MW wind turbines emerged as the top choice for offshore wind projects. Currently ranked 6th in the world in terms of total wind turbine sales, Siemens is expected to creep up to among the top three wind turbine suppliers by the end of 2012. While other turbines have reported weak sales over the past year, Siemens is showing strong sales in both onshore and offshore wind arenas. Click here to read more

China is GM’s Number One Market

2011-01-27T11:07:00.000-05:00

Where are the most Buicks in the world sold? Not in the US, but China. This year, sales of American-based General Motors (GM) cars in China outpaced that same consumption in the US. This development has ramifications for the auto industry and international climate policy.

USA Today reports that in 2010, Chinese consumers bought 2.35 million cars from GM. Demand in the US was about 136,000 less over that same time period. The total cars sold for 2010 represent a 29% increase over the year before. In comparison, US sales rose just 6%... Click here to read more

Markets and Earnings Commentary -- Mid-January 2011

2011-01-24T21:16:00.001-05:00

Thus far, the 2011 earnings season has been decent for US companies. While only a small number (57, as of this writing) of the S&P500 have reported thus far, nearly 3/4 of them (73.6%) have beaten analysts' estimates. Before you say that the analysts have set the "bar" too low, consider the level of earnings at this point in the cycle. That level is higher than you might expect. Analysts project S&P500 operating earnings of $95 for 2011. With the S&P still trading below 1300, this equates to a P/E of less than 13.5 times, versus a long term average of 15.

Does this mean that the rally in US stocks has further to run? We'd prefer to conclude that valuations are supportive of current index levels. It will likely take further earnings advances to convince investors that breakeven levels are lower than before (thanks to aggressive cost cutting), and that companies can actually grow the top line (i.e., sales). Given that a disproportionate share of sales growth is coming from outside the US, we'd wager that top line growth will also surprise analysts for a while longer.

One positive to consider is recent "flow of funds" data. The mindless buying of bond funds has finally reversed itself, leaving stocks as a likely beneficiary of more inflows. For investors with longer time horizons, we continue to see high dividend shares as superior investments to most fixed income categories.

Principal Global Investors joins UN Principles for Responsible Investment

2011-01-24T20:45:00.001-05:00

Principal Global Investors, the Des Moines, Iowa-based asset manager with $227.4bn (€170bn) in mostly pension fund assets under management, has become the latest “mainstream” firm to sign up to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment.

The firm – which runs assets for 10 of the 25 largest pension funds in the world – says the appropriate consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues is part of delivering superior risk adjusted returns.

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Dodd-Frank mandates "Conflict Minerals" reporting

2011-01-21T08:51:00.001-05:00

The Dodd-Frank Act has gotten a lot of attention, mostly for its sweeping new regulations affecting the financial industry. But buried in all those pages is also a small provision aimed at addressing the problem of conflict minerals originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Dodd-Frank requires companies under the jurisdiction of the SEC to report annually on whether they are using minerals from the DRC or its nine immediate neighbors. All companies must also report on the due diligence they have undertaken to verify their supply chain and avoid tainted metals. This reporting will especially affect chipmakers and other electronics firms who use ores such as tungsten, tantalum, gold and tin in their manufacturing processes. Major firms like Dell, Intel, Hewlett-Packard and others have been proactively managing their supply chains to meet this challenge. Read More...

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) launches transparency push

2011-01-20T17:13:00.000-05:00

The case for greater transparency got a push today, with the announcement that the Amsterdam-based Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), is launching a U.S. effort to guide more American corporations to adapt GRI's framework to disclose environmental, social and governance performance. Advocates make the case that increased transparency not only tends to boost profitability, but that such details are legally material to corporate financial statements.

Dubbed Focal Point USA, GRI's US initiative debuted today at a breakfast meeting at NYSE Euronext on Wall Street. Pointing out that only hundreds of tens of thousands of US companies strive to document their broader impact, GRI Chief Executive Ernst Ligteringen asked the 230 attendees, 'Why is America letting the world lead in sustainability reporting?" Click here to read more

Creating a Sustinable and Responsible Investment Portfolio

2011-01-15T10:11:00.000-05:00

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

The same can be said for Sustainable and Responsible Investing. Your portfolio can be a reflection of your values. In this article we will outline some ways in which an investor can customize an investment plan to reflect those views while retaining the potential for competitive returns...

Read More at The Daily Energy Report

Equity manager divests Cisco shares over human rights

2011-01-13T15:51:00.000-05:00

Boston Common Asset Management, the US-based sustainable asset manager, has dumped Cisco Systems’ shares over the Internet technology firm’s weak human rights risk management and poor response to investor concerns... Read more at Responsible Investor

U.S. Clean Power Sector Could Attract $342 Billion By 2020

2011-01-13T14:52:00.000-05:00

The United States could attract $342 billion in clean power project investments over the next decade, according to a report released today by The Pew Charitable Trusts. The U.S. is among the three G-20 members with the most to gain by implementing strong clean energy policies. Additionally, strong policies could better position the U.S. to compete more effectively for a share of the $2.3 trillion that could be invested globally in clean power projects over the next 10 years... Read More