GreenBiz: Starbucks, Green Mountain and McDonald’s Pour on Coffee Efforts
GreenBiz.com recently published a story on how companies with significant coffee interests are responding to the reality of climate change. Christina DesMarais writes: “Climate change poses challenges for many industries, but it’s particularly troublesome for the $81 billion global coffee industry, which relies on a fussy plant that likes temperatures to be within a band of about 19 to 25 degrees Celsius… When you think of the Smuckers brand, jams and jellies probably come to mind, but as of January coffee actually accounted for 47 percent of the J.M. Smucker Company’s sales. Dunkin’ Donuts, Folgers and Millstone are all Smuckers …
The Nation: Investors Lead Push for More Action on Climate Change
On April 6, 2014 The Nation published an article about the growing number of climate-related shareholder resolutions this season: “Motivated by mounting scientific evidence that human activity is a leading cause of climate change, major institutional investors are pushing for stronger action by companies in climate-related shareholder resolutions in the 2014 proxy season. The 35 institutional investors are led by Walden Asset Management, the New York State comptroller’s office, the California State teachers’ retirement system, Calvert Investments, the Connecticut Treasurer’s Office, Trillium Asset Management, Mercy Investments and Green Century capital management. They have filed 142 resolutions in a coordinated effort …
UN Report: Climate Change Impacting Entire Planet, Raising Risk of Hunger, Floods, Conflict
The effects of climate change are already occurring in all continents and across the oceans, and the world, for the most part, is ill-prepared for their risks, says a United Nations report issued on March 31, 2014, which also warns that while action can be taken, managing the phenomenon’s impacts will be difficult on a rapidly warming planet. The Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has detailed the impacts of climate change to date, the future risks from a changing climate, and the opportunities for effective action to reduce risks. You can read the entire report, …
Ceres: Shareholders Seeking Stronger Responses from Companies as Climate Change Concerns Deepen
Record high climate-related resolutions seek improvements on issues like greenhouse gas reductions, flaring cutbacks and increased sustainable palm oil sourcing March 7, 2014: Motivated by mounting scientific evidence that human activity is a leading cause of climate change; major institutional investors are pushing for stronger actions from companies in climate-related shareholder resolutions in the 2014 proxy season. Led by Walden Asset Management, the New York State Comptroller’s Office, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, Calvert Investments, the Connecticut Treasurer’s Office, Trillium Asset Management, Mercy Investments and Green Century Capital Management, 35 institutional investors have filed 142 resolutions in a coordinated …
Methane Emissions Report – EOG Resources, Inc. (2014)
Whereas: Public confidence in the environmental benefits of natural gas is threatened by evidence of high levels of methane leakage from the oil and gas industry in many regions. For example, a November 2013 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows the oil and gas sector in Oklahoma and Texas, where EOG has operations, may be emitting up to five times more methane than estimated. This study raises questions regarding the adequacy of current Environmental Protection Agency methods for measuring methane emissions. The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2012 report “Golden Rules for a Golden Age …
Dear Reader: Summer 2013
Matt Patsky, CFA, CEO, Trillium Asset Management In the past year or so, following Bill McKibben’s compelling Rolling Stone article, Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math, there has been a renewed focus on this issue of climate change in the Sustainable and Responsible Investing (SRI) industry. There is broad consensus that our planet is warming and that humans, through the burning of fossil fuels, are significant contributors. In 2009, 167 countries signed the Copenhagen Accord, agreeing that, in order to prevent catastrophic environmental damage, actions must be taken to prevent the temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius. It is …
Wide-Ranging Businesses Support President Obama’s Climate Plan
Boston, MA // June 25, 2013: A broad range of businesses and investors from across the country are offering strong support today for President Obama’s climate plan. The businesses are all signatories of the Climate Declaration, a statement calling on U.S. policymakers to capture the American economic opportunities of addressing climate change. The campaign, endorsed by major companies such as General Motors, Intel and Unilever, was launched this spring by the business network BICEP (Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy), which is coordinated by Ceres. “American business leaders have been clamoring for action on climate change through initiatives like …
Sustainability Report – Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide (2013)
RESOLVED: Shareholders request that the Board of Directors begin issuing an annual sustainability report (at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information) by October 2013. SUPPORTING STATEMENT Investors increasingly seek disclosure of companies’ social, environmental and governance (ESG) practices in the belief that they impact shareholder value. Many investors have concluded that companies which are good employers, environmental stewards, and corporate citizens, are more likely to generate stronger financial returns, better respond to emerging issues, and enjoy long-term business success. The United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment is an initiative whose members seek the integration of ESG factors into investment decision …
Smuckers – Coffee, Climate Change and Sustainable Sourcing (2012)
Whereas: Our company is one of the four largest coffee companies in the world. It provides industry leadership through brands such as Folgers not only in consumer expectations but also with regard to pricing. The coffee business is critically important for our company by providing approximately 40% of our company’s revenue. It is equally important to the well-being of 25 million coffee farming families worldwide. Climate change may present a number of important risks and opportunities for our company and these communities, as it impacts temperature, rainfall patterns, frequency of severe weather events, and disease vectors, among other effects, in …
Of Climate Change and Cost Curves
As communities around the globe strive to meet ever-increasing energy demand and produce sustainable jobs and investments, we are at a crossroads where we must either aggressively adopt non-fossil fuel energy sources or risk exceeding the 2°C temperature rise already expected from the cumulative buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Mainstream conventional wisdom holds that nuclear power must be embraced in the transition to a post fossil fuel future, and that solar and wind’s high costs and lack of scalability will consign their contributions to the margins. But as we discuss in this article, for reasons inextricably linked to …
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