Responding to Pressure, General Mills Strengthens Palm Oil Commitment
APRIL 8, 2014 // BOSTON, MA: Responding to growing consumer and investor concern about the risks associated with palm oil production, General Mills (NYSE: GIS) became the latest company to pledge that it will not purchase palm oil that is linked to rampant destruction of the rainforest and carbon emissions. In its revised palm oil sourcing commitment, General Mills announced that it will only source from suppliers that can trace their palm oil back to operations verified as not contributing to deforestation or peatland development, activities which destroy the habitats for endangered species and drive climate change. Trillium Asset Management …
Investors Urge President Obama and EPA Administrator McCarthy to Take Steps to Protect Bristol Bay Region of Alaska
On February 24, 2014, a coalition of concerned investors, lead by Trillium Asset Management and Calvert Investment Management, sent a letter to President Obama and U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) Administrator McCarthy urging the EPA to initiate a Clean Water Act 404(c) process to provide long term protection for the Bristol Bay region of Alaska. In January 2014, the EPA released its final assessment of Potential Mining Impacts on Salmon Ecosystems of Bristol Bay, Alaska which states that large scale mining such as the proposed Pebble Mine has “potential for significant effects on Alaska Native cultures” and “the significant loss …
Motley Fool: Are Coal and Oil Stocks Sub-Prime Investments?
Motley Fool recently published an article about the growing fossil fuel divestment movement. Sara Murphy writes: “…A growing chorus of voices is urging investors to rethink carbon assets on corporate balance sheets. Indeed, a coalition of investors just released a guide on how to eliminate carbon from your portfolio, and reinvest that money in other strategies. Co-authors 350.org, Green Century Funds, and Trillium Asset Management are involved in a movement that is gaining traction…” You can read the entire article, and watch the video, here. …
Sasol Heeds Community's Call for Environmental Justice in Mossville, LA
Chemical company commits to introduce voluntary property purchase program for residents impacted by plant expansion plans. New York, NY – Thursday, July 25, 2013: Members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) and Sasol shareholders commend the company for its rapid and comprehensive response to appeals to work with the community of Mossville as it plans the expansion of its ethane cracker and gas-to-liquid (GTL) facility at Westlake. Last year Sasol, a South Africa-based energy and chemical company with extensive operations in North America, surprised community members by announcing a $21 billion expansion of its chemical plant next door …
Sierra Club Foundation: Why We Choose SRI
Ginny Quick, Chief Financial Officer The Sierra Club Foundation Investing For a Better World: Spring 2013 The Sierra Club Foundation is a public 501(c)(3) charity whose mission is to help educate, inspire, and empower humanity to preserve the natural and human environment. We achieve this mission by raising funds for tax-exempt charitable purposes and by managing these funds so that future generations will inherit a healthy planet with wild places left to explore. The Sierra Club Foundation does not manage its own programs, but rather provides financial support for programs that protect and restore the environment, primarily by serving as …
Fugitive Methane Shareholder Proposals Receive Strong Support from Investors
Spectra Energy, Oneok, and Range Resources shareholders call for greater transparency into the environmental profile of natural gas; Range responds with an aggressive attack on shareholder rights. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 23, 2013: A series of strong shareholder votes have sent a clear message that natural gas companies must do much more to address fugitive methane leakage and management. Shareholder proposals asking Houston-based Spectra Energy (NYSE: SE), Tulsa-based Oneok (NYSE: OKE), and Fort Worth-based Range Resources (NYSE: RRC) to issue reports on how they are managing high-climate-change-impact methane emissions have received favorable votes from company shareholders: 35.4%, 38.2%, and 21.7% …
Bloomberg: Investors Demand Climate-Risk Disclosure in 2013 Proxies
According to Ernst & Young LLP, more than 40% of shareholder resolutions submitted in 2012 deal with environmental and social issues. The environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, continues to receive increasing attention from shareholders. Avery Fellow, of Bloomberg BNA, writes: “Shareholders are filing resolutions asking companies to disclose physical risks posed by climate change for the first time this proxy season, according to representatives of sustainable investor groups. Shareholders also are continuing to file an increasing number of sustainability related resolutions asking companies to set greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, publish sustainability reports, pursue energy efficiency, and disclose …
NY Times: Chevron Aims at an Activist Shareholder
New York Times business writer Gretchen Morgenson has written a column regarding Trillium’s shareholder engagement with Chevron Corporation, and the subpoena we recently received from the oil company related to its nearly 20-year legal battle with indigenous populations in the Amazon rainforest. The long-running court case alleges that Texaco, which merged with Chevron 10 years ago, destroyed huge tracts of the rainforest by dumping billions of gallons of oil waste products over several decades. Morgenson writes: “Public corporations routinely tell shareholders that their views matter. The Chevron Corporation, for example, said in its 2012 proxy statement: ‘Your board welcomes dialogue …
Heinz Discloses its Supply Chain Impact on Deforestation
Trillium has been in dialogue with Heinz (NYSE: HNZ), one of the world’s largest consumer products companies, asking the company to complete a Forest Footprint Disclosure, which would describe how Heinz is assessing the company’s supply chain impact on deforestation and the company’s plans to mitigate these risks. Commodities, including palm oil, soy, beef, sugar and paper, are used in a variety of Heinz products and have been significant contributors to global deforestation. Earlier this year, Heinz – whose brands also include Ore-Ida and T.G.I. Friday’s – committed to publish a Forest Footprint Disclosure in exchange for the withdrawal of …
Smucker’s Responds to Shareholder Concerns Regarding Climate-Related Risks to its Folgers™ Coffee Brand and to Farmers in its Supply Chain
August 7, 2012 – BETHESDA, MD and BOSTON, MA: In recognition of Smucker’s [NYSE: SJM] positive first steps to respond to climate-related risks, Trillium Asset Management, LLC (Trillium) and Calvert Investment Management, Inc. (Calvert) announced today that they have formally withdrawn a shareholder proposal which called on the company to disclose climate-related risks to the Folgers™ Coffee and other brands. These brands currently represent over 40 percent of Smucker’s overall revenues and a significant portion of the company’s recent growth. The 2012 Trillium/Calvert shareholder proposal specifically requested that within six months of the company’s 2012 annual meeting, it provide a …
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