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 …
Highlander Research and Education Center: Fostering Democracy for Generations to Come
By Pam McMichael, Executive Director, Highlander Center “Highlander has been an anchor for almost every major social justice movement in this country. From labor rights to civil rights, from environmental justice to immigrant justice, Highlander has been at the forefront of social justice work for 75 years.” – The Honorable John Lewis, United States Representative The Highlander Research and Education Center serves as a beacon for progressive community organizing and grassroots leadership development — across race and generations. We work with communities in the South and across the nation to connect people, and develop skills and organizing strategies to increase …
Stephanie Leighton Testifies at MA State House in Favor of Environmental Infrastructure Bonds
On September 18, 2013, Stephanie Leighton, CFA testified at the Massachusetts State House in favor of House Bill 3332: “An Act Providing for the Preservation and Improvement of Land, Parks and Clean Energy in the Commonwealth”. Stephanie’s testimony is below: “Representative Gobi, Senator Pacheco and members of the committee: Good afternoon and thank you for giving me the opportunity to address the Committee today. My name is Stephanie Leighton. I am a Senior Vice President and portfolio manager at Trillium Asset Management, the oldest investment advisor devoted exclusively to sustainable and responsible investing. Trillium is based here in Boston and …
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 …
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% …
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 …
Investors Ask EPA to Reconsider Emissions Standards for PVC Industry
Trillium Asset Management was one of seventeen investors, with a combined total of more than $9.8 billion assets under management, who recently wrote to Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency urging her to reconsider the final rules that will set national emission standards for the PVC industry. The letter states, in part: “As long term investors of diversified portfolios we believe strong and consistent protections of public health and welfare are essential to long term economic growth, and in turn the prospects of companies in our portfolios…In 2011 and in 2012 investors held informative dialogues with EPA …
Producer Responsibility for Packaging – Proctor & Gamble (2012)
WHEREAS product packaging is a significant consumer of natural resources and energy, and a major source of waste and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. More than half of U.S. product packaging –37 million tons – is discarded in landfills or burned rather than recycled. Packaging debris migrates to oceans where it damages fisheries, tourism and marine life. Paper and packaging comprise 43% of U.S. landfill waste. Nestle Waters North America says plastic bottles are the largest contributor to its carbon foot print; Coca-Cola Co. reports packaging is the largest part of the carbon footprint of several products. A recent analysis of …
Tessa Tennant, Sustainable Investing Pioneer on Several Continents, Wins Annual Joan Bavaria Award
Tessa Tennant, President and co-founder of The Ice Organisation, has been awarded the fourth-annual Joan Bavaria Award for Building Sustainability into the Capital Markets. The announcement was made at Tuesday’s opening reception of the Ceres annual conference, which runs April 25-26 at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel in Boston, MA. “I can’t think of anyone more deserving to win this year’s Bavaria Award,” said Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres. “Tessa is an inspirational leader who has worked tirelessly for more than 20 years integrating environmental and social concerns into investing and business decisions. She has taken Joan Bavaria’s original vision …
2011 Proxy Season Wrap-up
In August, we bade farewell to the 2010–2011 “proxy season,” the inside lingo for the annual cycle of filing resolutions, negotiating their withdrawal, and getting out the vote for the remainder that will appear on the spring proxy ballots. “A good portion of our dialogues and resolutions resulted in agreements with companies to improve policies and provide more transparency,” said Matt Patsky, CEO of Trillium. “Both are helpful in assessing the environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and their financial impact on shareholders.” Trillium’s ESG engagements addressed a wide range of concerns in 2011, including climate change and fossil fuel …
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