"What’s New in
Sustainability?" Several new and significant developments through the month of March that increase attention on Environmental Governance:
Upcoming Webinar: Environmental Governance – How and why the markets are measuring corporate social responsibility? – April 29, 2009 25% discount when you mention Wallace Partners Recent Publication: Modern Due Diligence: Opportunities and Challenges in the Green Economy – American Bar Association (ABA) Environmental Disclosure Newsletter, March 2009 Preparing for the CDP: May 31 is the deadline for companies to respond to this year’s Carbon Disclosure Project’s Information Request, which was sent to over 3000 companies worldwide. “Reaching Investors:
Communicating value The report, which was written following extensive consultation with the finance industry, was launched by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) at an event hosted by Bloomberg in New York City on March 25, 2009. Sean Gilbert, Sustainability Reporting Framework Director at GRI said:
The report entitled, Reaching Investors: Communicating Value through ESG Disclosure, examines how companies can frame their ESG disclosure to engage conventional investors. Insurers Required to Disclose Climate Change Risk Exposure On March 18, 2009, the National Association for Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) announced the first global mandatory climate risk disclosure requirement. To meet the new NAIC requirement, insurers must assess the climate risk of the companies they insure. They must also report on how they are altering their risk management in light of the challenges posed by climate change, and on the steps they are taking to engage and educate policymakers and customers on the risks of climate change. (Insurers manage $16 trillion in assets globally.) The NAIC acted after concluding that climate change threatens insurers in two ways:
CERES, who is backed by large institutional investors such as CalPERS, declared the NAIC to be a huge victory, the “culmination of over two years of intensive advocacy”. "From Risk to Opportunity 2008: Insurer Responses to Climate Change" In March, CERES also released a report which chronicles ways in which
insurers are embracing a more sophisticated approach to the issue of climate
risk -- increasingly recognizing it as one of enterprise risk management, cutting across the domains
of underwriting, asset management, and corporate governance. CorporateRegister.com’s 2008 Global Reporting Awards CorporateRegister.com announced the recipients of its 2008 Global Reporting Awards at a gala in London on March 27, 2009. The recipients, who were recognized by users of CorporateRegister.com, included Bayer, Dell, Lego, Coca Cola and many others. Comprehensive list of GRI Reporters The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has made its reports from 1999-2009 publicly available, increasing the ease in which stakeholders can conduct due diligence on ESG issues. The GRI List can be sorted by organization, country, region, adherence level and sector. In addition, the GRI released its list of new reporters for 2008 and 2009. Corporations Join Emerging Climate Change Coalition The four-month-old company-led coalition Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP) has added the following new members: Gap Inc., eBay and Symantec. BICEP’s founding members include Levi Strauss & Co., Nike, Sun Microsystems, Starbucks and The Timberland Co. The New York Times is reporting that BICEP is lobbying for Congress to pass by year's end a mandatory, economy-wide cap-and-trade program to slash U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. S&P Examines Corporate Carbon Efficiency Standard & Poor’s has launched a low carbon version of the S&P 500. The S&P US Carbon Efficient Index will track around 350 companies chosen for their carbon efficiency. The index is partially based on carbon scores and partly on rules designed to ensure the new index tracks the S&P 500 as closely as possible. New Sustainability Index Announced: TSI The non-profit Center for Sustainable Innovation (CSI) announced today the release of a new model for measuring and reporting corporate sustainability performance. Referred to as the True Sustainability Index(TM) (TSI), CSI's model consists of only 15 indicators that sustainability managers can use to assess the full triple bottom line performance of organizations. The TSI will become another resource for stakeholders, such as investors, customers, employees, and activists, to understand, rate and rank the sustainability performance of organizations. 100 Best Corporate Citizens List The CRO, in partnership with Forbes, released its tenth annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens List based on companies in the Russell 1000 index. CRO described selected companies as those who are “doing all they can to bring their shareholders more value and make sure they are running places where employees are proud to work”. CRO added that “with the nation and world in the depths of recession, companies are trying harder than ever to become more efficient, and have the right current policies for a healthy, prosperous future”. Environment and Energy Awards The Aspen Institute announced the winners of the second annual Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Awards, which will be presented at a special ceremony on March 27, 2009, during the Aspen Environment Forum. The Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Awards recognize and reward excellence for those making a real contribution to innovation, implementation, and communication of energy and environmental solutions. Winners range from world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart to a start-up, A123 Systems. “Companies That Care” Honor Roll The Companies That Care Honor Roll released its latest Honor Roll that publicly recognizes and celebrates “all organizations that prize employees and are committed to community service”. U.S. EPA Proposes National Carbon Reporting System The Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a national system for reporting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by major emitters – a national carbon registry. The registry, which was originally proposed in a 2007 energy bill and is funded in U.S. President Barack Obama's> 2010 Budget outline, would lay the foundation for regulation of carbon and other greenhouses gases thought to contribute to global warming. Global Spread of “Green” Stimulus The Financial Times, in an interactive chart, has summarized the percentage of dollars allocated to “green” initiatives for the leading stimulus packages. The leading countries, in terms of amounts of dedicated “green” funds in their stimulus packages, are:
The proposed round of government spending in economies across the world represents a variety of opportunities for companies who approach the stimulus packages strategically. Wallace Partners is actively speaking on environmental governance and sustainability in the coming months. We invite you to join us at the following upcoming events:
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