Time to stand up for baby boomers! OK. I confess. I am one. (Though right from the end of the boom. I don’t have to use wrinkle cream. Well, not yet). The point is that we baby boomers are being constantly maligned. They say: “You didn’t live through post war austerity like your parents.” Then they attack from the other end: “And you’ve snaffled all the money. By the time we’ve paid for your elder care there won’t be anything left to hand on to your kids!”
But hey! Look! The baby-boomer in chief, aka Tony Blair, defined himself as “a straight sort of guy”. But all the baby boomers are straight sort of guys (and gals too) or at least that is what UKSIF implies. It suggests that we will be using our extra ISA allowances to invest in green and ethical funds because “the desire to make a positive impact is highest among older investors”.
So the answer to Sarah Palin’s question: “’How’s that hopey, changey stuff working out?’”, would seem to be not too well on US healthcare reform but just fine with us baby boomers and our ethical investments.
The only snag is this. There does seem to be a bit of a question in the air about shareholder power period. If the UK government that owns over 80% of RBS can’t stop bonuses being paid to bankers, the pantomime villains de nos jours, how can a mere £5.6 billion in ethical investment funds transform business?
Peter is an associate director at Corporate Citizenship. Email him on peter.truesdale@corporate-citizenship.com to discuss reporting, assurance and external standards.
In UK first, pension scheme members mass mobilized over oil sands resolutions
On 22 February FairPensions, with the support of The Co-operative, launched an innovative new internet tool which, for the first time, enables individuals to contact their pension providers requesting that they back the oil sands resolutions which were filed by a large coalition. The resolutions call upon BP and Shell to report on the investment risks associated with oil sands projects and their plans to address them, citing greenhouse gas emissions, environmental damage and impacts upon indigenous communities. Organisations who will be mobilising members and supporters include The Co-operative, Greenpeace, WWF, Platform, UNISON and PCS. Contact: FairPensions www.fairpensions.org
Investors say companies vague on water-scarcity risk
According to a report published on 11 February by CERES, a Boston-based coalition of investors with $8 trillion under management, companies in water-intensive industries including utilities and computer-chip makers are not providing enough information about the potential business risks of falling water supplies. In a review of 100 companies only 6 disclosed water-risk or performance data in financial filings. Company data is often ‘boilerplate and vague’, said Brooke Barton, a senior manager of the CERES water program and lead author of the report. Contact: CERES www.ceres.org
Applications to Social Investment Business total £500m in the past year
Social Investment Business, the organisation which manages the government funds Futurebuilders England, Communitybuilders, the Social Enterprise Investment Fund and the Modernisation Fund, in February reported receiving more than 3,000 applications for investments totalling over £500 million in the past 12 months. Jonathan Lewis, chief executive of Social Investment Business, said the high demand for funding had proved there was a need for more social investment in the voluntary sector. Contact: Social Investment Business www.socialinvestmentbusiness.org
Investors step up pressure on CSR reporting
On 12 February a coalition of global investors from 13 countries, managing over US$2.1 trillion of assets, added its voice to the increasing calls for better corporate reporting on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) activities. The investor coalition known as Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) has written to 86 major companies urging them to honour the reporting requirements of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s biggest voluntary corporate responsibility initiative. Each of the 86 ‘laggard’ companies has previously joined the UN initiative but failed to produce the mandatory annual report on how it puts the initiative’s ten principles into action. Contact: Principles for Responsible Investment www.unpri.org
Investors grasp chance to back green and ethical funds
The Investment Management Association’s (IMA) quarterly statistics issued on 11 February 2010 show that Quarter 4 sales of ethical funds were the highest since Quarter 4 2007. Commenting on the IMA statistics, Penny Shepherd MBE, chief executive of UKSIF, the Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, said: ‘Increasing numbers of investors want to make money and make a difference. As we gradually move out of recession, it is vital that people carefully consider the impact of their investments to help build a sustainable economic recovery. One simple way to make a difference is to consider green and ethical funds as part of your ISA.’ Contact: Investment Management Association and the Sustainable Investment and Finance Association www.uksif.org http://www.investmentuk.org/
Top organisations unite to support global oath initiative
On 1 March the Oath Project, the United Nations Global Compact, and the Principles for Responsible Management Education today announced an alliance to support the cause of a professional oath of honor for managers worldwide. The oath itself is the result of global, multi-stakeholder process. It is designed to inspire individuals to the high standard of business as a profession. The Oath Project was first announced in conjunction with the launch of the Global Business Oath, an initiative of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders. Contact: UN Global Compact www.unglobalcompact.org
Time for next stage of sustainable business
In March, Ceres (the US network of investors, environmental organizations and other public interest groups) released report entitled ‘21st Century Corporation: The Ceres Roadmap to Sustainability’. The report spells out 20 practices it believes investors and consumers will come to expect from companies by 2020. One of the report’s suggestions is that corporate America needs to track its use of energy and resources as closely as it does its hiring and cash flow if it wants to keep pace with social concern about climate change and other sustainability issues, and that a more comprehensive disclosure in this regard will be paramount. ‘It’s time for a new generation of best practices and new expectations of what sustainability is,’ said Mindy Lubber, president of the group. Contact: Ceres www.ceres.org
MPs call for Parliamentary pension fund to take a stand on tar sands
On 11 March, a cross-party group of MPs published an Early Day Motion highlighting their concerns regarding the financial, environmental and social risks associated with investments in Canada’s tar sands. The motion calls on the MPs’ pension fund to vote in favour of shareholder resolutions requiring BP and Shell to report on the investment risks associated with their tar sands projects. The resolutions, coordinated by FairPensions, were filed by a coalition of institutional and individual investors including The Co-operative, who are concerned that oil companies may not be properly accounting for future carbon costs, high operational costs, environmental clean up costs and the risk of litigation as a result of impacts on indigenous communities. Contact: House of Commons www.parliment.uk
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