Most global investment companies and asset owners are actively integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into their investment policies according to a report tracking the progress of the Principles for Responsible Investment. More signatories of the PRI are also asking investee companies for standardised ESG reporting.
The goal of the survey was to assess the progress of the initiative (which was launched by Kofi Annan at the New York Stock Exchange in April 2006) and to drive learning by drawing out best practice examples from leading signatories. The PRI are a set of best practice voluntary guidelines for institutional investors to assist in the integration of environmental, social and corporate governance issues into investment management and ownership practices.
A list of British firms and investors in the Sudanese oil industry has been published by the Aegis Trust, a group focused on combating genocide around the world.
The list is aimed at exposing investors who make money from Sudanese oil, the royalties from which are alleged to fund ethnic cleansing in Darfur. Barclays is said to own more than £380m in shares in firms working in Sudan’s oil sector, via their investments in China. Petrofac and the Weir Group have been identified as working directly in the oil industry as engineering firms. More than 2 million people have been displaced by the conflict in Darfur, with estimates of fatalities ranging from 200,000 to 400,000.
ABN AMRO was made Sustainable Bank of the Year and ABN AMRO India Emerging Markets Sustainable Bank of the Year, on June 7, at the Financial Times Sustainable Banking Awards. The awards were created by the FT and the International Finance Corporation to recognise banks that have shown leadership in embedding social, environmental and governance into their operations.
Contact Aliki Varsamides Financial Times 020 7873 4109 www.ft.com
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