The BBC and telecoms group BT top a league table of the UK’s most responsible workplace pension schemes when it comes to keeping members informed about the companies and practices their money is financing, according to a report by charity, ShareAction. The report looked at how well, or badly, the biggest pension schemes measure the environmental and social impact of the shares that they invest in on behalf of their members. It also rated the schemes on how they deal with member concerns about the behaviour of the businesses they invest in, as well as how actively they use their shareholder voting rights and talk to companies about issues such as the environment. Catherine Howarth, ShareAction’s chief executive, said that, “the pension schemes we have ranked are among the UK’s most powerful investors, but our survey shows that only a few take that responsibility seriously.” (Guardian)
Policy
Major trade powers pledge free trade in green goods
The world’s biggest trading powers have committed to achieving global free trade in environmental goods, in a boost to the fight against climate change. The US, European Union, China, Japan and several other developed economies said the agreement would take effect once a critical mass of members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) participate. The WTO estimates the value of the global market in green goods, technologies and services, ranging from solar panels to wind turbines and water recycling plants, at around $1.4 trillion. A statement announced that “we are convinced that one of the most concrete, immediate contributions that the WTO and its members can make to protect our planet is to seek agreement to eliminate tariffs for goods that we all need to protect our environment and address climate change.” The announcement follows a dispute last year when the European Commission threatened to impose tariffs on imports of Chinese solar panels, which it argued were being sold below cost. (Thomson Reuters)
Sustainability Rankings
Asia-Pacific rises up sustainability rankings
The ‘Global 100’ list of the world’s most sustainable companies was announced last week, with the Sydney-headquartered financial services provider WestPac coming first in the ranking of corporate sustainability. Along with WestPac, several other firms from the Asia Pacific region figured in the index, such as Singaporean companies City Developments Limited and StarHub, and Japanese tech group Ricoh. A total of 18 companies from Asia Pacific were included in the listing, the same as the number from the United States. Among the Singapore representatives, Keppel Land Limited was the highest placed at 17th. Commenting on this, Doug Morrow, managing director of Corporate Knights, which publishes the ranking, said that, “this is the first time a Singapore company has done so well since the launch of the Global 100 in 2005. It goes to show there is a heightened awareness with regards to sustainability issues among Asian countries today.” (Eco-Business)
Environment
Fracking firms ‘should pay £6bn a year tax to compensate for climate change’
Shale frackers operating in Britain should be paying £6 billion a year in taxes by the middle of the 2020s to compensate for environmental damage, according to a study from Cambridge University. The government has made clear that drillers such as CuadrillaResources and IGas should provide “sweeteners” to local communities affected by their activities, but Chris Hope, a parliamentary adviser and reader in policy modelling at the Judge Business School in Cambridge, argues that shale gas producers should also pay for contributing to global warming. Hope says that even though there is uncertainty about various aspects of climate change, the social cost of burning oil and gas has been well assessed and is calculated at $100 per tonne of CO2 emitted. Hope says that the advantage of a tax of this nature is that companies engaged in future fracking would know from the start what extra cost they would be expected to bear and believes that it would determine whether it was worth using shale gas as a transitional fuel to a lower?carbon Britain. (Guardian)
Community Energy Strategy launched to help local renewables projects
The UK government has unveiled a £10 million fund set up to help communities generate their own power through shared ownership renewables projects. Communities in England will receive shares of the Urban Community Energy Fund to build solar parks and wind farms in an effort to generate local electricity, saving money and cutting carbon. The government’s ‘Community Energy Strategy’, announced plans to support community energy generation and other measures aimed at helping vulnerable customers and improve energy efficiency through community support. Energy secretary Ed Davey said that, “community led action, such as collective switching, gives people the power to bring down bills and encourage competition within the energy market.” Julia Groves, managing director of renewables investment platform Trillion Fund, said that, “through buying shares or bonds in renewables projects, people can become the owners of their own clean power generation and have a financial interest in its success.” (Blue&GreenTomorrow)
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