Big investors seek global standard for sustainability reporting
Sustainability advocacy group Ceres, in collaboration with BlackRock and other major institutional investors across the globe, has announced an initiative to engage global stock exchanges on a uniform standard for sustainability reporting, via the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). The group’s Investor Listing Standards Proposal includes specific recommendations for incorporating environmental and social disclosure requirements into listing rules for publicly-traded companies. The proposal was developed through consultation with over 100 institutional investors from six continents, including many of the world’s largest pension funds. It has been formally submitted to stock exchanges, and a comment period will now run for several months. “Cross border collaboration by stock exchanges will help shift public companies towards more comparable and meaningful disclosure of ESG (environmental, social and governance) risk factors,” said Gwen Le Berre, Vice President of Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment at BlackRock. “This will enable investors to more accurately value companies and make better informed investment decisions.” (CNW Group, Business Times)
Global organisations sign up to international water stewardship standard
Twenty-nine global organisations, including food companies Nestle and General Mills and NGOs WaterAid andWWF, have announced their commitment to the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standard, which aims to promote a global framework for sustainable use of freshwater resources. Launched today, the AWS Standard defines criteria for good water stewardship and has been designed to align with other sustainability initiatives and support independent certification. According to AWS, organisations can learn how to help protect shared resources and shape the future of water stewardship by signing up to the standard. General Mills vice president and chief sustainability officer Jerry Lynch said “as a global food company, water is critical to General Mills’ business. We have an interest and a responsibility to protect the quality and supply of water upon which our business depends, and actively look for ways to collaborate with others to benefit our growers, the community and the environment.” (Edie)
Responsible Business
Procter & Gamble bows to pressure on palm oil deforestation
Procter & Gamble has bowed to pressure from environmentalists and revealed a new, extensive no-deforestation policy in the production of its products, including demanding fully traceable palm oil from suppliers. A Greenpeace report earlier this year detailed links between the multinational company and palm oil suppliers in Indonesia which allegedly engaged in destructive deforestation, clearing of endangered animal habitat and potentially illegal forest fires. Responding to this, the multinational company said on Wednesday that by the end of 2015 it would ensure that the palm oil and palm kernel oil it sources is traceable to supplier mills. It also pledged to ensure no deforestation is involved anywhere along the supply chain by 2020. The new commitment goes further than the current industry goals set through the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which aims for 100% sustainable palm oil by 2015 – a target which P&G says it has met already. “Our aim is to develop effective long-term solutions to the complicated issue of palm oil sustainability,” said Len Sauers, P&G vice-president of global sustainability. “We are committed to driving positive change throughout the entire supply chain, not just for us, but for the industry and for the small farmers who depend on this crop.” (The Guardian)
Responsible Investment
Investors increasingly using shareholder power to create change
Activist investors are increasingly targeting more and bigger companies, to the benefit of both shareholders and the target companies, analysis from McKinsey has found. According to the research, US-listed companies targeted by activists in 2013 were worth, on average, $10 billion – an increase on $8 billion in 2012, and less than $2 billion at the end of the last decade. The findings suggest that shareholders are realising that they can have an impact on any of the companies they invest in, no matter how large. In addition to targeting larger businesses, activist investors are also launching more campaigns. In the past three years, 240 campaigns have been launched on average each year – more than double the number a decade ago. This could be linked to the success activists have experienced, encouraging more action. “Even though activists are a relatively small group they’ve enjoyed a higher rate of asset growth than hedge funds and attracted new partnerships with traditional investors”, McKinsey said. (Blue and Green Tomorrow)
Waste
By-product of coffee production turned into gluten-free ‘coffee flour’
Privately held patent owner Intellectual Ventures has announced the formation of a new venture, CF Global Holdings (CFG), to develop and manufacture ‘Coffee Flour’ – a new type of flour derived from coffee cherries. Coffee cherry pulp is a typically discarded byproduct of coffee production but CFG’s process dries and mills the coffee cherry pulp into Coffee Flour. CFG aims to improve the sustainability of coffee-growing communities around the world by enabling them to upcycle previously wasted material into an additional and sustainable source of revenue while reducing the environmental impact of coffee production. Coffee Flour’s inventor, CFG founder and CEO Dan Belliveau, worked closely with Intellectual Ventures over the past two years to develop the technical process of converting the coffee cherry pulp into nutritious, gluten-free flour. In addition to the environmental and nutritional benefits of Coffee Flour, CFG plans to share proceeds from its sale with the mills and farmers involved in its production, according to CFG co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Andy Fedak. (Sustainable Brands)
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