Zurich pledges to focus 10 per cent of investments on delivering ‘positive impact’
Insurance group Zurich has revealed plans to plough around $100 million into companies and projects that have a positive environmental or social impact. It pledged to put up to 10 percent of its private equity investments into “impact investments” that either support the development of a low carbon economy or boost community resilience. The company said it would now work with fund managers to identify equity funds which directly address environmental and social responsibility issues, while also targeting financial returns. “Our vision is of a future in which we will have a much better understanding of the social and environmental impacts – both positive and negative – of the companies and assets in which we invest, allowing us to achieve positive impact and superior risk-adjusted returns,” said Urban Angehrn, chief investment officer for Zurich. “Our hope is to help make this approach more mainstream.” The firm also confirmed today it has so far invested $750 million in green bonds, moving it towards its target of $2 billion. (Business Green)
ShareAction calls on BusinessEurope to listen to investor concerns on climate lobbying
Responsible Investment NGO ShareAction has called on trade association BusinessEurope to take seriously the concerns raised by investors about its unhelpful lobbying on climate policy. In a letter to BusinessEurope’s President, ShareAction’s Chief Executive has challenged the trade association’s defence of their position on climate change and its assertion that concerns raised by institutional investors were “inaccurate and biased”. Earlier this month, ShareAction coordinated letters from a coalition of investors with £45 billion in assets under management to nine investee companies that are members of trade associations including BusinessEurope. In the letters, investors raised concerns about attempts by a number of trade associations to undermine legislation on EU climate change policy. The initiative was based on independent research by the Policy Studies Institute (PSI) at the University of Westminster. (Blue and Green Tomorrow)
Corporate Reputation
Volkswagen removed from Dow Jones Sustainability Index
German auto giant Volkswagen (VW) has been removed from the prestigious Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, following the diesel emissions cheating scandal in which it is still embroiled. Two weeks ago, VW was named automotive industry leader in the investor-focused sustainability indices. Index co-authors S&P Dow Jones and RobecoSAM commended Volkswagen’s work to integrate climate risks, resource scarcity, digitisation and social equity into corporate strategy and policy. Commenting on VW’s removal, the organisations stated that “potential problematic issues” relating to index members automatically trigger a “Media & Stakeholder Analysis” of the company. The cheating scandal jeopardises the future of the largest car company in the world and, according to commentators, reveals fundamental flaws in environmental standards for large companies. “I’m not surprised this happened,” said Henk Campher, executive vice president of social impact at public relations firm Allison+Partners. “It’s a lack of good regulation, of good systems and reliance on rankings and awards.” (Greenbiz; RobecoSAM)
Community Investment
Outdoor apparel brand United By Blue takes charge in ocean clean-up effort
Philadelphia-based outdoor lifestyle company United By Blue has been organizing waterway clean-ups since the company was founded in 2010, in Wilmington, Delaware. Earlier this month marked the company’s 140th clean-up, on target to collect 250,000lb of waste from beaches and waterways. In 2007, United By Blue founder Brian Linton started Sand Shack, a company that sold resort jewellery, and donated some of the revenue to non-profits focused on ocean and waterway conservation. “When I started the business in college, I figured the way to do good in business is to give money away,” Linton said. “The reality over the course of three years became that, it’s a good model for bigger businesses – and it’s a noble thing for anybody to do – but to me, it didn’t really have any tangible impact.” When Linton founded United By Blue, he decided to be the one contributing to the conservation efforts, and not with money, but with the company’s own manpower. The plan was to pick up a pound of trash for every product. And now, at about 220,000 products sold, United By Blue has more than stuck to its promise. (Guardian)
Energy
Italian firm Eni poised to begin Arctic oil quest as Shell quits Alaska
Italian oil giant Eni has vowed to press ahead with oil production in the Arctic by the end of the year, undeterred by Shell’s decision to abandon its quest for Arctic oil. As environmentalists celebrated Shell’s retreat from the Chukchi Sea this week, Eni is meanwhile making final preparations to a $5.5 billion project in the Norwegian Arctic. The Goliat project is set to become the world’s northernmost offshore oil field to come on stream, eventually pumping 100,000 barrels of oil per day from reserves believed to hold around 175 million barrels of oil and 8 billion cubic metres of gas. A spokesman for Eni said that work at Goliat is at its “final stage”. The project’s 64,000-tonne floating platform is already in place and its wells have been drilled, ready for imminent production. But Eni, one of Europe’s largest oil and gas companies, is still awaiting final approval from Norwegian authorities. (Guardian)
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