ESG

Activist Investors File Rights Resolutions at US Prison Operators

January 16, 2019

Reuters reports that activist investors including the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility have filed shareholder resolutions at two US private prison operators seeking, in one case, to link executive pay to detainee treatment and, in the other case, to require annual reporting on the implementation of a human rights policy.
GRI Establishes Corporate Community on “Sustainability” Reporting

January 16, 2019

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has established a GRI Community that will serve as a collaborative network of corporations, nongovernmental organizations, and “sustainability leaders” to support “peer-to-peer learning” among businesses to advance reporting on their efforts to embed the UN Sustainable Development Goals in their operations.
EC Sets out Draft Rules on “Sustainable” Investment Advice

January 16, 2019

Earlier this month, the European Commission (EC) published draft rules, which will go into effect upon the EU’s adoption of financial disclosure provisions on social and environmental issues, setting out how financial companies should consider the UN’s “sustainable development” agenda when advising clients on their investments.
Academics Push for Social, Corporate Reform Alongside Climate Action

January 16, 2019

An article on the website Project Syndicate blames the global lack of action to combat climate change on voters’ increased focus on social issues, calling for the linkage of “social justice” reforms, including “reining in” corporate power and governance, with climate change to adequately address the environmental phenomenon.
Activists Turn to “Climate Liability” Strategy

January 16, 2019

An article on the website Climate Liability News asserts that the year 2018 saw an “explosion” across the world of lawsuits demanding corporate compensation for alleged contributions to global warming and government action to force energy companies to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, including by using arguments in favor of “rights” against climate change.
Canadian Lawmakers Seek Corporate Labor Reporting Mandate

January 15, 2019

Samantha Beattie reports that Canadian legislators have followed the trend of recent legislation in the UK and Australia by introducing a bill that would require businesses to file annual reports on steps they have taken to rid their global supply chains of forced labor.
Activists Eye “Attribution Science” as Climate Compensation Tool

January 11, 2019

Lawyer Stephanie Morton explains how campaigners on climate change are using an emerging field called “probabilistic event attribution science” to place various levels of blame on companies over their contributions to global warming with an eye to extracting resources from them to redistribute to alleged victims of their “climate impacts.”
EU Council Agrees Position on Financial ESG Reporting

January 11, 2019

The Council of the EU recently agreed to a common position on requiring financial companies to disclose how they are integrating “environmental, social and governance” (ESG) impacts into their investment decisions and creating new benchmarks aimed at producing more information on the “carbon footprint” of investment portfolios.
“Green New Deal” Plan Includes Vast Changes to Industry

January 09, 2019

Tom Elliott of Grabien examines the plan championed by newly elected House of Representatives Member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for a “Green New Deal,” which echoes the comprehensive UN Sustainable Development Goals in targeting a vast reorganization of American industry in pursuit of social and environmental goals.
UN, Partners Host Event on “Investment-Ready” Climate Projects

January 09, 2019

The UN Development Programme, the World Bank, and consulting company World Climate Ltd organized an inaugural “Investment Conference of Parties (COP)” at the recent UN climate summit in Poland pushing global and regional investors to fund projects aimed at combating the impacts of climate change.