sustainability Archives

$4.8 trillion investor coalition backs first business and human rights benchmark

A coalition of over 80 institutional investors, with $4.8 trillion in assets under management, has pledged support for the creation of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark (CHRB) – the world’s first wide-scale benchmark on companies’ human rights policies, processes and …

European Responsible Investment Network is formed

A new Civil Society Organisation (CSO), the European Responsible Investment Network (ERIN), was launched last week at a conference in Berlin. The network is made up of 25 organisations from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the …

Shell has muted opposition to executive pay but Standard Life continues to raise auditor concerns

Royal Dutch Shell experienced a relatively modest level of investor opposition to its executive remuneration report at its recent AGM with a 14% vote against, this follows the rival oil company BP’s loss of its pay vote last month. However, …

AXA divests from tobacco companies

Insurer and investment company, AXA, has taken the decision to stop investing in tobacco companies, due to the public health risks of smoking.

AXA said that as a responsible investor and health insurer it had considered that increasingly healthcare was …

Swiss pensions funds could improve on responsible investment says new study

Environmental charity, WWF, together with Responsible Investment (RI) pressure group ShareAction, has carried out the first survey examining the RI approaches of the 20 largest Swiss pension funds. The study analysed how far pension funds invest their beneficiaries’ money sustainably …

Investors call for systematic climate-related risk reporting

A group of institutional investors has called on companies to assess and report their climate-related risks within their annual report to shareholders, in the interests of prudent and long-term capital stewardship.

The position paper has been signed by Natasha Landell-Mills, …

Oil company climate change reporting demand gains traction

Shareholder resolutions requesting reporting on how oil companies ExxonMobil and Chevron will adapt to climate change targets received record investor backing at their AGMs last week (25th May), according to US pressure group, Ceres.

The resolution that would have required …

UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission produces guidance for company boards

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has produced a guide for UK boards to ensure that they are taking human rights seriously and meeting their international obligations.

The guide provides five steps boards should follow to satisfy themselves that their …

Call on Vanguard to join others in responding to a low carbon economy future

Responsible investment advocacy group, ShareAction has called on US asset manager, Vanguard, to demonstrate its commitment to company engagement on climate issues by voting in favour of shareholder resolutions on climate risk at ExxonMobil and Chevron, in an open letter…

Index launched for investors seeking to divest from fossil fuels

The London Stock Exchange-owned FTSE Russell has launched the FTSE Divest-Invest index which will reduce investors exposure to fossil fuel companies while also increasing exposure within the index to companies engaged in the transition to a green economy.

FTSE Russell …