Author Archives: Marcy Murninghan

Tone at the Top: Rebooting Democracy’s Dialogue

The TakeAway: We must hold lawmakers accountable to high standards of statecraft, just as we hold ourselves accountable when engaging on ‘hot button’ issues such as corporate accountability, sustainability, and human rights. It was a high-minded day.  Following a Native … Continue reading

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Turning Points

The Takeaway: After 110 posts, we salute our supporters, celebrate our accomplishments, make some changes, and prepare for an even better 2011. On Wednesday, we published my 100th post, written since the first one – on free and fair corporate … Continue reading

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Climate Change-Makers

The TakeAway: While Federal climate change policy action sputters, state and local initiatives continue to offer opportunities for progress and engagement. Climate change has triggered long-standing power struggles in the US between federal and state rights reminiscent of Civil Rights … Continue reading

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Gaming for Good

The TakeAway: Game-based technologies can serve as powerful tools for advancing sustainability and civic engagement—while enabling us to become game creators, too. If you’re like many Americans, you spent part of your Christmas holiday playing with your Wii, Xbox360, PlayStation … Continue reading

Posted in Corporate Governance, Corporate Reporting, Media & Entertainment, Serious Games, Stakeholder Engagement, Sustainability Ratings | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Welcome Yule!

We’re taking tomorrow (Friday) off to enjoy the holidays with loved ones, but will be back on Monday.  In the meantime, we extend heartfelt Yuletide greetings to all of you, who have made this experiment so deeply satisfying. As the … Continue reading

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Controversial Compromise on Net Neutrality

The TakeAway: The FCC’s decision on “net neutrality” creates a double set of rules applying to fixed broadband and mobile broadband—with the public interest standard in question. The near decade-long struggle over “net neutrality” revolves around money, power, and access … Continue reading

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Extractives: Dirty Industries, Clean Standards

The TakeAway: New SEC proposals require ethical health, safety, and human rights due diligence by companies engaged in the extractive industries. Extractive industries are by definition a dirty business, but recent legislation and regulatory moves aim to clean them up … Continue reading

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Corporate Philanthropy and CSR: Private Initiative for the Public Good

Part Two of Two The TakeAway: Attitudes toward corporate philanthropy reflect continued ambivalence about consolidated wealth and how best to foster accountability and sustainable prosperity. Public suspicion – even scorn – of excess wealth and power is a sturdy American … Continue reading

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Corporate Philanthropy: Greenwash or Sustainable Solution?

Part One of Two The TakeAway: Corporate philanthropy, often criticized as mere PR or greenwash, has evolved strategically in ways that advance sustainable value creation. December, the “Big Ask” month for nonprofits, inundates individual and organizational inboxes alike – including … Continue reading

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Cancún Talks Bridge Trust Deficit

The TakeAway: COP16 climate talks accomplished more than expected, while restoring trust in the international process that can lead to stronger future measures. Despite media reports citing lowered expectations – and fear that Copenhagen’s dysfunctions would spill over to this … Continue reading

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Moving Beyond Modern Portfolio Theory

The TakeAway: Harvard’s Initiative for Responsible Investment works to build a “master narrative” for responsible investing, along with educational tools for improving trustee performance. Massive changes in financial regulations and ramped up activism – aided in part by interactive technology – make … Continue reading

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Radical Transparency: The Challenge to Sustainability and Democracy

The TakeAway: Reams of information released by WikiLeaks and the Federal Reserve challenge us to rethink our duties to promote sustainable accountability and representative democracy. Debates on the recent WikiLeaks / Federal Reserve data dumps concentrate on the supply side … Continue reading

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IT Leads ET, But Needs Public Policy and $$$

The TakeAway: Information technology leader Google advances energy technology development, but clean energy progress relies on smart policy and capital flows, too. “Google it.”  Over the past decade, the term has gone viral, as the name of the information technology  … Continue reading

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Divesting from Genocide: A Fiduciary Duty?

The TakeAway: Congressional hearing on ways to improve the Sudan Accountability & Investment Act proposes using the UN “Protect, Respect, Remedy” human rights framework to define fiduciary duty. The moral case for flexing investment muscle (from shareowner engagement to outright … Continue reading

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Business and Human Rights: The UN’s Roadmap

The TakeAway: The United Nations’ Draft “Guiding Principles” for Business and Human Rights helps governments, business, and civil society put the “Protect, Respect, Remedy” framework into practice. “There is no single silver bullet solution to the multi-faceted challenges of business … Continue reading

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The Role of Technology and Engagement in Integrated Reporting

Part Two of Two The TakeAway: Integrated reporting relies on new tools of technology and engagement in blending financial and sustainability disclosure – and practice. Harvard Business School Professor Bob Eccles designed last month’s consultation on integrated reporting, which gathered … Continue reading

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Integrated Reporting: The Future of Corporate Financial and Sustainability Disclosure

Part One of Two The TakeAway: New Harvard Business School eBook provides insights from first global conference on integrated reporting Last week, Harvard Business School published its first free eBook, featuring contributions by participants at the recent global consultation on … Continue reading

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The Urgency of Water Stewardship

The TakeAway: The Carbon Disclosure Project’s new Water Disclosure program establishes water risk management as an investor concern while helping companies gauge their “water footprint”. Water is to the world what blood is to our bodies: the vetturale di natura, … Continue reading

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Burma’s History of Freeing “The Lady”

The TakeAway: The release of Aung San Suu Kyi caps a long process of advocacy including state and local sanctions, shareholder activism, and consumer boycott campaigns. Saturday’s release of Burmese pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (fondly called “The … Continue reading

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The US Military: Partners in Sustainable Peace

The TakeAway: Climate change, clean energy, and humanitarian stability operations are mission-critical components of the Defense Department’s policy doctrine and operational stance. As we hailed our troops on Veterans Day, we should also salute the U.S. military for embracing sustainability. … Continue reading

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The $3 Trillion Socially Responsible Investing Market

The TakeAway: Nearly one out of every eight dollars professionally managed in the US employs sustainability criteria, according to the Social Investment Forum SRI Trends Report. As the US economy slumped into the worst recession since the ‘30s over the … Continue reading

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The Business Impact on Human Rights

The TakeAway: Social materiality gains traction as the role of business in advancing human rights attracts wider support. After years of neglect, companies now increasingly consider their impacts on human rights as material issues, with clear impacts on the bottom … Continue reading

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The Three I’s of Sustainability Reporting’s Future

The TakeAway: The Global Reporting Initiative leads sustainability disclosure into a new era through Integration, Implementation, and Integrity. Around the world, thousands of organizations rely on the GRI Reporting Framework and its multi-stakeholder approach to sustainability reporting covering the range of … Continue reading

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Sustainability News Roundup

The TakeAway: CalPERS to factor ESG issues in all its funds by mid-2011; GRI announces work on fourth generation reporting guidelines; and a BSR poll shows increased support for CSR/sustainability. Three developments this week demonstrate the rising acceptance of incorporating … Continue reading

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What Price Democracy?

The TakeAway: Big money bought many midterm elections, but a new Conference Board publication provides guidance on responsible corporate political spending. In a preview of what’s in store for 2012, political campaigners – including candidates, parties, and outside interest groups … Continue reading

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People Power

The TakeAway: The outcome of Tuesday’s elections will influence public policy on sustainability and financial reform, but individuals can still make a difference. Tomorrow’s elections are expected to yield gains for the Republicans in Congress, which could affect not only … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Corporate Governance, Corporate Political Activity, Corporate Sustainability, Proxy Voting, Public Policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sustainability News Roundup

The TakeAway: BP’s transparency, the power of proxy advisory firms, and uncontrolled campaign spending BP disaster: truth or “integrated spin”?  | Today’s New York Times and Wall Street Journal report that Halliburton knowingly supplied “unstable” cement to BP to seal … Continue reading

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Worker Co-op Model Migrates from Spain to Cleveland

The TakeAway: “The Cleveland Model” borrows from the highly successful Mondragón system of worker-owned cooperatives, adding sustainability practices. On Monday we asked for your thoughts about what the sustainability movement in the US could do to address chronic unemployment and … Continue reading

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Colleges Graded on Green

The TakeAway: The 2011 College Sustainability Report Card shows surges in energy efficiency and more on campuses, but less progress on endowment sustainability. Today, the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI) released its fifth College Sustainability Report Card, which annually rates and … Continue reading

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The Human Side of Sustainability

The TakeAway: Corporate sustainability thrives on authentic, ethical relationship management and communication skills, especially in digital environments. Progress happens when abstract sets of rules and laws meet real world human behavior.  Yet all too often, the former gets all the … Continue reading

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