Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility News from 3BL Media- VSP Vision Care and Prevent Blindness Launch ‘Clicks for Kids’ to Enhance Access to Vision Screenings and Eye Exams for Head Start Children 16 October 2017
- Employee Engagement and the Sustainable Development Goals, November 2-3, 2017, at Inside Out 16 October 2017
- CSR Expert Alison DaSilva Shines a Light on Gen Z at Share.Like.Buy Conference 16 October 2017
- The Fair Trade Difference Campaign Launch 16 October 2017
- Nestlé USA Commits to Higher Standards of Welfare for Broiler Chickens by 2024 16 October 2017
Category Archives: Public Policy
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
Posted in Corporate Political Activity, Corporate Reporting, Corporate Sustainability, Human Rights, Public Policy, Uncategorized
Tagged As You Sow Foundation, Boston Common Asset Management, Conflict Minerals, Costco, Defend, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dodd-Frank, Domini Social Investments, due diligence, Extratives Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI), Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act), human rights, Institute for Human Rights in Business (IHRB), John Ruggie, Lowes, Massey Energy, mine safety, Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OECD), Protect, Remedy, Respect, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Social Investment Forum, Target, Trillium Asset Management, Wal-Mart, XBRL
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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
Posted in Climate Change, Corporate Sustainability, Human Rights, Public Policy, Sustainable Investing
Tagged Alden Meyer, Cancún, Cancún Accords, Christiana Figueres, Clean Development Mechanism, COP 16 Climate Summit, COP17, Copenhagen Accords, Copenhagen Climate Conference, Durban, Green Climate Fund, human rights, Kyoto Protocol, Patricia Espinosa, REDD+, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), South Africa, stakeholder engagement, sustainable development, sustainable forestry, Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), United Nations, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
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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
Posted in Corporate Governance, Corporate Sustainability, Interactive Technology, Media & Entertainment, Public Policy, Stakeholder Engagement
Tagged cablegate, Dodd-Frank, Federal Reserve, GovernanceMetrics International (GMI), integrated reporting, Julian Assange, media, Nell Minow, proxy access, Senator Bernie Sanders, transparency, whistleblower, WikiLeaks
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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
Posted in Climate Change, Public Policy, Sustainable Investing
Tagged Atlantic Wind Connection, Center for Sustainable enterprise and Regional Competitiveness (SERC), clean energy technology, COP 16 Climate Summit, Copenhagen Summit, Dan Reicher, EEOS, General Electric, Google, Google Earth Engine, Google PowerMeter, home energy management, ReChargeIT, Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, UMass Boston
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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
Posted in Human Rights, Investor Governance, Public Policy, Sustainable Investing
Tagged Adam Kanzer, Domini Social Investments, Eric Cohen, Fidelity, fiduciary duty, Franklin Templeton, genocide-free investing, Government Accountability Office, Investors Against Genocide, John Ruggie, JP Morgan, PetroChina, Protect, Remedy Framework, Respect, Sudan Accountability and Investment Act
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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
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
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
Posted in Corporate Governance, Corporate Political Activity, Corporate Reporting, Corporate Sustainability, Investor Governance, Proxy Voting, Public Policy
Tagged BP, Broc Romanek, Citizens United, Deepwater Horizon, Global Reporting Initiative, Halliburton, integrated reporting, Macondo, Mary Schapiro, Nell Minow, OpenSecrets.org, ProPublica, proxy plumbing, Sanford Lewis, SEC
2 Comments
Sustainable Prosperity and the American Dream
The TakeAway: What can the sustainability movement in the US do to address chronic unemployment and record levels of poverty? Sustainability hinges not only on environmental stewardship and social justice (the higher-profile defining aspects of the term), but also on … Continue reading
Sustainability News Roundup
The TakeAway: Sustainable finance, ForeclosureGate, and new leadership for Society of Corporate Secretaries offer challenges and hope. Ceres report on water shortage | The impact of water problems on the municipal bond market may seem boring, but tell that to … Continue reading
Posted in Corporate Governance, Corporate Political Activity, Proxy Voting, Public Policy
Tagged Alan Petrillo, Business Roundtable, Center for Responsive Politics, Ceres, ForeclosureGate, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, Ken Bertsch, Laura Berry, MSCI, OpenSecrets.org, predatory lending, proxy plumbing, Robo-Signers, Society of Corporate Secretaries & Governance Professionals, US Chamber of Commerce
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Say-on-Pay: A Bird’s Eye View
The TakeAway: New SEC rules on executive compensation advisory votes take steps toward broader board-shareholder engagement. On Monday afternoon, the SEC proposed rules for Say-on-Pay (shareholder advisory votes on executive compensation) and golden parachutes (big payouts to executives dismissed after … Continue reading
Who Pays the True Cost of Environmental Damage?
The TakeAway: Institutional investors need to assert their ownership power to offset environmental costs and push for sustainable companies and public policy. Despite the worldwide recession, the economic crisis isn’t the only cause of financial losses affecting innocent bystanders. There’s … Continue reading
Follow the (Corporate Campaign) Money
The TakeAway: Shareholder activists and researchers focus on corporate political donations, while more than 80 percent of S&P 500 companies fail to provide spending information “Follow the money” was a catchphrase of the 1976 movie All the President’s Men, the … Continue reading
Posted in Corporate Political Activity, Corporate Reporting, Media & Entertainment, Public Policy
Tagged All the President's Men, Center for Political Accountability, Citizens United, global warming, Green Century Capital Management, Heidi Welsh, Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC) Institute, Jon Lukomnik, Lance Lindblom, Laura Campos, Mindy Lubber, Nathan Cummings Foundation (NCF), News Corp, Occidental Petroleum, Proposition 23, Republican Governors Association, Robin Young, Rupert Murdoch, Sustainable Investments Institute (Si2), Tesoro, Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), US Chamber of Commerce, US Chamber of Commers, Valero, Watergate
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A New Actor Steps On To The Stage
By Bob Massie, Publisher, The Murninghan Post The TakeAway: A Brazilian Initiative – The Global Sustainability Forum – Signals New Leadership from an Emerging Power Last week in Rio de Janeiro, one of the leaders of international civil society, Oded … Continue reading
The Long Drive To Increase Fuel Efficiency and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The TakeAway: The Obama Administration proposes to increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards—perhaps to 62 miles per gallon by 2025. Despite Washington’s political gridlock, with cap and trade and climate change legislation on indefinite holds, late last week the … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Public Policy
Tagged cap and trade, Clean Air Act, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), Dan Becker, Department of Transportation (DOT), electric vehicles, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, hybrid electric vehicles, OPEC, Safe Climate Campaign
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Citizens United: The Aftermath
The TakeAway: This year’s Supreme Court decision in Citizens United opened the floodgates of money in politics, eroding public trust in government as well as shareholder value. “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!” the Marshal of the Court called out today, marking the … Continue reading
Posted in Corporate Governance, Public Policy
Tagged American Crossroads, American International Group (AIG), Bank of America, Business Roundtable, Center for Political Accountability, Citizens United, DISCLOSE Act (H.R. 5175), Fox News, Goldman Sachs, John Coates, JP Morgan Chase, Karl Rove, Lawrence Lessig, News Corp, OpenSecrets.org, OYEZ Project, political activity, political spending, proxy access, shareholder protection, Super PACs, Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), US Chamber of Commerce
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This Week’s Notable News and Recommended Reading
The TakeAway: We survey developments in fair labor and proxy access, and review Joe Nye’s book on the nature of leadership. After almost three months and more than 60 posts, we at The Murninghan Post realize there’s just too much … Continue reading
Power to the People: Mutual Funds and Corporate Reform
The TakeAway: Mutual funds continue to gain power and influence on corporate governance and accountability, which has yet to be fully tapped. Mutual funds are quietly emerging as a key tool for corporate reform, as they bridge populist power and … Continue reading
Corporate Obligation, Sustainable Development, and Human Rights
The TakeAway: A variety of efforts on policy and regulation work to assure a world economy that is more stable, inclusive, and sustainable, despite occasional setbacks. Last week’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Summit provided a glimpse into how far we’ve … Continue reading
The New Fiduciary: Stewardship and Sensibility
The TakeAway: Changes in financial regulations place new responsibilities on institutional investors, requiring new forms of engagement, education, and behavior. These days, financial and corporate governance reform advocates have concentrated a lot of attention on corporate boards, and for good … Continue reading
A Tale of 3 Cities: Key Events on the Sustainable Prosperity Agenda
The TakeAway: An overview of this week’s events on climate change, corporate governance, and fiduciary duty. It’s a busy week for sustainable prosperity, as people journey to New York City, San Diego, and Cambridge to share insights and forge solutions … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Corporate Governance, Public Policy, Stakeholder Engagement, Sustainable Investing
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Drawing Swords: The Battle Over Proxy Access
The TakeAway: As the Federal Register publishes proxy access rules, we survey arguments against shareholder rights. Earlier today, the Federal Register published new rules governing proxy access that will take effect November 15th. The proxy access rule, approved by the … Continue reading
State Law, Supply Chains, and the End of Slavery
The TakeAway: Pending California law seeks to end slavery and trafficking in business supply chains, part of a renewed broader trend of state-level action to address global sustainability and social justice issues. When thinking about corporate reform toward sustainability and … Continue reading
Posted in Corporate Sustainability, Human Rights, Public Policy
Tagged Alliance to Stop Slavery and End Trafficking (ASSET), California, California Catholic Conference, California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010, CalPERS, Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS), Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), Darrel Steinberg, David Schilling, Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), Forest Footprint Disclosure Project, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), human trafficking, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), John Ruggie, Julia Ormond, Julie Tanner, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), Responsible Cotton Network, slavery, supply chains, SweatFree Communities, Western Climate Initiative (WCI)
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Electoral Politics: We Get What They Pay For
The TakeAway: Three proposals to preserve the integrity of democracy from unlimited corporate political contributions. As angry voters flock to primaries in the first major vote since January’s Citizens United Supreme Court decision, the question of how corporate political contributions … Continue reading
Posted in Corporate Governance, Public Policy, Stakeholder Engagement
Tagged Arianna Huffington, corporate political speech, corporate political spending, David Gergen, institutional corruption, Lawrence Lessig, Lucian Bebchuk, Robert Jackson, Shareholder Protection Act
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NOTABLE PEOPLE: Bob Monks and the Battle to Change Corporate America
The TakeAway: Bob Monks believes new corporate governance reforms fall short, but digital tools can help advance accountability goals. Robert A.G. Monks has a long history of pioneering work on corporate accountability. From his tenure as first Department of Labor … Continue reading
Posted in Corporate Governance, Corporate Sustainability, Interactive Technology, Investor Governance, Notable People, Proxy Voting, Public Policy, Stakeholder Engagement, Sustainable Investing, Web 2.0
Tagged beneficial owners, Bob Monks, CalPERS, Corporate Governance, ERISA, institutional investors, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), interactive technology, LENS, Nell Minow, proxy access, Robert A.G. Monks, Roebuck, Sears, SEC, The Corporate Library, trustee
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