SustainabilityHQ Weekly Highlights - April 14, 2011

Business leaders and managers are being challenged by the rising expectations of stockholders and stakeholder with regard to the corporate performance in the areas of ESG (environmental, social issue and governance) performance.  Peers and competitors are increasingly setting the pace for industries and sectors as they create and implement sustainability and corporate responsibility strategies and actions.

Who cares about this?  Asset owners and asset managers looking at investments through the ESG/Sustainability lens.  And third party stakeholders who are setting the pace in ESG research, standard setting (for industries), media, issue advocates…and others watching the corporate sector.

Our team is watching the watchers for you.  We bring you news, commentary and research in key areas of interest for both investors and asset managers -- and for corporate boards, executives and managers.  As Sustainability and ESG frameworks are adopted by more investors, the capital markets are determining winners, laggards and losers.   Track the trends, the news, updates, the important developments – make Sustainability HQ™ your headquarters for ESG knowledge management.

ESG / Sustainability

UN-HABITAT sees cities as biggest environment polluters  
(Source: Xinhauet.com) The world's cities which now collectively accommodate half of the world's population account for 70 percent of the green house gases (GHG) released into the world's atmosphere. Joan Clos, the Executive Director of the UN-HABITAT said that what goes on in cities and how they manage their impact on environment, lies at the core of the problem. "Cities are where most of the pollution emanates from because of the high concentration of people as well as high level of economic activity," Clos said on Monday during the launch of a global report on human settlements for 2011 which details the role of world cities on Climate Change.  Associated Profiles : Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC

UN Principles for Responsible Investment to look at fixed income ESG integration  
(Source: Responsible Investor)  The 882-member $25trn United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) is looking at how to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into fixed income. It says a “work stream” is currently being established to explore ESG integration in areas such as sovereign, municipal and corporate bonds. “This will include analysis of how investors can engage with issuers on responsible investment-related topics and use fixed income to promote improved ESG performance,” the PRI says in a new strategy document. A steering committee will be formed by mid-2011 ahead of a dedicated fixed income session at the PRI in Person event in September.  Associated Profiles : UN - Principles for Responsible Investing PRI

One Year after the Spill, BP Facing Investor Frustration Over Lack of Disclosure on Risk Management
(Source: Christian Brother Financial) On the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, an international coalition of leading socially responsible investors, led in the US by Christian Brothers Investment Services, Inc. (CBIS) and the MMA Praxis Mutual Funds, recommended to vote against or abstain from the BP accounts and reports and members of BP's Safety, Ethics and Environmental Assurance Committee (SEEAC) at the company's upcoming annual meeting. Associated Profiles: Ceres

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