SustainabilityHQ.com Weekly Highlights October 27, 2011

New Profiles Added to SHQ - USPPF

• Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS
• Nevada Public Employees Retirement System (NVPERS)
• Montana Public Employees Retirement Administration (MPERA)
• Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS)
• Employees Retirement System of Georgia (ERSGA)
• South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS)
• Employees Retirement System of Rhode Island (ERSRI)
• Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS)
• Indiana Public Employees Retirement Fund (PERF)
• Delaware Public Employees Retirement System (DPERS)
• Wyoming Retirement System
• The Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA)

ESG / Sustainability

Are You Ready for the ESG Reporting Revival? 
(Source: InsuranceNewsNet)  A few years ago, environment, social, and governance reporting was all the rage, as investors and activists clamored for more robust efforts in corporate social responsibility. Then the recession came along, and issues such as risk management and executive compensation pushed ESG reporting aside. Now that the dust has cleared, governance activists are once again becoming more vocal about how companies address environmental, social, and governance issues. And the case for responding to them with more comprehensive reporting on ESG and sustainability issues is growing.

Eurosif to reconsider market survey methodology  
(Source: Environmental Finance)  The European Social Investment Forum (Eurosif) is to reconsider the methodology that underpins its benchmark survey of the size of the European responsible investment market. The Brussels-based association has established a working group to “gather information and input” from its members on sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) integration practices. Associated Profiles : EU Social Investment Forum

Corporate Social Responsibility: a new definition, a new agenda for action  
(Source: IEWY News.com)  The European Commission’s new strategy on corporate social responsibility (CSR), part of a package of measures on responsible business (see IP/11/1238), aims to help enterprises achieve their full potential in terms of creating wealth, jobs and innovative solutions to the many challenges facing Europe’s society. It sets out how enterprises can benefit from CSR as well as contributing to society as a whole by taking greater steps to meet their social responsibility.

Commentary

Is the Occupy Movement a Call for Sustainability? 
(Source: CSRWire Talkback)  As an author and consultant to companies on CSR, I have been watching with growing interest as the Occupy demonstrations began and have spread from New York to more than 150 cities across the country and around the world. Using social media, I reached out to participants and what I found surprised me.  Associated Profiles : CSRwire

Voices from the Shale - Industry Losing Message War on Shale Gas – Meet in Houston Stat!
(Source:  Mike Benard, Featured Commentator, Accountability-Central.com)  It is an open secret:  The shale gas industry is in deep tapioca.  It is fast losing support in the important “court of public opinion.”  Not just in the USA but elsewhere as well.  France banned fracing; and challenges are rising across the world.  This loss of public support is acknowledged in conversations with legislators and gas industry executives.  Nowadays, the shale gas industry is being compared to the tobacco industry, the asbestos industry and the nuclear industry. Associated Profiles : Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc

Sovereign Wealth Funds

Gadhafi Had Billions Invested Overseas  (Source: Hispanic Business.com)  Moammar Gadhafi stashed away more than $200 billion outside of Libya during his 42-year reign, officials said Friday. Gadhafi and his family are believed to own stakes in such prominent western institutions as the Juventus soccer club in Italy and Pearson, the British company that publishes the Financial Times in London, the Los Angeles Times reported. While he was known to have acquired vast wealth, one person who has seen reports on his assets told the newspaper new estimates made since his ouster are "staggering."    Associated Profiles : Libyan Investment Authority

Alberta dumps millions in big tobacco shares  
(Source: CBC News)  Alberta is being lauded by anti-smoking and social investment groups for being the first province to dump its investments in the tobacco industry. The Alberta Investment Management Corp. has sold $17.5 million in directly managed stock held by public sector pension funds and the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund.  Associated Profiles : Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund

How China sees Britain: 'Sloth-inducing' labour laws and lavish welfare system fuels economic problems  
(Source: Daily Mail)  Britain's ‘sloth-inducing’ labour laws and lavish welfare system are at the root of the country’s economic malaise, a senior member of the Chinese government warned last night. Jin Liqun, chairman of the country’s vast sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation, said people in the West needed to ‘work a bit harder’ if they wanted to escape the recession.  Associated Profiles : China Investment Corporation

Asset Managers

BlackRock: Resource Nationalism Threatens Mine Investing 
(Source: NewsMax.com)  BlackRock Inc., the world's largest money manager, on Tuesday warned so-called resource nationalism was on the rise globally, threatening to undermine investment in sectors where governments were playing too heavy a hand. BlackRock's investment chief for natural resources Evy Hambro singled out the regimes of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela as extreme examples of government intervention, but also said Australia's move to introduce new taxes on mining companies was affecting sentiment.  Associated Profiles : BlackRock Investment Management

Swiss Banks to Reveal US Account Holders in Tax Probe  
(Source: Bloomberg)  Swiss banks will likely settle a sweeping U.S. probe of offshore tax evasion by paying billions of dollars and handing over names of thousands of Americans who have secret accounts, according to two people familiar with the matter. U.S. and Swiss officials are concluding negotiations on a civil settlement amid U.S. criminal probes of 11 financial institutions, including Credit Suisse Group AG, suspected of helping American clients hide money from the Internal Revenue Service, according to five people with knowledge of the talks who declined to speak publicly because they are confidential.  Associated Profiles : Credit Suisse Group AG