SustainabilityHQ.com Weekly Highlights September 8, 2011

Newly Added ESG / Sustainability Profiles*

• European Centre for Corporate Engagement
• Conservation International
• Verdantix
• Sustainability Consortium (TSC)
• MSCI Group (NYSE: MDX)
• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
• Western Institute for Food Safety and Security
• CropLife International
• NGOWatch
• BeCitizen
• Trust Across America 
• Earth Open Source
• Bundesamt für verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit – The Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (Germany)

ESG / Sustainability

SAM and Dow Jones Indexes announce 2011 results of Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes Annual Review  
(Source: SAM/Dow Jones)  SAM, the Swiss-based investment boutique focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing, and Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced the 2011 results of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) annual review.  Following SAM’s comprehensive Corporate Sustainability Assessment, 41 companies will be added to, and 23 firms will be deleted from the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World), resulting in a total of 342 components. Associated Profiles : Dow Jones Sustainability Index, SAM Group

Global Renewable Capacity Has Now Exceeded Nuclear  
(Source: International Business Times)  The world has now breached a tipping point of some significance. According to Phyllis Cuttino, Director of the Clean Energy Program at The Pew Charitable Trusts, and Michael Liebreich, CEO of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the worldwide installed capacity of renewable energy has now surpassed that of nuclear power. Writing for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the pair note that with increased investment in renewable energy over the last year, the world now has more renewable energy capacity in place than nuclear power.  Associated Profiles : Bloomberg New Energy Finance

Commentary

Proxy Access: What Now, With Ban to be Lifted?   
(Source:  James McRitchie, CorpGov.net) The SEC will not challenge the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, No. 10-1305, which struck down the agency’s rule to make it easier for shareowners to nominate directors to corporate boards. (see SEC Fails to Appeal on Proxy Access, 9/6/2011 and Statement by SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro on Proxy Access Litigation) That leaves Rule 14a-8(i)(8), which wasn’t challenged. I have a few recommendations for the path forward. According to the statement by Schapiro...

Packing Heat
 (Source: The American Spectator) The theory that human activity is causing potentially catastrophic global warming is not science. It is politics, driven by special interests with ideological, political and economic stakes in the theory. For environmentalists, global warming corresponds with the authoritarian goal at the core of their movement: repeal of the industrial revolution (which President Obama's EPA has begun to implement). For governments, it presents an opportunity to vastly expand their power and control through taxes, regulation and bureaucracy. Associated Profiles : Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)

Research/Reports

Ceres Report: Insurers Slow to Recognize Climate Change Threat to Their Business Models and Larger Economy
 (Source: Ceres)  Only 11 of 88 major insurers surveyed recently have formal policies in place to deal with growing climate change risks, according to a major new report issued today by Ceres.  The report was to have been delivered today at a conference of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) that was cancelled due to Hurricane Irene. The new report, “Climate Risk Disclosure by Insurers: Evaluating Insurer Responses to the NAIC Climate Disclosure Survey,” analyzes what 88 leading U.S. insurers are saying about climate change in public filings with state insurance commissioners - and the extent to which they’re factoring it into their business models. The report is the first attempt to analyze responses by insurers to a mandatory 2010 survey. The disclosures were filed with insurance regulators in six states: New York, New Jersey, California, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington.  Associated Profiles : Ceres

Sovereign Wealth Funds

Aust Super funds outpace overseas rivals
(Source: Sky News.com)  Australia's major institutional superannuation funds grew at more than double the pace of their global peers last year, new research finds. Australian funds under management grew by 26 per cent in 2010 in US dollar terms compared to a global growth rate of 11 per cent, global consultants Towers Watson and US investment newspaper Pension Investments found.  Associated Profiles : Future Fund (Australia)

France unblocks Libya cash, NTC denies oil deal  
(Source: Reuters)  France said on Thursday it had U.N. approval to release 1.5 billion euros ($2.16 billion) of Libyan assets to help rebuild the country, and the interim ruling council denied a report of an oil deal with Paris. Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told RTL radio that with the situation in Libya now stabilising it was time to give the National Transition Council quick access to the funds it needed for civilian requirements and to start reconstruction. Associated Profiles : Libyan Investment Authority

Caisse takes flak for U.S. investment
 (Source: CTV News)  The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is once again under fire for allegedly not doing enough to foster the province’s economic development. Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois has come out swinging against Canada’s largest pension fund manager for lending $211-million to Montreal-based Kruger Products LP to expand a tissue mill in Memphis, Tenn.  Associated Profiles : Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec

China bought back a lot of assets
(Source: Asia One Business) A consortium that included the Chinese government was the biggest buyer of a 5 per cent stake in China Construction Bank Corp sold last month by Bank of America, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. Associated Profiles : Temasek Holdings

This is just a sample of four articles from this weeks SustainabilityHQ Highlights.  You can view the full Highlights by using the following links.  Sustainability | ESG, Highlights for the Week of September 8, 2011