My first serious introduction to the concepts and practice of “active ownership” and proxy voting came in the early 2000s as the director of a newly created family foundation, the Singing Field Foundation. At that time, I joined the Environmental Grantmakers Association and began attending its conferences and those of other environmental funder affinity groups. Earlier, as a college student, I was on the periphery of the campaigns around university endowments and investments in South Africa. And, I have always felt that mission-driven organizations with invested assets should take great care that those investments not be in conflict with the mission.
Read moreDeep Sea Mining Poses Risks to Biodiversity, Climate and Investors
As You Sow recently launched a Biodiversity Program in response to increasing global concern about the systemic risks to nature posed by biodiversity loss and looming ecosystem collapse. These risks include food insecurity, fresh water, clean air, climate change and the collapse of innumerable ecosystem services relied on by companies, communities and the world. The benefits of a functioning environment are at risk and shareholders are beginning to raise the alarm.
Read morePressing the Tobacco Industry to Clean Up Its Plastic Cigarette Waste
While soda bottles and fast-food containers are usually cited as major sources of single-use plastic that escape capture and pollute rivers and oceans, cigarettes often have been overlooked as another major source of plastic pollution. Yet cigarette filters are a form of single-use plastic and, by volume, are likely the most littered form of plastic on the planet.
Read moreCompanies Need to Address Existential and Financial Risk of Biodiversity
Biodiversity loss is a global systemic risk. Wildlife populations have declined by an average of 69 percent since 1970, with an estimated one million plant and animal species at risk of extinction by 2050 – approximately 25 percent of all species on Earth.
Read moreWill New Wave of Natural Gas Plants Be Stranded Assets?
Natural gas proponents have long framed it as a “bridge fuel” for meeting rising energy demands, while decreasing utilities’ dependence on carbon-intensive coal. Unfortunately, the power sector is now more focused on extending the natural gas bridge than crossing it.
Read moreClean Energy Ratio Helps Meet Net Zero Goals
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, on behalf of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, Teachers’ Retirement System, and Board of Education Retirement System (the NYC Retirement Systems), submitted shareholder proposals to six major North American Banks — Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and Royal Bank of Canada — requesting that they disclose annually their Clean Energy Supply Financing Ratio (the Clean Energy Ratio).
Read moreSmall Cap Companies have a role to play on Climate
In the United States alone, 23 different billion-dollar weather and climate disasters occurred, incurring more than $90 billion in damages in just the first eight months of the year. With these impacts cascading through corporate value chains, the business case for action on climate risk has never been clearer.
Read moreDo Oil and Gas Industry Divestments Result in Emissions Increases?
As governments worldwide struggle to keep the Paris agreement’s goal of limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5°C within reach, pressure on oil and gas companies is reaching an all-time high. Global bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and International Energy Agency are emphatic about the urgent need for transparent, immediate, and ambitious decarbonization in the oil and gas industry.
Read moreUnraveling Offsetting and Avoided Emissions
Between now and 2030, companies must reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to minimize the risk of exceeding a 1.5°C global temperature increase. Investors want corporate climate transition strategies that deliver tangible emissions reductions and scalable net-zero solutions.
Read moreInvestors Leverage Shareholder Proposals for Just Transition Impact
As thousands of large companies make the transition to a net-zero emissions economy by reducing greenhouse gases, they must not only decarbonize but also consider the real impacts of changes in their operations on their employees and the communities where they operate.
Read more