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DJSI Results Announced — Are You In / Out? Many corporations that endeavor to be sustainable become a bit nervous as we pass Labor Day in the USA. The rebalancing of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes is traditionally announced at that time. Is my company in? Out? Increasingly, CEOs and other C-suite execs and board members (as well as numerous managers) are holding “membership” in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices in very high regard. On September 7, 2017, the results were announced in Switzerland by RobecoSAM (the creators and managers of the DJSI) and S&P Dow Jones Indices (owners of the intellectual property and one of the world’s leading index providers). Among the many new companies added to the Indices, three were announced in the official press release, Samsung Electronics, Ltd; BAT (British American Tobacco plc); and, ASML Holding NV. And among the many unfortunate companies dropped from the index, the three mentioned in the release included Enbridge Inc; Reckitt Benckiser Group plc; and, Rio Tinto plc. The DJSI were launched in 1999, and over time became the “gold standard” for corporate sustainability indexes. Every year select corporations are invited to respond the company’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment (“CSA”) — a rigorous, rules-based online process for company managements’ response efforts. There are about 600 data points per company that is organized into one overall score. Certain criterion (topic sub-sections of the CSA) are added for specific sectors based on materiality, and each sector has different scoring weights applied to the various criterion based on how material they are to the sector. (Note that the G&A Institute team assists client organizations in their response efforts each year.) This year, the CSA assessed “Policy Influence” for the first time — assessing public companies’ lobbying activities. And the Impact Measurement & Valuation Criteria were expanded to just about all industries. RobecoSAM sees Policy influence as a material issue for investors, especially in such countries as those where the revenues of public companies may exceed the GDP of that country. RobecoSAM acknowledges that companies are aware of the need to “understand environmental and social profits and losses, but less than 10% have a viable valuation approach in place to provide detailed insights into potential E and S financial impacts.” A special all-day workshop is being offered to corporate managers, presented by G&A Institute in collaboration with RobecoSAM in New York City on Tuesday, October 24th at Baruch College/CUNY: Demystifying The Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) & The Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI)
Highlights of the Workshop: The aim of this workshop is to increase the participants’ knowledge and obtain advice on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and the RobecoSAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) — in this session, specifically on selected criteria including Human Rights, Supply Chain, and Human Capital. Representatives from high-scoring CSA-responding companies including 3M and Citi will share their perspectives and experience in crafting responses to the CSA. Participants will also learn how institutional investors are utilizing data from the CSA and ESG data into their investment decision-making with a special guest from Bloomberg LLC. Participants can expect to take away a deeper understanding of:
Early bird pricing is open through September 30th. Get more details and register at: http://bit.ly/CSAtrain Top Stories This Week… How Do We Measure Sustainability? About Sustainability: Progress Is Being Made More than 50 top speakers to address Asia’s first sustainability reporting conference Universities must act now on sustainability goals The Nordics stand by their sustainability promise to future generations Source: CSCMP’s Supply Chain – Taking the time to model and analyze both the supply chain costs and environmental impacts of key supply chain decisions can help you be both profitable and sustainable. Banks fail to shine in sustainability survey Surprising Trends in Sustainability Reporting Our Focus This Week on A Range of ESG Topics & Issues — Things to Think About… Houston, We’ve Got A Problem. It’s Called Global Warming. ESG is incomplete: An investor’s perspective News for You From the Corporate Sector -Both Positive & Negative Source: Sustainable Brands – L’Oréal has significant goals when it comes to corporate sustainability, such as zero deforestation and a 60 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020. But the cosmetic giant believes it can also play a key role in influencing… Mars to invest around $1 billion in sustainability plan Beneo boss: “Sustainability is part of our DNA” Tyson to build $320 million poultry processing plant in northeast Kansas, generate 1,600 jobs Report: Drug company faked cancer patients to sell drug Wells Fargo accused of forcing mortgage applicants to pay unwarranted fees
News & Opinion: Asset Managers, US Pension Funds, Sovereign Wealth Funds Witnesses to alleged looting of 1MDB funds are too scared to talk: FBI CalSTRS Risks Losing Money if It Divests from Fossil Fuels Hurricane Harvey – The Bigger Picture Climate, Power, Money And Sorrow: Lessons Of Hurricane Harvey In Texas, Concerns About Damage To Flooded Toxic Waste Sites 5 Clear Ways To Understand Hurricane Irma’s Record-Breaking Power |
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G&A Institute Sustainability Update™ Practitioner Workshop: DEMYSTIFYING THE CSA & DJSI Millennials and Sustainable / Responsible / Impact Investing — A New Force To Be Reckoned With! _________________________________________
_________________________________________ Governance & Accountability Institute Featured Service _________________________________________ Governance & Accountability Institute Research
_________________________________________ GRI’S USA, UK & IRELAND
G&A Institute is the Data Partner for the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) in the USA, UK and Republic of Ireland. We identify, receive, collect, analyze, database, and communicate about every report issued in any of the 3 countries. Over the past 6+ years, G&A analyzed 6,000-plus sustainability reports in this pro bono role and databased 100+ important data points for each report.
Navigating the way to sustainability… Copyrights for other providers are noted where appropriate. Please credit the source if quoted. |
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The Sustainability Highlights eNewsletter is prepared by Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. based on continuous monitoring of trends and developments in Sustainability and ESG. Governance & Accountability Instiute is the “Sustainability Headquarters™” for clients in the corporate, investment, public and social sectors. Based in New York, G&A is a for-profit consulting organization providing a range of value-added strategies, services and resources related to ESG & sustainability to clients in the corporate and capital markets communities. For G&A’s full range of services, click on each of the links below: For more information, contact Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. |
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DJSI Results Announced — Are You In / Out? Attend Our Workshop in Collaboration with RobecoSAM in New York City on October 24th
September 15, 2017
Critical ESG Issues Management
