Timely Insights & Perspectives on Corporate Sustainability, Responsibility & Citizenship

Update -- on First Quarter 2018 ESG / Sustainable Investment Developments Continuing our commentary on the theme suggested by MSCI's Linda Eiling Lee of Volume and Velocity in 2018 (of change) – current developments have been signalling dramatic and rapid changes in sustainable investing and corporate sustainability in the First Quarter… Read More
Volume and Velocity: These may well be the key characteristics of developments in corporate sustainability and in sustainable investing in the year 2018 -- MSCI and BlackRock Setting the Pace... Bigger, faster, more...this is how Linda-Eling Lee, Global Head of Research for MSCI’s ESG Research Group and her colleague Matt… Read More
ISS’ Traditional Corporate Governance Focus Expanding to Encompass Environmental & Social QualityScores for Roughly 1,500 Public Companies Coming in January…And Expanding to 5,000 Issuers in Q2 A significant new player is now entering the universe of the growing number of third-party organizations providing institutional investors with ESG rankings and data… Read More
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by 193 nation-members of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. There are 17 goals and 169 “subsets” or targets. To achieve the goals over time (out to the 2030 target date), collaboration among investors, companies, governments, the UN system, other multilateral… Read More
Issue 4.1 It's  a question often raised by boards and senior executives, posed to the management team members:  What is the impact, if any, of third-party sustainability rating agencies on our position in the capital markets?  Oekom, the global sustainability research organization, has been asking that question annually since 2013.  And… Read More
Issue 1.8 Shareholder proxy activism is a year-round activity now, with peak periods of communication on critical issues during the early months of the year... in the traditional proxy voting season. The effects of spring 2017 voting could reverberate for the company long after the voting is counted. Some issues that once were tiny vote-generators… Read More
Issue 1.7 Question for you:   Is your firm selling to Adidas AG, Becton Dickinson, Herman Miller, HP Inc, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, Wal-Mart Stores ... and other firms that are charting their chemical footprint? These companies are quantitatively measuring their own chemical footprint to develop information on such things… Read More
Issue 1.1 - August 2017 More climate-related disclosure in your company's income statement / cash flow statement / balance sheet? How will your company be affected? How will you be affected by the FSB TFCD guidelines for your company's ESG disclosure? The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is a global, multi-stakeholder organization that brings… Read More