Politicians in Republican-controlled U.S. states have already launched 150 anti-ESG bills in 2024, which has had a chilling effect, according to Andrew Behar, chief executive of activist group As You Sow, which pressures companies, including the big U.S. banks, over ESG issues. Read More →
Read MoreAndrew Behar, chief executive of As You Sow, agrees. Writing in a blog post, he said: “While political efforts to roll back the clock are under way, they will crumble against the wall of economic reality (that) investors and companies deal with every day.” He added that there were already signs that this is happening. Read More →
Read MoreFor instance, companies including Ford (F.N) and eBay (EBAY.O) agreed to report more workforce details such as recruiting and retention rates in deals that led shareholder activist group As You Sow to withdraw resolutions before they were voted, said its CEO Andrew Behar. Read More →
Read MoreAccording to a report from Proxy Impact, the Sustainable Investments Institute and As You Sow, the six months to the end of June saw a record-breaking 282 votes and 34 majority votes (equal to the same period last year) backing ESG shareholder proposals seeking disclosure and action from US companies. This backs the widespread narrative of recent years that ESG-linked investing and pressure on companies to meet expectations on issues such as climate change and diversity continue unabated. Read More →
Read MoreThough the proportion of withdrawals is similar to past years, the sheer number is higher because of the record 610 resolutions filed this year, said Heidi Welsh, the executive director of the Sustainable Investments Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that tracks shareholder activism.
“I do think this means that many companies were willing to discuss the issues with proponents, and the result of this engagement was win-win on both sides,” Welsh said. Read More →
Read MoreSustainability advocates say they aren’t concerned about the spike in conservative shareholder resolutions. “If they’re bona fide shareholders, they have a right to file a resolution and all shareholders will vote on it,” said Andrew Behar, the CEO of As You Sow. “That’s part of capitalism.” Read More →
Read MoreIn this podcast we speak with Andrew Behar, CEO of the non-profit As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy non-profit that focuses on corporate social responsibility. We discuss the current proxy season and how accounting, auditing and financial disclosure practices fit into their approach to engaging with public companies. Read More →
Read More“This is a positive trend,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. “This year was probably the most extraordinary in terms of shareholder empowerment and shareholders actually showing up and using the power of their vote to express discontent with companies.“ Read More →
Read MoreAndrew Behar, CEO of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, isn’t worried… “Milton Friedman has been thrown under the bus and a 50-year battle for the hearts and minds of business globally has been won,” Behar said. “We’re literally six months into the biggest transition in business history. Things are changing at rapid speed.” Read More →
Read MoreTimed to the 2020 Annual General Meeting (AGM) season, shareholder advocacy non-profit As You Sow filed seven shareholder resolutions, on behalf of individual proponents, that specifically requested material disclosure compliant with environmental and social corporate reporting standards published by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). Read More →
Read More"We are learning things from COVID that are going to be applied to all of business," said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a non-profit organization promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy and coalitions. He predicts a shift toward more fact-based business decisions, whether they're addressing greenhouse gas emissions or income inequality. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow, an environmental and corporate social responsibility advocacy group, wanted the lender to issue a report “outlining if and how it intends to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its lending activities in alignment” with global temperature goals established by the Paris Agreement. The Paris pact has called for maintaining global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius. Read More →
Read MoreIn his presentation of the proposal, Andrew Behar, CEO of the non-profit organization As You Sow, which promotes investor action on sustainable practices at corporations, said: “We agree with the World Economic Forum, the Business Roundtable and BlackRock on the path forward. This requires an alignment of words and actions. Yet historically, BlackRock has voted for nearly every egregious CEO pay package and against nearly every climate resolution. This cognitive dissonance is troubling.” Read More →
Read MoreBlackRock Inc. shocked Wall Street in January when CEO Larry Fink announced that the wealth mammoth was overhauling its investment strategy and putting sustainability at its core. Read More →
Read MoreCorporations holding annual general meetings this month are well familiar with two particularly attentive shareholders: Andrew Behar and Danielle Fugere of As You Sow. Along with groups like CERES and the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, the Berkeley, Calif., nonprofit has taken the lead in engaging corporations on issues from carbon footprints to workforce treatment. Read More →
Read MoreImpactAlpha, May 21 – Massive flooding in Midland, Michigan on Wednesday threatened to release chemicals from a Dow chemical complex, where products ranging from Saran Wrap to Agent Orange have been produced over years, and an adjacent Superfund site. It’s the kind of nightmare scenario that imperils public health as well as corporate value, and one that investor groups have been sounding the alarm on as global warming increases the frequency of severe weather events… “This should be a warning sign,” says Lila Holzman of As You Sow. Read More →
Read MoreIn a clear signal of support for reforming the lending practices of the world's largest private bank to ensure a habitable future planet, 49.6% of shareholders voted in favor of a resolution that asked JPMorgan to craft a plan to better align its operations with the Paris climate agreement's goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C… The development was also celebrated by Danielle Fugere, president of the nonprofit shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. "Shareholders today sent the message that it is past time for Chase to catch up with its peers, implement a strategy to decarbonize and de-risk its lending portfolio, and help build a more secure future for all," she said. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere, President of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, which filed the proposal on carbon emissions disclosure, told DeSmog: “What we are asking them to do is measure, disclose, and set a target to become Paris aligned.” Read More →
Read More“This year can be an inflection point,” says As You Sow’s Andrew Behar. “The 2020 proxy season will test if investors and companies will help define a new economic paradigm or if these endorsements are just empty words.” Read More →
Read MoreReferring to a recent policy change by the Business Roundtable to endorse stakeholder capitalism, driven in part by shareholder advocacy, As You Sow CEO Andrew Behar said in the same statement that the 2020 proxy season "will test if investors and companies will help define a new economic paradigm or if these endorsements are just empty words." Read More →
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