In 2016, according to non-profit As YouSow.org, which advocates for green-focused investors, only one of the 100 largest 401(k) plans offered a fund choice that could be classified as social, responsible, or impactful – which can achieve green benefits for nature and stronger financial return potential.
Read MoreNow there is a tool, the website Fossil Free Funds, that helps pinpoint funds and E.T.F.s focused on companies withsmaller carbon footprints. “There were 10 funds when we started that we identified as fossil-fuel free,” said Andrew S. Behar, chief executive officer of As You Sow, the Oakland, Calif., environmental group that created Fossil Free Funds. “Now it’s up to 31.”
Read MoreRosanna Landis Weaver, an executive compensation expert at the nonprofit As You Sow, said it's unusual to see a CEO's bonus -- which typically follows formulas tied to profit goals or other financial performance measures -- docked for offensive personal behavior. But, she said, "I think boards are feeling more emboldened to address compensation directly and that’s a good thing. We keep talking about pay for performance, but pay can be a stick as well as a carrot."
Read More“This appears to be an effort by S.C. Johnson to bolster its brand by adding companies that focus on sustainability and specialize in biodegradable and nontoxic ingredients,” says Conrad MacKerron, senior vice president of California-based As You Sow, an advocacy group that tracks corporate environmental efforts.
Read MoreThe new proposal from the non-profits As You Sow and Oxfam America will get a vote from investors at the company’s annual meeting in early 2018 if it is not successfully challenged by the company with regulators.
“We expect to see a majority vote this year,” said Austin Wilson, environmental health manager at As You Sow.
Read MoreIn the one year since Corporate Knights and As You Sow started the Clean200 rank list, the Clean200 companies generated a return of 16.9 percent versus a decline of 1.2 percent for its fossil fuel benchmark the S&P 1200 Global Energy Index.
In response to John Tierney’s rallying cry to bury and burn waste instead of recycling it, Conrad MacKerron, founder of the EPR advocacy group As You Sow, says, "If recycling doesn’t make economic sense, then Tierney needs to ponder why the CEOs of Walmart, Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and even Goldman Sachs last year established a $100 million loan program, the Closed Loop Fund, to boost the effectiveness of recycling by improving curbside infrastructure and recovery markets."
Read MoreAs You Sow has engaged as shareholders with the electronics, consumer goods and beverage industries over the past two decades to promote corporate responsibility for recycling products and packaging. Carpet makers represent another important industrial sector struggling to make meaningful progress on recycling, and we intend to engage with shareholders of several large publicly traded companies to improve performance in light of problems that have surfaced recently.
"We intend to engage with shareholders of several large publicly traded carpet companies to improve performance in light of problems that have surfaced recently."
"Carpet makers should spend less time hindering vendors to engage on recycling policy and more time figuring how to redesign carpet to make it recyclable."
Read More"It seems strange to bring something like this back," said Conrad MacKerron, senior vice president of As You Sow, a corporate responsibility group that has pushed for a phaseout of polystyrene at McDonald's and other restaurant chains and retailers. "It's kind of curious that they're doing this now."
Read MoreAs You Sow has brought this issue to the attention of major companies, including Kellogg, a leader in sustainable agriculture who responded by agreeing to survey its supply chain about pre-harvest use of glyphosate.
"Experts, including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, agree that pesticides are not necessary or helpful to feed the world," said Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow. "Investors would be prudent to analyze their exposure to pesticide-intensive agriculture and prioritize sustainable solutions."
Read MoreAlso, Danielle Fugure, president of California nonprofit As You Sow, said last month it withdrew a shareholder resolution calling for a climate risk report from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. In return, she said, the Texas company agreed to continue to work with her group and others to develop methods for reporting on climate risks that would be practical for the company but still convey to investors the full extent of the risks it could face.
Read MoreMeanwhile, carbon asset risk is still on the agenda for Chevron's shareholders this month: the proposal on transition to a low-carbon economy filed by As You Sow will go forward to a vote. As UCS closely monitors Chevron's and ExxonMobil's communications and engagement with concerned shareholders over its climate-related positions and actions, our experts and supporters will be stepping up the pressure on both companies in the lead-up to their annual meetings at the end of May.
Read MoreRosanna Landis Weaver, corporate pay expert at As You Sow, a pressure group that campaigns for responsible investment, is visibly frustrated by the situation. “Vanguard is growing and growing. Its size in the market gives it a huge responsibility. I think passive investment and low fees definitely have a place, but passive investment should not mean that voting [by asset managers] is passive as well.” As You Sow compiles an annual list of what it considers to be the 100 most overpaid chief executive in the US, based on metrics including total shareholder return versus increases in bonus payments and share awards.
According to As You Sow’s latest report, released in February, Vanguard voted against nine of the 100 most overpaid chief executives last year, which the campaign group described as a “shockingly low number” and “way below almost every other fund manager’s [record]”.
There is an additional business incentive for Vanguard to take a tougher stance. Ms Landis Weaver says she used to invest in one of the company’s funds, but recently sold out due to Vanguard’s voting record.
I strongly suspect other clients — both large institutions and individuals — would also like to see firmer action by the fund house to tackle the widening gap in earnings between company executives and average workers. And what is there to lose? Such action would only improve the company’s public image even further.
Read MoreFossil Free Funds scorecards investment companies for carbon contamination. It informs us, for example, that the Vanguard Health Care sector fund (VHT) is relatively innocent, accounting for 8 tons a year of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent in other greenhouse gases, per $1 million salted away. VHT is clean because Pfizer and Merck don’t own steel foundries. With an index fund you'd be looking at 155 tons.
Read MoreAndrew Behar, author of The Shareholder Action Guide, stresses the importance of small shareholders to guide corporate America to make better decisions on behalf of both the companies and the public at large. “For 70 years the shareholder proposal rule has been an effective tool to support the ownership interests of all shareholders,” notes Behar. “The process gives us an essential tool to engage with boards and management to reduce risk and improve governance. Bottom line, shareholders provide a new and objective perspective to help make companies better in the long-term.”
Read MoreQ5: How should sustainable investors react to 2016's political events?
"In the U.S., we need to defend against any efforts to weaken our ability to engage and file shareholder proposals with companies. Small and medium-sized shareholders, like those of many SRI firms, have often been the early warning system to companies on business risk. It is often passionate smaller investors who educate companies first on issues that could blow up eventually into big crises, like toxic ingredients, air and water pollution and waste, and supply chain labor rights. In many instances, these are brought initially to investors’ attention by committed social and religious investors."
Read MorePolystyrene foam used for direct-to-consumer packing materials is rarely recycled, As You Sow says. “More than 100 U.S. cities or counties and nine countries have banned or restricted foam packaging in various forms,” states the group.
“We are pleased that Target has committed to work with corporate partners and peers to press for alternatives to environmentally harmful foam,” says Conrad MacKerron, As You Sow senior vice president.
Read MoreAs You Sow, an environmental health watchdog group, and members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), recently withdrew the proposal following “productive discussions” with the restaurant company.
“This policy is good news for modern medicine and for long-term shareholder value,” said Austin Wilson, environmental health program manager at As You Sow.
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