Westlake Chemical agrees to report plastic pellet spills under activist shareholder pressure

Another major petrochemical company has agreed to publicly report its plastic pellet pollution under mounting public pressure from an activist shareholders group. Read More →

Waste, Circular EconomyAsYouSowFebruary 17, 2020Erin Douglas, plastic pellets, westlake chemical

Shareholder Activists Test JPMorgan's Dimon on Climate Proposals

Activists, including the As You Sow Foundation, Trillium Asset Management and Boston Trust Walden, said they had received notices that the bank has asked for regulatory permission to skip votes at its spring annual meeting on proposals such as reporting on greenhouse gas emissions tied to its lending. Read More →

Energy, Environmental HealthAs You SowFebruary 17, 2020Ross Kerber, Elizabeth Dilts Marshall, climate, climate change, jpmorgan

Boards Eye Viral Employee Protests

More than 386 employees at e-commerce giant Amazon have broken the company’s rules by posting statements on a social media site to complain that their employer is a major factor in climate change. Read More →

Environmental HealthAs You SowFebruary 17, 2020Tony Chapelle, climate, climate change, amazon employees, amazo

Kellogg works with suppliers to phase out controversial glyphosate

As You Sow, a consumer advocacy group, filed shareholder resolutions in 2017 and 2020 asking the company to eliminate producer application of glyphosate before harvesting grains. The group said in a release it hoped other food producers would do the same. Read More →

Environmental HealthAs You SowFebruary 17, 2020Cathy Siegner, gly, Kellogg's

Opposition to SEC Proxy Proposals Grows

Green America, a not-for-profit membership organization focused on the economic power of consumers, investors and businesses to create an environmentally sustainable economy, along with Americans for Financial Reform and As You Sow, delivered the petition. Read More →

Kellogg to phase out glyphosate as a pre-harvest drying agent in wheat and oat supply chains by 2025

Kellogg will work with suppliers to phase out the use of glyphosate as a pre-harvest drying agent in its major wheat and oat supply chains by 2025. Read More →

Environmental HealthAsYouSowFebruary 17, 2020Mary Ellen Shoup, Glyphosate, Kellogg's

Tom Steyer Exaggerates Fossil Fuel Divestment

Its “Small Cap” fund scored an A rating — signifying no stock holdings in oil, gas and coal companies — from Fossil Free Funds, a website maintained by As You Sow, an environmental group. But its “Sustainable Emerging Markets” fund received a grade of D. Read More →

Invest Your ValuesAs You SowFebruary 13, 2020climate, climate change, Linda Qiu, Fossil Free Funds

18,000 Signatures Delivered Urging SEC Not to Muzzle Voice of Shareholders

Green America, Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) and As You Sow delivered the signatures today to the SEC at its Washington, D.C., offices at 100 F Street NE. Signatures also were gathered by Public Citizen and Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). Read More →

Starbucks ramps up waste reduction goals, focusing on reusable and recyclable cups

Conrad MacKerron, senior vice president for As You Sow, told Waste Dive that with the announcement Starbucks has become "the biggest company to make a commitment of this type." As You Sow is not currently pushing any other companies on reusables, but is encouraging fast-food companies on "more preliminary steps," he said. Read More →

Waste, Circular EconomyAs You SowJanuary 27, 2020E.A. Crunden, plastics, plas, Starbucks

Blackrock seeks to dodge proposal on Business Roundtable commitments

Blackrock has become the latest US financial giant seeking to evade a shareholder proposal calling on it to outline how it will make good on its recent Business Roundtable commitments. Read More →

Shareholder AdvocacyAs You SowJanuary 27, 2020Paul Verney, BlackRock

Starbucks plans major push away from single-use packaging

Starbucks Corp. wants to move away from single-use packaging, including plastics, by 2030. Starbucks Corp. announced Jan. 21 it wants to make major moves away from single-use packaging, including plastics, as part of an effort to cut its carbon footprint and cut waste from its stores and manufacturing in half by 2030. Read More →

Waste, Circular EconomyAs You SowJanuary 27, 2020plastics, Steve Toloken, packaging, Starbucks

Starbucks announces new sustainability push, aiming to slash waste, water use and carbon emissions

In 2018, the company committed to eliminate plastic straws worldwide by 2020 and also introduced a strawless lid. Last summer, Starbucks began working more closely with groups like As You Sow, said Conrad MacKerron, a senior vice president at As You Sow who helped lead the Starbucks campaign. Read More →

Waste, Circular EconomyAs You SowJanuary 23, 2020Paul Roberts, plastics, packaging, Starbucks

Starbucks sets new sustainability goals for the decade

In the future, customers across the more than 70 countries with Starbucks locations might find that they’ll need to pay for a single-use cup, according to Conrad MacKerron, vice president of the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. Read More →

Waste, Circular EconomyAs You SowJanuary 23, 2020packaging, plastics, Starbucks, The Verge

Shareholder initiative nudges Starbucks to greener path

The proposal won 44.5% of shareholder votes, but when the company did not fully respond, it was refiled in September for 2020. That led to a more productive dialogue with the company and the withdrawal of the shareholder proposal, As You Sow Senior Vice President Conrad MacKerron said in an interview. Read More →

Waste, Circular EconomyAs You SowJanuary 23, 2020Hazel Bradford, packaging, plastics, Starbucks

World's Largest Asset Manager Doubles Down Against Climate Change

Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing environmental and social corporate responsibility, said in a statement, “It is positive to hear BlackRock make a clear statement on divestment of coal; however we do not see the same rhetoric about oil and gas or the banks that fund continued extraction of fossil fuels. Let’s see if their ESG funds are actually fossil free, including no coal-fired utilities, and if BlackRock votes their shares in support of Paris [climate accord] compliance and net-zero shareholder resolutions.” Read More →

EnergyAsYouSowJanuary 16, 2020Bernice Napach, climate, climate change, BlackRock

Climate Is Changing. Investing Needs to, Too, Says BlackRock

NEW YORK — A changing climate means dramatic risks for the world — and for investments too, the chief of the world’s largest investment manager said Tuesday. Read More →

EnergyAsYouSowJanuary 16, 2020Stan Choe, Associated Press, climate, climate change, BlackRock

BlackRock’s Fink pressed to take action over words in dumping fossil fuels

“Larry Fink has always had a large megaphone and his pronouncements on climate have been important, [but] we need to see action from BlackRock — from supporting climate-related shareholder proposals, to offering fossil-free options in 401(k) funds, to ensuring wide access to, and promotion of, passive funds that tilt away from fossil fuel-based energy,” said Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow, a nonprofit shareholder advocacy firm focused on environmental issues and social corporate responsibility. Read More →

EnergyAs You SowJanuary 16, 2020Rachel Koning Beals, climate, clim, BlackRock

Shareholders Demand More Climate Disclosures As SEC Moves to Restrict Them

“Reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the margins, while continuing business as usual as Exxon and Chevron are doing, is not a successful long-term business plan, especially when competitor companies are implementing new paths to thrive in a low-carbon economy,” said Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow, sponsor of resolutions demanding Chevron and Exxon align their business models with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Read More →

How to Get Socially Conscious Funds Into Your 401(k)

If you want to make a big difference in the world using your hard-earned money, you don’t have a lot of tools at your disposal if you’re not extremely wealthy. Read More →

Invest Your ValuesAsYouSowJanuary 13, 2020Ron Lieber, 401(k)

Cutting battery industry's reliance on cobalt will be an uphill task

The Congolese government has promised to pilot regulated areas for artisanal miners. Increasing consumer awareness has also led to supply chain auditing projects such as the Responsible Sourcing Network, run by the nonprofit organization As You Sow, as well as two industry-led bodies, the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance and Responsible Mining Initiative, to ensure that suppliers are up to standards set by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development. Read More →

RSNAs You SowJanuary 6, 2020Jasper Jolly, mining the disclosure report, cobalt