As You Sow calls Microsoft’s commitment “an encouraging step,” but it’s worth keeping in perspective that it is just a step — what Microsoft has actually done today is said that it’ll have a study done and then use it to “guide” its “product design and plans for expanding device repair options,” according to a statement emailed to The Verge by a Microsoft spokesperson. Read More →
Read MoreKelly McBee, the waste program coordinator at As You Sow started intensively exploring the issue of electronic waste several years ago. After learning that Microsoft was actively contributing to the crisis through its restrictive repair policies, she reached out to the company to have a “good faith conversation” in May. It didn’t go well. Read More →
Read More“This is an encouraging step by Microsoft to respond to the upswell of federal and state activity in the right to repair movement,” Kelly McBee, waste program coordinator at As You Sow, said in a press release. “Excitingly, this agreement will begin to allow consumers to repair their Microsoft devices outside the limited network of authorized repair shops.” Read More →
Read MoreMeredith Benton, a consultant with Berkeley, Calif.-based As You Sow and a principal at Whistle Stop Capital, said “Nike is notably lagging” when it comes to releasing data on who it recruits, retains and promotes. Read More →
Read More“There’s a fundamental problem, which is the SEC allows you to name funds that don’t necessarily reflect what’s inside the fund,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a nonprofit shareholder advocacy group. Read More →
Read More“What this spill does is underscore the need to move away from oil to other cleaner sources of energy,” said Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow, a non-profit shareholder advocacy group focused on environmental and social issues. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere began her legal career as an environmental lawyer eking out a living one case at a time. Now, as chief counsel and president of As You Sow … Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow's McBee said that there is reason to push companies to follow through on their 2025 pledges and do more. Read More →
Read MoreConrad MacKerron, senior vice president of As You Sow, said he sees Pepsi’s commitment as “a significant goal,” but the company’s timeline lags behind other major retailers and consumer brands. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow, a non-profit focusing on corporate social responsibility, offers an online tool that compares where funds rank with regard to criteria such as deforestation, fossil fuels, gender equality, guns, weapons, tobacco and prisons. Read More →
Read MoreBeyond its habit of putting polluting infrastructure in predominantly nonwhite neighborhoods, another reason the energy sector underperformed on the scorecard was what As You Sow called a “serious lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion disclosure.” Read More →
Read MoreIn recent years, both the World Economic Forum and Business Roundtable, pre-Covid, embraced stakeholder capitalism over shareholder capitalism to the exclusion of every other interest. Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, which has taken on many companies over the years in proxy battles focused on ESG issues, says the tide it not turning back to Milton Friedman’s view of the world. Read More →
Read MoreAndrew Behar, a shareholder advocate and CEO of As You Sow, which has long led climate disclosure efforts among investors pressuring companies, and who is involved in the Say on Climate initiative, says using the 2050 net-zero target as an example — which is the timeline for many companies — means a net 50% reduction by 2030, because once the low-hanging fruit is taken care of, the percentage goals get harder to reach. “That means 5% every year for the next 10 years, and it means Scope 3, and they need to actually report that.” Read More →
Read More"Too often when companies do this, it's a very small percentage of CEO annual pay. And it can become a reward for something they would do anyway," says Rosanna Landis Weaver, who tracks governance and compensation at investor advocacy group As You Sow. Read More →
Read MoreAs corporations strategize about how to create and stick to these 2025 plastics goals, they must strike a balance among being ambitious, realistic and sincere, said Conrad MacKerron, senior vice president at nonprofit As You Sow. Read More →
Read More“The company is just very much wedded to natural gas being part of reducing emissions,” said Daniel Stewart, a program manager at As You Sow, a nonprofit that works with corporate shareholders to advocate for stronger climate action. “From investors’ side, there’s just an increasing level of skepticism about what sort of role natural gas can play.” Read More →
Read MoreThe nonprofit, As You Sow, collected and analyzed data from S&P 500 companies showing what it says is the environmental impact of operations on communities of color. It said it scrutinized their products, environmental violations and fines and corporate actions. Read More →
Read More"Most employees across the nation are unaware their retirement plan investments are profiting from environmentally and socially risky companies," As You Sow said in the report. "The financial risks include stranded assets, reputational risk, and other negative impacts of unsustainable business practices that can destroy shareholder value." Read More →
Read MoreIts latest tool evaluates specific companies’ 401(k) offerings. “There’s $10 trillion of assets, owned by 100 million people, that need to be looked at,” says Andy Behar, As You Sow's CEO. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow will scrutinize the S&P 500, arguing that companies with big Earth-friendly pledges, including Amazon and Comcast, offer funds full of polluters or social inequity. Read More →
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