For example, AT&T shareholders voted against an executive compensation measure in April. In 2021, 16 companies had executive pay packages rejected by shareholders, according to As You Sow, an activist investor group. Read More →
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But while such companies may be low-carbon in the future, they are high-carbon today, said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a Berkeley, Calif.-based non-profit shareholder advocacy organization that promotes environmental and social responsibility. "Many are also expanding fossil fuel operations at the same time as investing in renewables," Mr. Behar said in an email.
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“They are holding a steady course. That hasn’t always been the case when we see a price spike. I think that is good news and a sign of how much the transition is impacting companies,” said Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow, a nonprofit that advocates for socially responsible investing Read More →
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According to an SEC filing, 91.36 percent of the votes cast at the company’s recent AGM backed a proposal filed by As You Sow asking that Boeing’s board release a report ‘evaluating and disclosing if and how the company has met the criteria of the net-zero indicator, including Scope 3 use of product emissions, or whether it intends to revise its policies to be fully responsive to such [an] indicator.’ Read More →
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As You Sow, the nonprofit that submitted the two shareholder resolutions at Caterpillar, said it supported companies experimenting with different ways of reducing environmental impacts but hopes the company will disclose more about its efforts. Read More →
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As the abortion debate intensifies, some corporate activists are urging companies to take prompt action to adopt more favorable reproductive rights policies ahead of any action by the Supreme Court. “Right now, it’s a ripple, but it will become a wave, and once Roe is overturned, it will become a tsunami,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a non-profit shareholder organization. Read More →
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Altogether, Berkshire faced four shareholder proposals. One, led by Federated Hermes (FHI) on behalf of other shareholders, asked Berkshire to publish an annual assessment of how it manages physical and transitional climate-change-related risks and opportunities. It won 27% of the overall vote, or around 47% of the vote excluding insiders. A second, led by shareholder advocate As You Sow, asked Berkshire to report on its greenhouse gas emissions. It also won 27% of the overall vote. A third, also led by As You Sow, asked Berkshire or its holding companies to report on the outcomes of their DEI efforts by publishing data on workforce composition and promotion rates by gender, race, and ethnicity. It won 26% of the vote. The board of directors recommended voting against the proposals. Read More →
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Danielle Fugere, the president of As You Sow, a shareholder representative organization promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility, wrote in Sierra, the magazine of the Sierra Club, that the SEC's rules "represent an important step forward in terms of using market mechanisms to spur progress on climate action." ("What Do the New SEC Rules Mean for Action on Climate Change?" March 24, 2022.) Read More →
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As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy nonprofit, raises awareness among the public about this irony, primarily using a suite of online tools to help people find out what their companies are investing their earnings in. It’s especially important when that doesn’t align with citizens’ increasing concerns about social and environmental causes. The organization hopes it can “trigger an emotional response” to get them to effect change in company policies. “People simply don’t know that their money is being invested in companies that are destroying their future,” says CEO Andrew Behar. Read More →
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A shareholder advocacy group is pushing Comcast and Amazon to examine why they don’t offer more ”sustainable” funds to employees through their 401(k) retirement plans, arguing that the lack of such options is out of sync with the stated climate goals at each company. The proposal would require the board of each company to produce a report on the issue. As You Sow brought the measure and it received a green light from the Securities and Exchange Commission to go up for an investor vote at this year’s annual meetings — Amazon’s on May 25 and Comcast’s on June 1. Read More →
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Based on these findings, Microsoft will be taking actions to enable greater repairability of its devices by the end of the year, as stipulated in an agreement the tech company reached with investor advocacy nonprofit As You Sow last fall. Read More →
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Andrew Behar, CEO of the nonprofit As You Sow, which represents a group of activist Twitter shareholders, says Twitter under Musk will likely look a lot like Meta (formerly Facebook) under Mark Zuckerberg.
“You have one person in charge. Mark Zuckerberg makes all the decisions. No matter what resolution you file, he owns a 10 to 1 voting preference,” says Behar. “There's a lot of danger when you have all that power isolated in one person like Zuckerberg. Now we've got that with Twitter.” Read More →
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Women are often associated with caring about the environment and fossil fuel free investing. Makes sense, given that we use the term “Mother Nature.” As You Sow’s Fossil Free rating system allows us to incorporate the desire to be fossil fuel free while pursuing your investing goals, such as a carefree retirement. Read More →
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“Both Duke and Dominion are now leading energy companies on this front,” said Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow, the shareholder advocacy group that represented investors on recent shareholder proposals on climate change at those companies. The proposals were withdrawn after the companies revamped their climate plans. Read More →
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Two shareholder groups, Green Century Capital Management and As You Sow, are pushing Travelers to measure and report emissions generated by its customers and investments. Without understanding this broader carbon footprint, the groups say, Travelers cannot know how it is exposed to the likely financial risks of increasing climate catastrophes. Read More—>
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It’s likewise complicated for E.S.G. funds that screen out defense contractors. I spoke with Andrew Montes, the director of digital strategies for As You Sow, a nonprofit based in Berkeley, Calif., that focuses on corporate accountability. He said: “We unequivocally condemn the invasion, and the Ukrainians have a right to defend themselves. But it’s a separate question if defense stocks belong in the portfolio.” Read More →
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Proxy votes against executive pay at S&P 500 companies became more common last year, according to a report by As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy group focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters. Read More →
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As You Sow used shareholder returns—or the lack thereof—to compile a list of the most overpaid CEOs in corporate America. (The ranking is based on pay packages awarded in the year prior to June 30, 2021.) But the tally is more than just a “who’s who” of corporate moneybags. What sticks out most from an already onerous ranking are those chiefs of brands that suffered severely during the pandemic—some having laid off employees—yet still received their bushel of cash.
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Olivia Knight, racial justice initiative manager at As You Sow joined Charles to discuss that Fast Company has released its 10 most innovative not-for-profit organizations of 2022. As You Sow’s inclusion on Fast Company’s top 10 list for its Racial Justice Scorecard shows the importance of actionable data on corporate racial justice accountability, monitoring environmental justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and other metrics as all stakeholders seek an end to systemic racism.
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So are the questions. In December, shareholder activist group As You Sow took issue with a Williams-Sonoma Inc. plan to buy offsets to compensate for its emissions. As You Sow asked the retailer to describe its offsets and how they’re used.
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