The value of world’s ethical investment portfolio has been estimated at US$1.42 trillion in the September issue of The Cerulli Edge-Global Edition published by Cerulli Associates, a well-regarded Boston and London based research consultancy.
The report’s figures highlight the dominance of the United States when it comes to ethical investment. Funds under SRI management in each region of the world, according to Cerulli, are: United Sates (US$1,350 billion), Canada (US$33 billion), Australia (US$0.5 billion), Japan (US$1 billion), Asia ex-Japan (US$1 billion) and Europe (US$38 billion).
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The European Commission decided today to take further steps to green the institution by adopting a Decision to implement the Community’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, EMAS. The scheme will give the Commission an accurate picture of its environmental impact, improve its environmental performance and provide both organisational and financial benefits. Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström said: “The European Commission will lead by example. With the introduction of EMAS we want to set an example for other public authorities and economic operators to follow, and our final objective is achieving EMAS registration for the European Commission”. Vice-President Neil Kinnock said: “The Commission signalled its awareness of the need for practical action when it launched its Green Housekeeping(1) scheme in 1997. Applying EMAS will further reinforce our commitment to ensuring an environmental-friendly administration.”
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An update fro GRI, the Global Reporting Initiative for guidelines for sustainability reporting.
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Environment Australia published this month 2 reports about sustainability:
* The role of Australia’s financial sector in sustainability
* A Capital Idea: Realising Value from Environmental and Social Performance
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A survey conducted by Hill and Knowlton through Harris Interactive found that a majority of Americans consider corporate citizenship – the impact a company has on society – when making investment and purchasing decisions. The bad news is that relatively few give companies high marks in this area.
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AccountAbility launched the AccountAbility 1000 (AA1000) Framework in November 1999 to provide a practical framework for organisations to address issues of accountability and to improve overall performance. At its heart is a quality management process based on stakeholder engagement.
Organisations apply AA1000 in many and varied ways. It acts as a guide to best practice in social responsibility in business and not-for-profit organisations world wide. In an increasing number of cases, organisations are publicly referring to their use of AA1000 or are using independent advisors to provide statements of quality assurance matched against the contents of AA1000. AA1000 is referenced in published reports from organisations as varied as Agrocel, British Airways, Camelot, the Co-operative Bank, CIS, CWS, the Ford Motor Company, London & Quadrant Housing Group, Novo Nordisk, Shared Earth, Southern Sun Group, Traidcraft, TXU Europe, University Hospital Lewisham and Van City. It has also informally influenced a far larger group.
AccountAbility is committed to developing a revised version of AA1000 in 2001. AA2000 – Accountability Management will build on an analysis of the use of AA1000 and other standards and tools, and an assessment of the needs expressed by corporations and their stakeholders for quality processes of accountability management.
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Update from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), guidelines for sustainability reporting.
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The merger of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq is bearing fruit: the young company came out on top in a “Corporate Responsibility Rating”, conducted by Munich-based oekom research AG, of the eight leading computer manufacturers on the international stage. The rating uses 200 criteria to evaluate the environmental and social performance of companies on a scale from A+ to D-. In this latest study, Hewlett-Packard (US), with a score of B-, came out just ahead of Apple (US), who also scored B-. Third place went to the Japanese company NEC with a C+ rating.
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The European Commission on 18 July adopted a communication proposing an EU strategy to promote core labour standards and social governance globally. The communication proposes action at European and at international levels, to support the effective application of core labour standards at global level. The development dimension is central to the strategy, which aims to help developing countries apply core labour standards for social development. Commenting on the launch of the proposals, Commissioners Pascal Lamy (Trade) and Anna Diamantopoulou (Employment) said : “Citizens feel there is a need for an equitable global economic system which promotes social development and fundamental rights and that our current governance model does not adequately address this. Global market governance has developed more quickly than global social governance. We should rebalance the system to help promote social development and ensure that globalisation benefits all people and all countries.”
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Business in the Community (BITC), the leading UK organisation working to promote responsible business practices, held its annual awards ceremony on 11 July. The Co-operative Bank captured the top award for ‘Company of the Year’ at an event that also rewarded companies for responsible activities in such areas as the environment, diversity and innovation. The creation of a comprehensive European award scheme to highlight responsible business behaviour is expected to be one of the key recommendations of a green paper on corporate social responsiblity (CSR) that the European Commission will publish next week.
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The Caux Round Table offers guidelines to promote social, environmental and economic sustainability among corporations.
Since 1986, the Caux Round Table (CRT) has been a force for positive change in the world. The members of the CRT encourage business leaders to assume a principled leadership role in society and to consider both the near and long term consequences of the decisions they make.
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ASPI Eurozone is the first of a family of indexes that will include companies based solely on their sustainability performance.
ARESE, a Paris-based firm that conducts research on corporate social, environmental and sustainability performance, recently announced the introduction of the first of a series of new indexes. The first index, the ASPI Eurozone, will track the financial performance of companies in the Eurozone that are leaders in sustainability. The Eurozone comprises the European Union members that have adopted the Euro.
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