A new report from the Rose Foundation for Communities & Environment titled “The Environmental Fiduciary: The Case for Incorporating Environmental Factors into Portfolio Management Practices” documents how environmental risk and liabilities can be a drag on shareholder value, while positive environmental management can lead to improved shareholder value. The Rose Foundation joined other institutional investors in petitioning the SEC to adopt better environmental disclosure guidelines. ... lees meer

Despite voluntary efforts to reduce environmental impacts, semiconductor companies are not adequately grappling with the environmental, health and labor impacts of their production and assembly operations, especially in developing countries and global supply chains, according to a new report released today by the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development. ... lees meer

Tareq Emtairah, Research Associate of the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics of Lund University, published his review of policy action aimed at regulating corporate environmental reports (CERs) in Europe with the view of giving guidance on the -feasibility’ of a mandatory scheme for corporate environmental reports in Japan. The scope includes a review of the latest developments in CERs, and an examination of selected mandatory reporting schemes within Europe. ... lees meer

For the first time, judges also give Honorable Mention to a paper that provides compelling evidence of no significant cost for actively managed screened portfolios. Multinationals employing the lowest environmental standards possible in their overseas operations would be considered a bad investment by social investors. Those investors would be right on the money, say the winners of this year’s Moskowitz Prize, the social investment industry’s prestigious award for outstanding research in the field of socially responsible investing. ... lees meer

World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn appealed to business leaders to further expand their notions of corporate responsibility beyond earnings to encompass obligations to society at large, especially in developing countries. Corporate sustainability today includes recognition of the leadership role that the private sector must take in ensuring social progress, improved equity, higher living standards, and stewardship for the environment, Wolfensohn said yesterday in a World Bank-sponsored workshop. Corporate responsibility is not philanthropy-it is good business, he said. ... lees meer

A new breed of nonprofit and corporate leader is trading tension and distrust for collaboration to improve corporate environmental practices in significant and lasting ways. A new report, “Partnering for Sustainability: Managing Nonprofit Organization-Corporate Environmental Alliances,” outlines the factors that contribute to the most effective collaborations. The report is based on a study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that explored the experience and interactions, both adversarial and collaborative, between environmental nonprofits and corporations, and the factors that determine success. ... lees meer