The Shareholder Commons, a non-profit advocate for diversified shareholders, today released two case studies focused on the harmful impacts of climate change and antimicrobial resistance. The case studies demonstrate the gap between company-first ESG advocacy and portfolio-first system stewardship and prove to investors that measuring financial success on an enterprise-by-enterprise basis will never motivate companies…
Crafting the ‘G’ in ESG: Accountability in the Boardroom | Nasdaq
Perhaps the most significant guideline that boards must follow when it comes to sustainability is a change in mindset from compliance to command. When board members see ESG as a core tenant of their governance strategy, rather than a compliance box to check off, they can go above and beyond accountability, becoming a leader in…
Environmental groups ask P&G investors to vote against CEO as board chair
Universal proxy will put more pressure on corporate insiders to engage on these proposals. [E]nvironmentalists have been prodding P&G to make changes on forestry for several years.”These proposals are more powerful because they get more support,” said Nell Minow, vice chair of corporate governance consultancy ValueEdge Advisors, adding that recent regulatory changes make it easier…
U.S. SEC Adopts Universal Proxy Card Rules | Morrison Foerster
In general, the final rules: Mandate the use of a universal proxy card in contested elections that includes the names of both company and dissident nominees, as well as certain other shareholder nominees resulting from proxy access; Require dissidents to notify companies of their intent to solicit proxies and the names of their nominees no…
Accenture CEO Defends ESG
Julie Sweet defended ESG in an interview with Alan Murray. I interviewed Accenture CEO Julie Sweet at the Workday Rising event in Florida yesterday, and asked her, as I have others this week, about the political backlash against ESG being led by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. She made no apologies, saying her company’s focus on environmental and…
Patagonia Founder Gives Away the Company to Fight Climate Change – The New York Times
We have the greatest admiration for Mr. Couinard, who has chosen to turn his vast fortune over to the cause of fighting climate change. But as we have often observed, it is not easy to keep a commercial enterprise vital and sustainable when it is owned by a non-profit. Their risk tolerances as very different….
BlackRock Responds to ESG Letter from Republican AGs
BlackRock sent a 10-page letter to the Republican AGs about ESG. As predicted, it is diplomatic, speaking in terms of “welcoming” the opportunity to “clarify” its positions. But it in no way backs down. The full letter is below, and here are some of the highlights. [footnotes omitted and emphasis added] Your letter makes several…
Inside Texas’ “bonkers” attempt to turn ESG upside down – E&E News
Texas is responding to what it calls a boycott of fossil fuel investments with a boycott of its own. It’s turning out to be financially expensive and probably politically expensive, too. Texas’ process is a fig leaf, financial experts say, for a political stunt that already has cost Texans millions of dollars.For Republican officials, though,…
WSJ Again Mistakes An Informercial for an Op-Ed
Another substance-free op-ed in the Wall Street Journal fails to make clear that one of the co-authors runs an explicitly anti-ESG fund. While it acknowledges that Yale Professor Jed Rubenfeld is an advisor to Strive Asset Management, it does not make clear that the fund’s entire brand is being a contrarian on ESG, even to…
Crocodile Tears from NLPC About Correctly Being Called Anti-ESG
Morningstar’s assessment of the anti-ESG shareholder proposals filed by the National Legal and Policy Center has produced a whiny non-rebuttal, by the non-profit described by SourceWatch as “a front group and industry funded right-wing political and policy lobbying organization. NLPC was founded in 1991 by Peter Flaherty and Ken Boehm, who previously worked for ‘Citizens for Reagan.’” SourceWatch notes…
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