Shareholder Advocacy with Public Companies to Address Global Warming
Lead Group(s):
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) - Global Warming Working Group
An ICCR working group
strategy session.
Photographer: Julie Wokaty, ICCR
Support Group(s):
ICCR Members and Associates: Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment; Christian Brothers Investment Services; New York City Employees Retirement System; the Nathan Cummings Foundation; Boston Common Asset Management; Walden Asset Management. Other allies: Ceres; Union of Concerned Scientists; Greenpeace; National Resources Defense Counsel
Description of the Problem the Campaign is seeking to address (50 word max):
ICCRS Global Warming Working Group, comprised of faith-based and other institutional investors, moves corporations to proactively address climate risk by engaging in dialogues with corporate management and filing shareholder resolutions asking companies to disclose the greenhouse gas emissions from their products and operations, and adopt strategies for reducing those emissions.
Description of the Victory (30 word max):
Moving major U.S. corporations to: (1) assess and disclose their GHG emissions, (2) include a cost for carbon liabilities (emissions) in their planning, and (3) benchmark progress in reducing emissions.
A Brief Description of the long-term impact of the victory (150 word max):
Faith-based institutions began raising concerns about global warming with companies in which they own stock in 1991 when few business leaders saw the connection between climate change, business and long-term shareholder value. Since then ICCR has influenced many leading corporations to assess their carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
In 2006, responding to shareholder requests for greater transparency, four U.S. electric power companies (Great Plains Energy. Inc.; Alliant Energy; WPS Resources; and MGE Energy) agreed to assess and disclose the potential impacts from foreseeable regulation at the state and federal level to reduce GHG emissions. Our members were also successful in getting major property management firms (Lennar Property and the Simon Property Group) as well as two major retailers (Home Depot and Lowes) to report on and expand their energy efficiency programs.
