“Conrad MacKerron, senior vice president at As You Sow, said the organization is ‘fairly hopeful’ following this year’s outcomes. Amid political pressures against ESG initiatives, vote totals appeared lower than in the past, but 'I think we know why they’re lower,’ he said." Read More →

“‘As You Sow is deeply disappointed in this unexpected action by PepsiCo,” added Kelly McBee, circular economy manager at As You Sow. ‘The move appears counterintuitive to the company’s previous leadership in tackling plastic pollution and its PEP+ program to operate within planetary boundaries.’" Read More →

“‘Shareholders overwhelmingly voted against resolutions to end DEI and backed management maintaining merit-based diversity programs focused on financial performance,’ said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a nonprofit organization that advocates for environmental and social corporate responsibility." Read More →

“Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow, says: 'We thought it was fair to ask the company what we should expect as investors. Tell us what you know so we have more information on which to base our investment decisions.’" Read More →

“Danielle Fugere, president of the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, said the rollback strikes at the heart of global risk transparency." Read More →

“Kelly McBee, a plastic pollution prevention specialist at As You Sow, said the group is targeting beverage and snack companies because ‘most of these companies produce goods that are designed to be consumed on the go or in small quantities, so the scale of their packaging is some of the greatest.’”  Read More →

“Over half of the nation’s 3,000 largest companies continue to build and expand DEI-related programs, according to Olivia Knight, racial and environmental justice manager at shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, which has advocated for corporate DEI programs." Read More →

“As Andy Behar, CEO of As You Sow noted: ‘Shareholders understand that diversity and inclusion are material to profitable growth. Anyone who’s looking at the data, which the companies and shareholders are, comes to the conclusion that greater diversity leads to financial outperformance.’" Read More →

“But As You Sow, a non-profit group focused on shareholder advocacy on ESG matters, said the order “accelerates an environmentally catastrophic practice” that 32 countries and business groups have rejected until deepsea mining’s ecosystem impact is clear." Read More →

“Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow, an institutional shareholder representative and advocacy group, said she is ‘extremely skeptical’ that the Trump administration would be able to defend in court an executive order that arbitrarily excludes environmental groups from 501(c)(3) status due to the administration’s policy preference at the time." Read More →

“‘We’re a little bit in a pause mode,’ said Andy Behar, As You Sow’s CEO. He said a ‘right-wing crusade’ against socially responsible investing has left shareholders in limbo as they figure out how to navigate the shifting political climate.” Read More →

“As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy group, chose to make flexibles a focal point this year following the relative lack of achievement on 2025 plastics targets set via groups such as the U.S. Plastics Pact and Ellen MacArthur Foundation.”  Read More →

“According to the shareholder advocate group As You Sow, Travelers has continued to stay profitable even with disasters like wildfires and hurricanes sharply increasing rates or pulling out of high-risk markets altogether.” Read More →

“‘The political situation in the US is deepening trust between companies and their shareholders “as there is a common enemy trying to harm businesses,’ Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, has told Responsible Investor.” Read More →

“A lot of people, if you ask them, say, ‘Yes, I would love to have my investments align with my values,’” said Andrew Montes, director of digital strategies at As You Sow. “But then we also see a low adoption of sustainable funds within 401(k) plans that offer them.” Read More →

“‘First Solar can confidently make a commitment to keep seabed minerals out of its supply chains because the Company understands the power of circularity,’ said Elizabeth Levy, biodiversity program coordinator at As You Sow." Read More →

“In another positive sign for those concerned about human health and ocean pollution, the SEC sided with As You Sow over Pepsi Co on a shareholder resolution urging the soda and food giant to reduce plastic pollution." Read More →

“As You Sow Senior Vice President Conrad MacKerron said in a statement that car tires are ‘a growing source of toxic microplastic pollution that harms ecosystems and fish, and may pose danger to human health.’ The group said tire wear particles account for an estimated 78% of microplastic leakage into oceans, and that tire wear emissions become airborne and can pose ‘serious human health risks.’" Read More →

“Shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, which filed the resolution, responded this week by saying shareholders were not demanding disclosures requiring the kind of ‘intricate detail’ outlawed by SEC guidance.” Read More →

“Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel for the shareholder advocacy nonprofit As You Sow, said disclosure is a prerequisite for holding banks to their climate goals. ‘We want to understand what it is they’re doing,’ she said. Laws like California’s bring to light the financial instability wrought by fossil fuel-driven climate change and — in theory, at least — discourage financing that would exacerbate it.” Read More →

“According to Cole Genge, director of programs of As You Sow, the emerging deep sea mining (DSM) industry embodies one of the most significant new threats to global biodiversity.

‘As the green transition, including electric vehicle deployment, speeds up, companies like The Metals Company plan to strip-mine the seafloor for nodules containing battery-related minerals,’ said Genge. ‘Supporters of DSM argue that mining deep sea nodules poses fewer risks to climate and biodiversity compared to terrestrial mining.’” Read More →

“Another report released last week by the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow and the sustainable economy research organization Corporate Knights identified the world's top 200 Clean Tech companies and measured their economic performance.” Read More →

“In a recent interview with Fortune, Behar explained that his group has spent months meeting with the heads of businesses caught in the crosshairs of DEI critics determined to blame everything from wildfires to plane crashes on diversity efforts. As You Sow has also proposed pro-DEI resolutions at companies like John Deere, Berkshire Hathaway, and Ford.” Read More →

“In 2016, we created the Clean200 in response to investors saying, ‘If we divest fossil fuels, there is nothing to invest in,’” says Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow and co-author of the Carbon Clean 200 report that accompanies the ranking. “The Clean200 has consistently demonstrated that the ‘clean energy’ future of eight years ago is now the clean energy present. This year, the scale and global diversity of leading companies continue to expand and redefine the term ‘cleantech’ to be any company with products and services that will reduce demand for fossil fuels and water.” Read More →

The term "Prison Free" may mean different things to different people. As You Sow’s Prison Free Funds provides a range, with the lowest grades going to private prison operators. They then calculate the percentage of holdings of support companies including suppliers of food, laundry, IT, power, banking, and other services and products needed to run the prison industry and the militarization of borders and immigration policing.  Read More →

“First Solar’s commitment leads the way to ensuring that we don’t unwittingly create yet another globally destructive practice,” said Elizabeth Levy, biodiversity program coordinator at As You Sow. “Companies that promote deep sea mining insist that we need deep seabed minerals now to fuel the energy transition; First Solar’s insistence on a precautionary process challenges this false narrative and shows others in the renewable energy industry that we don’t need to exploit the deep sea, potentially irrevocably, for the energy transition to continue.”  Read More →

The First Solar deal shows many corporate executives at least remain concerned about environmental matters, said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a prolific filer of shareholder resolutions. "I know everyone is despairing about ESG, but the bottom line to me is that companies want to get better and thrive," Behar said in a telephone interview.  Read More →

The settlement, which does not require that Amazon admit wrongdoing, ends a lawsuit originally brought in California by a group of anonymous plaintiffs and As You Sow, a nonprofit that works with corporations to promote environmental and social responsibility.  Read More →

“These are businesses that have existed longer than four years. We expect them to exist beyond this four-year window in front of us,” said Meredith Benton, principal founder of Whistle Stop Capital, which consults with As You Sow on DEI. “What we want to see is them making decisions that are in their business interests over the long term.”  Read More →

The broad scope of his opinion seems "designed to curb any assessment of climate impact or climate risk," said Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow. "[The opinion determines] just because American Airlines has adopted climate change principles and BlackRock has too, therefore one can conclude they are colluding in some way or they have conflicts of interest. That's such an enormous leap. It makes no sense in today's market where climate change is a risk, investors and companies have to address those risks, and if they don't, they will be impacted financially and negatively."  Read More →