“‘The trend recently has been high-profile companies pulling back on their [plastic packaging] commitments at a time when we think they should be charging forward,’ says Conrad MacKerron, senior vice-president of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, whose 2024 Plastic Promises Scorecard ranked 225 large companies on their plastic commitments and found only 22 of 147 with recyclability targets on track." Read More →

"‘The company did not directly tell us that it would be abandoning its pesticide reduction commitments or disclosures. Rather, the company quietly removed this information and data from its website,’ Cailin Dendas, senior coordinator for environmental health at As You Sow, told Ingredients Network.”  Read More →

“‘By rescinding this rule, the S.E.C. is turning its back on the investors it exists to protect,’ Andrew Behar, the chief executive of As You Sow, an environmental advocacy group, said in a statement. “This action treats the material financial risk of climate change that harms every American as nothing more than fulfillment of a campaign promise to the fossil fuel industry.’” Read More →

"‘It feels like a time where companies really need to step up, and we're seeing them turn their backs,’ said Cailin Dendas, Environmental Health Coordinator at As You Sow and lead author of the [Pesticides in the Pantry] report.”  Read More →

“‘These tech companies need to commit to ensuring that no new fossil fuels are built to meet the power demands of their data centers,’ [said Kelly Poole, climate and energy coordinator at As You Sow].” Read More →

“‘‘Strong workplace cultures equal strong companies,’ [Meredith Benton, principal of Whistle Stop Capital and workplace equity consultant to As You Sow] told Berkshire Hathaway’s board. ‘This is an opportunity. We know that American companies broadly are struggling to manage workplace culture concerns efficiently and effectively….’” Read More →

"Cailin Dendas, who leads the Environmental Health Program at As You Sow…said ADM defines regenerative agriculture as an outcome-based farming approach that protects and improves soil health, but the company does not require regenerative growers to reduce or eliminate pesticide use.”  Read More →

"‘If Unilever-McCormick decide to turn their backs (on sustainability), this could create significant risk for shareholders and the new entity,’ said Cailin Dendas, ‌environmental health ⁠program senior coordinator at shareholder group As You Sow.”  Read More →

"Rachel Lowy, speaking on behalf of As You Sow, formally moved the shareholder proposal requesting that SkyWest commission an independent third party to assess whether the company’s policies and practices align with ‘internationally supported rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining.’”  Read More →

“‘‘Shareholders are capitalism’s early warning system,’ says Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow. ‘Investors warned Meta for years that its platform was harming children. Recent jury decisions suggest those warnings were ignored – raising the prospect of significant liabilities.’” Read More →

“After As You Sow sought to file another shareholder resolution, Nike agreed to release metrics on recruitment and promotion rates for diverse employees by 2024.” Read More →

“‘We believe a free market requires communication,’ said Andrew Behar, CEO of the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, which spearheaded the new site. “If they’re going to take away EDGAR, we’re going to give them POE.’” Read More →

“‘Though As You Sow submitted a handful of “racial equity audit” proposals, asking Coca-Cola, PulteGroup, Pilgrim’s Pride, and Royal Gold to publicly report on their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, most of the group’s resolutions were focused on the environmental prong of ESG.” Read More →

“‘‘Regulation S-K is the foundational disclosure framework that governs risk, governance and financial information. It should be strengthened not diminished,’ said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow.” Read More →

“Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of nonprofit investor advocacy group As You Sow, told Law360 Pulse… 'I find particularly interesting the amount of money companies are willing to spend to ensure that a non-binding proposal does not make the light of day.’” Read More →

“‘[General Mills] are no longer aligning their regenerative agriculture program with pesticide reduction at all, which is obviously concerning, because what the soil science points to is that regenerative without significant pesticide reduction is not regenerating soil health,’ said Cailin Dendas, the senior coordinator of As You Sow’s Environmental Health Program.”  Read More →

“‘At a time when federal regulators are weakening oversight and shielding chemical manufacturers from accountability, corporate transparency on pesticide use has never been more important,” said Cailin Dendas, Environmental Health Coordinator at As You Sow.”  Read More →

“‘Since proposals are generally non-binding, the only real benefit of these changes appears to be shielding companies from having to consider hard issues that would be easier to sweep under the rug’, explains Danielle Fugere, As You Sow’s president and chief counsel.”  Read More →

“‘Insurance companies are raising rates and dropping coverage because of climate-related disasters, but the parties most responsible — the major fossil fuel producers — are not being held accountable,’ said Danielle Fugere, President and Chief Counsel of As You Sow." Read More →

“As You Sow President Danielle Fugere stated: ‘Our proposal simply asks Chubb to evaluate whether recovering costs from responsible parties could help keep insurance affordable for the families and communities that depend on it.’" Read More →

“As You Sow’s proposal addresses a significant policy issue—the affordability and availability of homeowners insurance in the face of climate change—that directly impacts the company’s long-term financial sustainability and carries broad societal implications." Read More →

"‘Companies have to decide: Do you want to have a good relationship with your shareholders, or do you want to pay your corporate attorneys millions?’ said As You Sow CEO Andy Behar.”  Read More →

“‘Communications on material issues central to informed investor decision making is the underpinning of our free market system,’ said Andy Behar, the chief executive of the prominent shareholder activist organization As You Sow.” Read More →

“‘In 2016, we created the Clean200 in response to investors who asked, ‘As we shift away from fossil fuels, what should we invest in?’ Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow and report co-author, said in a statement. ‘A decade later, the Clean200 continues to demonstrate that the global economy is increasingly driven by companies delivering solutions that reduce dependence on fossil fuels and resource-intensive systems.’” Read More →

“Ultimately, Behar said, limiting small investors’ options for holding corporations accountable removes incentives for those companies to constructively engage with advocates. ‘Companies generally sit down with us,’ he said, noting that As You Sow had more than 100 such engagements last year alone. ‘It’s all part of a process.’” Read More →

“The SEC ‘was founded in 1934 to provide communication between shareholders — to create trust between companies and their beneficial owners — and now they are no longer going to be helping shareholders,’ said Andy Behar, the CEO of As You Sow, in an interview.” Read More →

“As You Sow has led a chorus of critics after the SEC reversed its long-standing practice of allowing smaller shareholders to file Notices of Exempt Solicitation on the SEC’s EDGAR system, calling the move a ‘significant setback for shareholder democracy and informed capital markets.” Read More →

“Andy Behar, CEO of As You Sow warned that ‘restricting exempt solicitations to the few largest investors harms the core tenets of capitalism – information and trust between corporations and their beneficial owners’.” Read More →

Our CEO, Andrew Behar, was featured in Law.com discussing how proxy advisers’ recommendations often favor management and the role AI may play in proxy voting decisions.
Read More→

“As You Sow said the new policy ‘risks chilling legitimate shareholder speech and weakens the fundamentals of a strong market.’” Read More →