“The No. 1 thing is to figure out what you own,” said Andrew Behar, the chief executive of As You Sow. “But frankly, Wall Street doesn’t really want you to know. It is very hard to change when you are profiting from the current system.” Read More →
Read MoreIconic foods like Georgia peaches, Florida oranges, and Ecuadorian chocolate are threatened by increasing weather extremes and shifting climates. As You Sow has documented the trend in a recent report and an accompanying article, climate change is driving up the cost of food products including olive oil, coffee, rice, and other staples. Read More
Read MoreHelene dropped an “astronomical” 40 trillion gallons of water over 500 miles, walloping whole towns in Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina. Read More →
Read MoreTo inform the public and financial professionals, we published, “Climate Inflation: How Extreme Weather is Driving Up the Price of Food.” As our paper shows, chocolate isn’t the only family favorite that’s more expensive than ever due to climate change. Read More →
Read MoreReveal reporter Jonathan Jones was working on a story about a massive coal plant expansion in Montana when he wondered who was bankrolling the project. It turns out a major shareholder of the energy company driving the project was The Vanguard Group, the investment firm where he happens to have his retirement savings. Read More →
Read MoreOver the last two years, we’ve seen a growing number of largely white male politicians, business leaders, and even journalists calling for the end of diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives at public corporations. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow, was summoned before the committee in March along with the shareholder group’s CEO Andy Behar for 15 hours of questioning. Afterward, Fugere said Jordan’s staff couldn’t provide a legislative reason for why they needed such exhaustive information. Read More →
Read MoreDozens of tidal gauges from the coast of North Carolina to the tip of Texas show sea levels are six inches higher today than in 2010 – an accelerated change that previously took 50 years. Most remarkable is that this coastal area along the Gulf of Mexico is rising at nearly twice the global average, according to this map recently published by the Washington Post. Read More →
Read MoreThe House Judiciary Committee has delivered a clear message to the free market: shut up about climate change or pay the price. The Committee’s Chairman sent threatening letters and filed subpoenas to intimidate 14 mainstream investor organizations with a combined $105 trillion in assets under management, including As You Sow, the nonprofit that I lead. Read More →
Read MoreI stand by my assessment and believe that Friedman, were he alive today, might even agree. Nobel laureate and Columbia economics professor Joseph Stiglitz would also agree, as he explained in a recent Washington Post op-ed, “Time is up for neoliberals.” Read More →
Read MoreThat’s what happened to our nonprofit, when the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter asking As You Sow and 13 other mainstream investor organizations to turn over all documents related to our work representing shareholders looking to reduce climate risk in their portfolios. Read More →
Read MoreIt appears that the Judiciary Committee is specifically trying to discourage our coordination because they see it as the key to reducing climate risk for the entire global economy. Therefore, I propose that the 14 of us actually do work together, with total transparency, to accomplish the task that the committee has laid before us. Read More →
Read MoreNew research conducted at the University of Waterloo (Canada) in partnership with the shareholder organization I lead, As You Sow, looked at the 401(k) plans of 12 tech-sector companies, including Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Netflix. On average, investments in fossil-free portfolios did 8.9% better over 10 years. Read More →
Read More“Last year As You Sow had 210 engagements and 99 companies agreed to take action, a great many of them on DEI disclosure,” he said, without naming the companies it had targeted. “We escalated 111 by filing shareholder resolutions; 56 agreed to terms and we withdrew. The remainder went to a vote which then led to more engagements and action by the vast majority companies.” Read More →
Read More“We know fossil fuels have underperformed over the last decade, so the results shouldn’t be surprising,” said As You Sow CEO Andrew Behar. “What’s surprising is that nearly every retirement plan is invested in the extractive economy, which runs counter to the values of the people who earn the money while reducing their retirement savings.” Read More →
Read MoreLast week, Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, appeared in front of the House Judiciary Committee, where he defended responsible investing after the House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the pro-corporate responsibility group. After the hearing, Behar appeared on Democracy Now where he made the case for responsible investing and why the committee members were wrong. Read More →
Read MoreRepublicans are on a “crusade” against responsible investing, says Andrew Behar, CEO of the nonprofit group As You Sow that promotes corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy. His group was subpoenaed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee this week as Republicans probe whether investments that take into account environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns violate antitrust laws. Read More →
Read MorePoliticians in Republican-controlled U.S. states have already launched 150 anti-ESG bills in 2024, which has had a chilling effect, according to Andrew Behar, chief executive of activist group As You Sow, which pressures companies, including the big U.S. banks, over ESG issues. Read More →
Read MoreAnd that’s the big deal, says As You Sow CEO Andrew Behar, who co-authored the 2024 study. “In 2016, we created the Clean200 in response to investors saying, ‘If we divest fossil fuels, there is nothing to invest in.’” Eight years later, the message is clear: “Investors who are not tilting their portfolios toward a clean future do so at their own peril.” Read More →
Read MoreFor example, proposals that focused on cutting emissions across a company’s supply chain found a warmer reception than those that set specific deadlines for companies to phase out of fossil fuel projects, the report states. (Andrew Behar, CEO of leading shareholder activist group As You Sow, has also acknowledged that “tougher” proposals were a hard sell this year.) Read More →
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