ESG disclosure is maturing and starting to get the support it needs from the SEC, said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy group that pushes companies to be more socially responsible.
“It’s all moving us into a place where we can actually judge which companies are part of an economy based on justice and sustainability,” Behar said. Read More →
Read MoreAndrew Behar, CEO of US-based shareholder advocacy NGO As You Sow, says platforms like Meta are operating under “an authoritarian regime”.
“We’ve been filing social-focused resolutions at Meta for six years, but change doesn’t happen if [Zuckerberg] and his board don’t agree,” he says. “Although it’s technically a public company, it operates like a private one, with one man at the helm.” Read More →
Read More“Politics should be separate from markets,” said Danielle Fugere, president of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. “The world is transitioning towards a greener economy, and markets are adjusting to that. It is absurd for lawmakers to think that they’re going to put a stop to that progress. It would be detrimental to U.S. businesses.” Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow focuses on environmental and climate issues but has waged investor campaigns or gone to court on several food-related issues. The nonprofit group and the National Confectioners Association released a report in August identifying growing and harvesting conditions for cacao beans that led to toxic heavy metals lead and cadmium in chocolate. Read More →
Read More“There’s 100 million people in the United States with $10 trillion in assets that have no idea that they’re investing in their own destruction,” estimates Andrew Behar, chief executive officer of the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow “It’s been completely hidden.” Read More →
Read More“Disclosure resolutions are getting the same level of support,” says Andrew Behar, CEO of environmental and social advocacy non-profit As You Sow. “But it’s the newer resolutions that are a little more granular which are challenging the status quo.” Read More →
Read MoreShareholder advocacy organization As You Sow (AYS) has released a report finding that, while more and more companies say they link CEO pay to climate-change-mitigation and emissions-reduction goals, such incentives generally lack meaningful metrics or sufficient compensation to incentivize climate progress. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow analyzed the 2021 chief executive officer compensation packages of 47 US companies included in the Climate Action 100+ initiative, an investor-led program to ensure the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters curb their footprints. It found that many firms didn’t tie CEO pay to climate metrics, and when they did, it’s wasn’t to a level that would prompt bosses to meaningfully reduce emissions. Read More →
Read MoreAccording to a report from Proxy Impact, the Sustainable Investments Institute and As You Sow, the six months to the end of June saw a record-breaking 282 votes and 34 majority votes (equal to the same period last year) backing ESG shareholder proposals seeking disclosure and action from US companies. This backs the widespread narrative of recent years that ESG-linked investing and pressure on companies to meet expectations on issues such as climate change and diversity continue unabated. Read More →
Read More“No one is looking at the actual holdings. They’re not looking at the flow of capital. They’re looking at the label,” said Andy Behar, CEO of As You Sow. “If they renamed all their ESG funds … that would probably make the people in Texas and the red states happy.” Read More →
Read MoreShareholder advocacy non-profit As You Sow has published the results of its corporate engagements on racial justice and workplace equity over the last 12 months, noting that 88% of the shareholder resolutions it filed against US companies this AGM season led to “improved practices”.. Read More →
Read MoreThe result of a three-year study by a multi-disciplinary panel of four experts into the sources of lead and cadmium in cocoa and chocolate - and how levels may be reduced in the future - has been published by the National Confectioners Association (NCA) and nonprofit organization As You Sow. Read More →
Read MoreThe maker of Gillette razors and Downy fabric softener agreed to disclose the data after a campaign from the nonprofit As You Sow, which promotes environmental and social issues at large, public companies. P&G, which confirmed the deal, joins companies such as Nike Inc. that have agreed to share data on efforts to hire and promote under-represented groups. Read More →
Read MoreAlternatively, investors can also use As You Sow’s website to gauge how well their current investments align with their values. They can type in a fund’s ticker symbol, which generates a fund score according to different value categories. Read More →
Read More"We are concerned that the Proposal's division of funds into three separate categories does not reflect the reality of how fund managers incorporate ESG factors in investment and stewardship decision-making, which could increase compliance costs," As You Sow CEO Andrew Behar said in a letter to the SEC. Read More →
Read MoreThough the proportion of withdrawals is similar to past years, the sheer number is higher because of the record 610 resolutions filed this year, said Heidi Welsh, the executive director of the Sustainable Investments Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that tracks shareholder activism.
“I do think this means that many companies were willing to discuss the issues with proponents, and the result of this engagement was win-win on both sides,” Welsh said. Read More →
Read MoreIt’s the next layer of detail that offers investors a glimpse on how well companies are utilizing employees from minority groups, according to Meredith Benton, workplace equity program manager at As You Sow.
“It’s not whether an employee can make it in the door, it’s will they stay once they are there,” Benton said. Read More →
Read MoreAdvisers or investors can access tools from Morningstar or advocacy groups like As You Sow to identify holdings in these gun companies. Typically, the exposure is very small, and avoiding these companies does not change the risk and return characteristics of a portfolio in a material way. Read More →
Read MoreE.S.G. supporters say critics may have a point. Andrew Behar, C.E.O. of the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, agrees that many supposed E.S.G. investments don’t reflect true sustainability — with ever more capital directed toward the idea and many funds failing to live up to their promises. Read More →
Read MoreCalifornia is taking aim at the plastics industry in an effort to reduce pollution and tackle climate change. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the nation's toughest rules on plastics reduction into law last week, requiring all packaging in the state to be recyclable or compostable by 2032, cutting plastic packaging by 25 percent in 10 years, and requiring 65 percent of all single-use plastic packaging to be recycled in the same timeframe. Kelly McBee, Waste Program Coordinator at As You Sow, explains the potential impact this law could have on reducing plastic pollution across the country. Read More →
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