Major companies get failing grades on plastic waste reduction

Walmart Inc., PepsiCo Inc., Domino's Pizza Inc. and the Hershey Co. received low marks for their efforts to address the global plastic waste crisis in a new report. Read More →

Waste, Circular EconomyAsYouSowJune 22, 2020Tamara Ward, waste report, plastics report, plastic waste, plastics, report

Reports Examine Corporate Progress on Tackling Plastic Pollution

On Wednesday, advocacy group As You Sow released a report — which analyzes the actions, or inactions, of 50 of the largest US consumer-facing companies to reduce plastic pollution. Read More →

NGO: Consumer product industry falling short on circular plastics

The largest consumer product makers and retailers in the U.S. are doing a poor job of making their plastic packaging more responsible and financially supporting efforts to boost recycling, according to a new report from socially responsible investment advisory group As You Sow. Read More →

Investors watch for double standards on Black Lives Matter

If you spend enough time around the environmental, social and governance (ESG) world, it is easy to be cynical when corporations make a big show of speaking out on social issues. Read More →

Human RightsAs You SowJune 22, 2020Patrick Temple West, diversity

Companies talk a lot about ending plastic pollution—but they’re not doing much to back it up

Unilever scored highest out of the 50 large companies in a new report from the nonprofit As You Sow, but still only earned a grade of B–. PepsiCo, despite some experiments with packaging-free refill stations, earned a D+. Fifteen companies got failing grades, including Whole Foods, Tyson Foods, and Hershey’s. Read More →

Waste, Circular EconomyAsYouSowJune 18, 2020Adele Peters, report, waste report, plastics report, plastics, plastic waste

Plastics report card

MAKING THE GRADE — Corporate America has a long way to go to clean up its plastic problem, but there are some signs of progress in a new report out today from As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy group. Read More →

Waste, Circular EconomyAsYouSowJune 18, 2020Nick Juliano, waste report, report, plastics report, plastic waste, plastics

A Successful Season for SASB-Based Shareholder Resolutions

Timed to the 2020 Annual General Meeting (AGM) season, shareholder advocacy non-profit As You Sow filed seven shareholder resolutions, on behalf of individual proponents, that specifically requested material disclosure compliant with environmental and social corporate reporting standards published by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). Read More →

The Votes Are in at Tim Hortons

Earlier this week, shareholders of Restaurant Brands International (QSR), the parent company of Tim Horton’s, Popeye’s Louisiana Chicken and Burger King, cast their ballots on two shareholder proposals – one on worker rights, and the other on pollution. Read More →

Waste, Circular EconomyAsYouSowJune 15, 2020Ruth Saldanha, plastics, plastic waste, rbi resolution, rbi, tim hortons

Companies are making bold promises about greater diversity, but there’s a long way to go

Andrew Behar, CEO of the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, said we could be at a watershed moment that will ultimately force companies to begin disclosing more information. His group is among those pressuring companies to provide more transparency around issues including workforce composition, recruitment, retention, pay and promotion practices. He said that regulation could be next, including around CEO compensation, pointing to successful past campaigns by investors. Read More →

Human RightsAsYouSowJune 15, 2020Pippa Stevens, diversity

Investor groups ponder further action on racial inequality

Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, says the group is maintaining a database of companies that have published public statements on Black Lives Matter and racial equality. Behar is interested in which companies follow through on their statements. Read More →

Human RightsAsYouSowJune 15, 2020Ben Ashwell, racial inequality

How much video game CEOs make — and why they may be overpaid

For two straight years, shareholder advocacy organization As You Sow has listed Kotick has one of the top 100 “most overpaid” CEOs in the world, and in 2019, slapped him with the 45th spot. Read More →

CEO PayAs You SowJune 15, 2020Activision, Blizzard, Don Reisinger

Investment group says Activision CEO Bobby Kotick gets paid too much

Last year, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick ranked among the "most overpaid" chief executives in the US, according to shareholder advocacy website As You Sow, which said that he earned more than $28.5 million in 2019. Read More →

CEO PayAs You SowJune 15, 2020Andy Chalk, Activision, Blizzard

Aftermath of coronavirus seen to radically change ESG focus

"We are learning things from COVID that are going to be applied to all of business," said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a non-profit organization promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy and coalitions. He predicts a shift toward more fact-based business decisions, whether they're addressing greenhouse gas emissions or income inequality. Read More →

Fossil Free Funds From As You Sow Helps Investors Divest From Fossil Fuel Companies with High Carbon Footprints

In a Nutshell: Fossil Free Funds is one of six mutual fund search tools offered by 501(c)3 nonprofit As You Sow. Investors can research thousands of mutual funds, fund managers, fund families, and other options to see where the companies embedded in their mutual funds stand on social, environmental, and governance issues. Read More →

Invest Your ValuesAsYouSowJune 1, 2020IYV, Adam West, Fossil Free Funds

CEO pay has topped $12.3M. Can it keep rising post-pandemic?

Shareholders are giving most companies an overwhelming thumbs up. But the scrutiny has helped curb some of the most egregious practices in recent years, such as companies paying the equivalent of CEOs’ income taxes, said Rosanna Landis Weaver, program manager of executive compensation at As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy group. Read More →

CEO PayAsYouSowJune 1, 2020Stan Choe, CEO Pay

U.S. utility Southern Co commits to 'net zero' emissions by 2050

Late last year, shareholder activist group As You Sow filed a resolution asking Southern to report on the risks of its natural gas assets becoming stranded as the world moves away from fossil fuels to address climate change. Read More →

EnergyAsYouSowJune 1, 2020Nichola Groom, climate change, southern company net zero

Shareholders urge Chevron, Exxon to report climate change health risks

According to preliminary results, 46% of investors voted to support a shareholder resolution at Chevron and 25% voted to support a similar one at Exxon. Filed by shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, the resolutions call for Exxon and Chevron to report on the public health risks of expanding their petrochemical operations in areas increasingly prone to climate change-induced storms, flooding, and sea level rise. The same proposal received a majority 54.7% vote at Phillips 66 earlier this month. Read More →

EnergyAs You SowJune 1, 2020Hazel Bradford, climate change, agm, Chevron, chevron, exxon

JPMorgan Chase shareholders defeat call for greater climate-change disclosure at world’s largest oil funder

As You Sow, an environmental and corporate social responsibility advocacy group, wanted the lender to issue a report “outlining if and how it intends to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its lending activities in alignment” with global temperature goals established by the Paris Agreement. The Paris pact has called for maintaining global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius. Read More →

BlackRock uses shareholder meeting to insist it follows version of ‘corporate purpose’ framework, push environmental priorities

In his presentation of the proposal, Andrew Behar, CEO of the non-profit organization As You Sow, which promotes investor action on sustainable practices at corporations, said: “We agree with the World Economic Forum, the Business Roundtable and BlackRock on the path forward. This requires an alignment of words and actions. Yet historically, BlackRock has voted for nearly every egregious CEO pay package and against nearly every climate resolution. This cognitive dissonance is troubling.” Read More →

EnergyAsYouSowJune 1, 2020Rachel Koning Beals, BlackRock, proxy season

BlackRock, accused of tinkering, defends its climate plan

BlackRock Inc. shocked Wall Street in January when CEO Larry Fink announced that the wealth mammoth was overhauling its investment strategy and putting sustainability at its core. Read More →

Proxy Preview, Power of the ProxyAsYouSowMay 25, 2020Avery Ellfeldt, blackrock, BlackRock, proxy, proxy season