Issue 16 - June 2004

News

• LAPFF to attend FTSE 100 company AGMs to press for improved global warming reporting
• The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), with the backing of the Environment Agency Pension Fund (EAPF), is to attend the AGMs of a number of FTSE 100 companies to persuade them to report on their carbon emissions in line with government guidelines
• AA1000 Assurance Standard materiality guidance paper launched - feedback invited
• AccountAbility is pleased to launch the first AA1000 Assurance Standard Guidance Note consultation document on Materiality, and is inviting feedback as part of the formal consultation process
• Small business website launched
• www.netregs.gov.uk has been launched to help small businesses understand their environmental obligations
• UK's DTI launches new CSR website
• The UK's Minister for CSR Stephen Timms has launched a new Government CSR website which will provide a single port of call for information about how Government is supporting the development and spread of CSR
• Just Pensions highlights potential risk to investors from ownership and governance of telecoms sector
• Just Pensions, a programme of the UK Social Investment Forum, has launched the fourth in a series of notes aimed at highlighting non-traditional financial risks to pension fund trustees
• UK Government publishes draft regulations for consultation on the Operating and Financial Review (OFR) and the Directors' Report
• An OFR is the directors' overview of the company and will give shareholders key information on a company's objectives, strategy, past performance and future prospects
• New CSR Asia website launched
• The objective of this website is to promote greater awareness and research on CSR with special reference to Asia.
• Practical guidance for directors producing OFRs
• The UK's OFR Working Group has published Guidance for company directors producing Operating and Financial Reviews, which the UK Government has announced will be a requirement for all UK quoted companies for financial years beginning in 2005

New Publications

• Carbon disclosure - who should be reporting?
• This report provides information and data relating to the CO2 emissions of the S&P 500 constituent companies as well as analysing the levels of disclosure by those companies
• A Changing Climate for Insurance
• This report, published by the Association of British Insurers, analyses for the first time the practical implications of climate change for a key business sector and its customers
• Survey analyses disclosure on CSR by listed companies in Hungary
• The Hungarian Environmental Economics Centre (MAKK) released this survey - its first - as part of a wider regional initiative implemented by East-West Management Institute's Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program
• FEE Call for action: Assurance for sustainability
• Urgent action is required if CSR reporting is to attain the same level of investor recognition as that received by high quality financial reporting
• Social return on investment: valuing what matters
• This NEF report sets out their recent work in the social return on investment area, exploring its use in the UK and developing existing methods of calculating social returns
• The Triple Bottom Line: does it all add up?
• This Earthscan publication, edited by Adrian Henriques and Julie Richardson, presents a range of views assessing the sustainability of business and CSR
• Achieving high performance: CSR at the heart of business
• High performing businesses show a strong correlation between CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities and stronger performance in terms of productivity and profitability than other businesses, according to new analysis
• Gradient: promoting best practice management of supply chain labour standards
• This report, by Insight Investment and AccountAbility compares UK companies' management of supply chain labour standards
• Climate Change and Investment Risk: Best Practices for Canadian Pension Funds and Institutional Investors
• This report is both a discussion of best practices in the area of climate change and investment, and also a summary of a workshop held in March
• The Big Picture: Australia and New Zealand
• This report, produced by ACCA in partnership with URS Corp, aims to raise awareness of environmental issues in mainstream financial analysis, give guidance and point to existing good practice
• Climate change and shareholder value in 2004
• The Carbon Disclosure Project, a group of institutional investors representing assets in excess of US$10 trillion, has launched a report on climate change and shareholder value

GRI update

• GRI update