SHARE May Newsletter

Along with more than 70 other civil society organizations, businesses, industry associations, investors, labour unions, health charities, and environmental groups, SHARE has signed on to the Clean Economy Alliance, an Ontario coalition urging governmental action on climate change. The Alliance has expressed support for the Ontario government’s move to establish a carbon cap and trade system, and is promoting six principles that would make the system effective, practical and equitable. Learn more

Investor group will tackle corporate climate lobbying
The United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) has launched a new Investor Working Group on Corporate Climate Lobbying. SHARE will be participating in this new working group, which will examine how companies use shareholder funds to lobby on climate regulations, and encourage adoption of better practices and disclosure of lobbying activities. The PRI work complements SHARE’s ongoing project on corporate political spending, which you can read about here.

Set GHG Emission Targets: How will Exxon Mobil and Chevron shareholders vote May 27?
The proposals assert that both Exxon Mobil and Chevron are exposed to regulatory and financial risk arising from global and domestic climate policy and related technology trends. Greenhouse gas reduction targets for the companies’ products and operations are identified as a powerful tool to manage climate risks and position the companies competitively in the transition to a low-carbon energy landscape. Companies need to outline how they will operate in a carbon-constrained future, and setting GHG targets is important to achieving reductions. For more about SHARE’s approach to climate risk, click here. Shareholders can publicly register their support for the proposals here. Read the full Exxon Mobil/Chevron Proxy Advisory here.

These proposals ask Marathon Oil and Chesapeake to issue reports analyzing how well the companies’ capital spending strategies comply with policy makers’ goals to limit climate change. The analyses should include the long-term and short-term financial risks to the company associated with expensive projects if the demand for oil and gas drops to the low levels anticipated by the International Energy Agency’s low-demand scenarios, as described below. Read the full Marathon Oil/Chesapeake Energy Proxy Advisory here and discover other Proxy Advisories here.

Miss the 2015 BC Pension Forum? New video highlights feature key takeaways
At the 2015 BC Pension Forum, we asked speakers to share a few of their key points in video interviews. Those interviewed include: Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation; Aaron Brenner, Senior Capital Market Analyst, United Food and Commercial Workers Canada; Sharon Hendricks, Vice-Chair, California State Teachers Retirement System Board; and Chair, Investment Committee; Pierre Habbard, Trade Union Advisory Committee on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; Sagarika Chatterjee, Associate Director, United Nations-supported, Principles for Responsible Investment; and Tom Powdrill, Capital Stewardship Officer, International Transport Workers Federation. Watch all the videos here.

bcIMC launches flagship responsible investing report
This new annual publication from bcIMC focuses on responsible investing activities in 2014 across the asset classes. Companies that do a good job of managing environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters have less risk and perform better financially over the longer term. To read the 2014 Responsible Investing Annual Report click here.

Ontario plan joins Principles for Responsible Investment
The Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) Pension Plan has become the most recent Canadian fund to join the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment. This is the latest step in the evolution of CAAT’s approach to integrating environmental, social and governance considerations in its investment process. For more information click here.