September 2006

New Member Affiliate

Fortis Investments joins Eurosif

Fortis Investments is an independent asset management company owned by the Belgian-Dutch financial services group Fortis. http://www.fortisinvestments.com/En/default.htm

Member Affiliate News

ABP’s Munsters calls for one share, one vote

Roderick Munsters, chief investment officer of Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, has called for the European Commission to implement a ‘one share, one vote’ system of shareholder ownership. Munsters has teamed up with Peter Montagnon of the Association of British Insurers to make the plea in an article in the Financial Times. www.ft.com (subscribers only)

Bank Sarasin study on biofuels identifies environmental and social concerns

“Biofuels – transporting us to a fossil-free future?” reports that biofuels production can have substantial social and environmental impacts and that bioethanol has better sustainability ratings that biodiesel. www.sarasin.com

Dexia Asset Management

Portfolio21, the collaborative SRI-project for institutional investors that was initiated by Dexia Insurance Services, Vigeo and Dexia Asset Management was recently joined by two other investors: Arcopar, a holding company and Sepia, a company for collective pensions (second pillar). The investors focus on compliancy with the ILO core conventions. Participating assets now total more than 9 billion euro. Portfolio21 organised its second seminar with stakeholders and experts in April last. Presentations and summaries may be accessed on the website. www.portfolio21.info.

EIRIS

EIRIS Foundation and UKSIF launch a new guide Responsible Investment Approaches to Non-equity Investments to help charities take advantage of the diverse range of non-equity responsible investment options now available. The guide explores non-equity responsible investment opportunities in asset classes such as cash deposits, bonds, property, private equity and hedge funds. Visit www.eiris.org to download a free copy of the guide.

New figures released by EIRIS show that Britons are investing ethically at record level. Figures show that of December 31st, 2005 the amount invested in Britain ethical retail funds exceeded the £6 billion mark for the first time.

FEE encourages members of the European Parliament to support one benchmark audit

FEE (The European Federation of Accountants)’s briefing note on Statutory Audits in the European Union, notes that it is in the public interest if statutory audits of all companies are carried out in accordance with international standards. This briefing note – Implementation of International Auditing Standards for all Statutory Audits in the European Union – can be downloaded at www.fee.be.

Fortis, Triodos and DOEN set up green venture capital fund

Fortis Venturing, Triodos Innovation Fund and DOEN Participates announced that they have jointly set up Start Green: a new fund that will invest in ten Dutch starter companies engaged in sustainable technology. www.fortis.com/Press/index.asp

FTSE4 Good conducted a Market Consultation on the proposed FTSE4Good Criteria on Climate Change

The results from the FTSE4Good September review are now available on the FTSE Group website. The FTSE4Good Policy Committee has approved nine deletions, and 24 company additions to the index series. To read a full review summary, go to www.ftse.com/Indices/FTSE4Good_Index_Series/index.jsp.

Henderson Global Investors carbon audited two if its funds

Carbon audits published by Henderson Global Investors for two of its SRI funds demonstrate that both are delivering substantial environmental out-performance compared with their benchmark indices. With climate change now recognised as a growing challenge for business and investors, these audits suggest that carbon intensity could become an important measure of fund performance. www.henderson.com

HSBC Tops Sustainable Banking Awards

Developed with support from IFC (International Finance Corporation), the new Financial Times Sustainable Banking Awards are the first global honors to recognize banks leading the way in integrating environmental, social, and corporate governance objectives into their operations. HSBC took the lead prize as Sustainable Bank of the Year. Banco ABN Amro Real of Brazil was named Emerging Markets Sustainable Bank of the Year. www.ft.com/businesslife/bankingawards

Insight Investment

In August 2006, Insight Investment published a report "Climate Change Policy Uncertainty and the Electricity Industry: Implications and Unintended Consequences" that analyses the implications of uncertainties in climate change policy for the electricity industry, concluding that these uncertainties mean that electricity companies are delaying investments in new plant and are keeping old plant running for longer. The consequence is that greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation are likely to remain higher than for longer than would otherwise be the case. The report recommends that policy-makers clearly communicate that emissions trading is an integral part of the policy framework for responding to climate change and establish clear national and international greenhouse gas emission targets for 2020. See further www.insightinvestment.com/Press/press_releases/2006/pr_investor_responsibility_insights_sept_2006.asp

KLD

KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. marks the one-year anniversary of its Global Climate 100 Index – the first global index focused on solutions to climate change – with two major milestones. The Index has had strong performance numbers with a total return of 22.22% from its launch on July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006 compared to 17.50% for the MSCI World Index. www.kld.com

Oikocredit: Terrafina provides microcredit to 200,000 rural African entrepreneurs

Terrafina, the joint microfinancing programme of Oikocredit, ICCO, and the Rabobank Foundation, has already invested two million euros in just over a year to support young African microfinancing institutions (MFIs). Terrafina is the first Dutch public private partnership to focus on the bottom of the African market by providing support to young, local credit organisations. www.oikocredit.org

SAM Group announced the results of the annual review for the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI)

The Dow Jones Sustainability World Index will have 46 companies added and 36 firms deleted. Total assets under management in DJSI based investment vehicles currently amount to over USD 5 billion – an increase over the last twelve months of 30 percent. www.sustainability-indexes.com/06_htmle/reviews/review2006.html

Standard Life Investments publish “Carbon Management & Carbon Neutrality in the FTSE All-Share”

‘Carbon Management & Carbon Neutrality in the FTSE All-Share’, written by Trucost, notes that international efforts to regulate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions have led many companies not only to reduce the emissions they are responsible for, but also to claim they are moving towards ‘carbon neutrality’ by investing in schemes that reduce levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. The report recommends that a well-defined process to manage carbon emissions should be followed. http://uk.standardlifeinvestments.com

TUAC - Trade Unions Launch Pioneering Sustainable Development Unit

A new trade union Sustainable Development Unit has been launched by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), Global Unions Research Network (GURN), Sustainlabour and Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC). The Unit website makes available the Trade Union ‘country by country’ profiles on a wide range of sustainable development issues: energy, climate change, occupational health & safety, asbestos, HIV/AIDS, trade union rights, as well as corporate accountability. http://www.tradeunionsdunit.org/profiles/

WestLB publishes new study on Sustainable Mobility:‘Mobility in a flat world – Solving the sustainability equation for transport-related sectors’

In the last 10 years we’ve entered a new stage in the globalisation process – the world has become ‘flat’. The two major implications are: (1) the demand for transport of goods has been increasing dramatically and will continue to do so (2) due to the increasing individual wealth in emerging markets like China, the demand for individual mobility is rising sharply as well. The looming age of ‘unlimited mobility’ offers enormous economic opportunities for transport-related sectors but can be expected to have unacceptable, unsustainable environmental and social side-effects too. This note has two parts. The first one describes current mobility trends, their causes, their linkages, their implications and possible future development paths. In the second part it takes a closer look at specific issues related to the different transport modes (Road, Rail, Aviation, and Marine) and rate companies according to their exposure vis-à-vis sustainable mobility related factors. For more information, contact Katrin Frank

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