What are you most excited about for the new year?

An article ran on GreenBiz.com on Monday that asked executives from companies that have been featured in the news this year what they’re most excited about for 2011, with regard to opportunities and challenges for sustainability for their respective companies. Among them were Shaw Industries, PepsiCo, Sodexo, Eaton, Ernst & Young, Microsoft, Panasonic, Nike, Clorox, Starbucks, Aveda and Siemens.

To read the full article with everyone’s responses to this question, please click here.

We’re interested in what you have to say. What are your biggest opportunities and challenges for sustainability for your company in 2011? What are you most excited about? What are you most concerned about? Let us know!

NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index expands to 100 companies, releases semi-annual evaluation results

The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. and CRD Analytics announced yesterday the expansion of the Global Sustainability 50 Index, as well as the name change to NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability Index. The Index is an equally-weighted equity index that serves as a benchmark for stocks of companies that are taking a leadership role in sustainability performance reporting and are traded on a major U.S. stock exchange, according to NASDAQ and CRD.

These companies are voluntarily disclosing performance information on ESG issues, as well as revenue opportunities and how it affects future performance. The companies must also meet other eligibility criteria which include minimum requirements for market value, average daily share volume and price.

The Index is evaluated on a semi-annual basis in May and November, and some of the companies being added are:

• Cisco Systems
• Microsoft
• GE
• Nike
• Pepsi
• Kimberly-Clark
• Medtronic
• General Mills
• Chevron
• Pfizer

As a result of the re-ranking, Merck & Company Inc will be removed from the Index as it didn’t provide full ESG data for 2009 per the SmartView index methodology.

To see a full list of companies on the Index please click here. For more detailed information on the Index and its criteria, please click here. To read the full press release please click here.

What do you think about the expansion? Do you think it helps or hinders the credibility of it? Do you think adding 50 more companies takes the prestige away from the original 50? Discuss!

Microsoft in the spotlight

Last week I received a must read article from Michael Muyot, Founder and President of CRDAnalytics, about Microsoft’s proxy vote coming up on 11/16/2010. He prefaced the article by saying it’s a “very real and tangible result of the integration of social media with quantitative measurement of sustainable investment performance.”

Shareholder resolutions filed with Microsoft, Oracle and Cisco by Harrington Investments are now in a digestable format and have been delivered to the country’s major university endowments and TIAA-CREF for participation. The point is that ignoring investor concerns is bad for business and can have negative impacts on the market.

Peter DeSimone and Heidi Walsh established Sustainable Investments Institute SI2 in January 2010, providing impartial analysis of CR issues raised in shareholder-sponsored proxy proposals. SI2 recently issued an Active Report on Sustainability Reporting, focusing on Microsoft. The Report looks at the proposal of activist investor John Harrington, who wants the company to amend its bylaws to establish a board committee on environmental sustainability. He’s quoted as saying: “to assess and make recommendations to enhance, the Company’s policy responses to changing conditions and knowledge of the natural environment…” 

Microsoft’s response: the proposal is unnecessary because it already has a board committee that oversees its corporate responsibility issues, including environmental matters. CRDAnalytics removed Microsoft from the NASDAQ Global Sustainability Index because of “inadequate disclosure of environmental metrics”. Harrington believes this damaged Microsoft’s reputation, but thinks it can recover by adopting this proxy.

Ultimately, asset owners/managers and investors have been increasing the pressure on corporate boards and managers through the proxy/election process to encourage change in corporate behavior. These investors are focused on environmental performance data and sustainability reporting.

Many experts predicted that investors would demand non-financial reporting – why do you think large companies like Microsoft are still hesistant to report substantial and tangible data, hence listening to their investors? Do you think government-mandated non-financial reporting will soon follow? Discuss!

For the full SI2 action report, please click here.