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Connections Newsletter - Newsletter of the Co-op America Business Network and the Social Investment Forum

Social Investment Forum Program Highlights

August 3, 2006

 

SRI in the Rockies Conference: Early-Bird Registration Open Until September 1st

Register today at SRIintheRockies.com for the SRI in the Rockies Conference, October 28-31, 2006 at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, CO!

We have an exciting speaker line-up, including: Patricia Aburdene, author of Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism; Jane Ambachtsheer, Principal at Mercer Investment Consulting; Paul Epstein, expert on climate change; David Korten, author, whose latest book is The Great Turning:From Empire to Earth Community; Joel Makower, author and leader on sustainability issues; Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of the Acumen Fund, a not-for-profit global venture fund; and Bob Veres, author and consultant to the financial services industry.

Break-out sessions include diverse topics ranging from the following themes:

  • Global Corporate Transparency Through the GRI
  • Voices from Institutional Investors: Making a Difference on ESG with the Power of the Proxy
  • Corporate Transparency: Political, Messaging, Lobbying, Accountability
  • Internet Privacy, Censorship & Human Rights
  • Trends, Best Practices, Strategic Options in Social Research
  • Clean Energy Rising: The Mainstreaming of Solar, Wind and Biofuels
  • South Africa: Emerging and Developing Markets Post Apartheid
  • From Marketing Your Industry to Promoting Your Business: How To Engage Socially Responsible
  • Consumers Online
  • The Gulf Coast Report: Lessons Learned
  • Indigenous Peoples: Sacred Lands & Economic Development
  • Climate Change
  • 2006 Moskowitz Prize-winning SRI research paper

You won’t want to miss this conference register by September 1st to ensure you get the best rate on registration!

Co-op America’s Green Business Conference: Register by August 31

As members of Co-op America’s Green Business Network™, SIF members are encouraged to participate in Co-op America’s upcoming Green Business Conference. Early registration expires on August 31 – so register now to attend the 4th annual Green Business Conference in San Francisco, November 7-10, 2006 (before the Green Festival – see below.)

After attending the last two conferences, Dominique Conseil, President of AVEDA, shared his experience, “I was so inspired, this is where the true leadership and innovation is coming from. This is the place to learn how to outperform your competition and return superior value to your shareholders in the true spirit of ethical capitalism.”

Speakers and workshops will include: Michael Crooke (CEO/Revolution Living); Ben Cohen (founder/Ben and Jerry’s); Arran Stephens (founder/Nature’s Path), Melissa Bradley (founder/Re-Entry Strategies), Gerald Prolman (CEO/Organic Bouquet); Chip Conley (owner/ Joie de Vivre Hospitality); Jill Bamburg (author/Getting to Scale); Peter Barnes (author/co-founder/Working Assets); Heather Howitt (founder/Oregon Chai); David Korten (author/The Great Turning); Paul Ray (author/The Cultural Creatives); Ryan Black (co-founder/Sambazon); Joe Sibilia (owner/CSR Wire) and Betsy Rosenberg (jourmalist/EcoTalk).

Register at www.coopamerica.biz »

E-mail Denise Hamler to become more involved and support the conference »

Three Green Festivals—News and Updates

Co-op America has learned that Washington, DC’s #1 rated local news show will be broadcasting at the Washington, DC Green Festival, October 14-15. News 4 anchor Wendy Rieger will be at the Green Festival with an up-close and personal look at the movement for socially responsible purchasing and investing. If you haven’t made up your mind yet to attend or exhibit this might be an added incentive!

Speakers in Washington, DC will include Dr. Helen Caldicott, Amy Goodman, Tom Hayden, Warren Brown, Greg Palast, Medea Benjamin, Annie Bond, Lester Brown and 100 others.

Speakers at the San Francisco Green Festival, November 10-11, 2006 , will include Alice Walker, Dr. David Suzuki, Jim Hightower, Ben Cohen, Paul Stamets, and 100 others.

Call 877-727-2179 to reserve exhibit space – although the San Francisco is already sold out! Plan now for the Chicago Green Festival, April 21-22, 2007!.

Get the latest news on the Green Festivals, a project of Co-op America and Global Exchange »

Community Investing – the 1% or More (!) in Community Campaign

Visit www.communityinvest.org to see our newest community investing content! We’ve included two new categories of institutions, bond funds and social enterprises, and we have increased the number of venture capital funds profiled on the site in our user-friendly searchable database.

In addition, through the Calvert Foundation, we have added a full 120 new community investing institutions to the database, including community development loan and venture funds and community development credit unions. The database now boasts 540 community investing institutions! This site is an ideal resource for financial professionals and your clients interested in community investments nationally and internationally!

In addition, the Community Investing Campaign held a successful Community Investing Roundtable in Philadelphia on June 19th. The purpose of this session was different from past years’ in that we convened a smaller group of people to discuss how to create shared terminology and a common framework for presenting the full range of community investments to investors. The ideas presented will help inform our work and outreach going forward.

Social Investment Research Analyst Network (SIRAN)

On July 11, 2006 SIRAN, a working group of the Forum, unveiled updated research on S&P100 companies’ sustainability reporting, including use of the Global Reporting Initiative. This is the second year that SIRAN has issued this data, establishing SIRAN as an expert on this important topic. SIRAN is grateful to KLD Research & Analytics for collection and analysis of this year’s data. Find the updated press release as well as the analysis for all S&P 100 companies.

The new findings of the 2006 study on how sustainability reporting practices have changed in the past year include:

• More than three-quarters of the S&P 100 Index (79 companies) now have special sections of their websites dedicated to sharing information about their social and environmental policies and performance. This represents a 34% increase from last year, when 59 companies in the S&P 100 included this information on their websites.

• Overall, in the last year a dozen new companies issued corporate social responsibility reports for the first time, including Cisco Systems, General Electric, Time Warner, and Wells Fargo. Other members of the S&P 100, such as American International Group and Black & Decker, have pledged to issue their first reports later this year.

• Over a third of the S&P 100 Index (34 companies) say they base their CSR reports on a widely recognized external standard for reporting called the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. This was up sharply from 2005, when 25 companies in the S&P based their reports on the GRI guidelines. The uptick reflects a concerted outreach effort by SIRAN members to promote reporting based on the GRI to the S&P 100. In 2006, 27 S&P 100 companies included an index
to GRI indicators in their reports, up from 23 in 2005. This year, six of the companies met the highest standard of reporting fully “in accordance” with the GRI guidelines.

SIRAN will continue to monitor the environmental and social reporting practices of companies in the S&P 100 Index and to share its findings with the media, SRI research analysts, and corporations.

In addition, SIRAN also continues to host many timely and relevant telephonic brownbag lunches for SRI research analysts. Calls over the past few months have explored the issue of responsible real estate and have offered analysts a place to engage and question corporations on their practices. Recent company meetings include Coca-Cola, Starbucks and BP. For more information on SIRAN’s telephonic brownbag lunches, including participant eligibility, please contact Kate at the Forum at (202) 872-5347.

Visit SIRAN’s Web site this summer for updated information. »

International Working Group

The Forum’s International Working Group (IWG) is preparing for its annual fall meeting to be held directly before the SRI in the Rockies Conference. The meeting, which will begin at 4:00 p.m. on Friday October 27th and run through 3:00 p.m. on October 28th, will focus on challenges and opportunities for SRI investors in developing countries. For more information and to register, contact Kate Rosow at (202) 872-5347.

Advocacy & Public Policy Program (APP)

APP continues to track the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule changes to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) reporting. Earlier this year, APP teamed with other concerned NGOs to track new developments and pressure the EPA to keep the important reporting TRI reporting requirements on pollution in place. Earlier this year, the House of Representatives signaled its commitment to making polluters continue to report to local and federal governments. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has since taken the opposite side in this debate, urging the EPA and Congress to cut reporting requirements. APP will continue to track and protect communities’ and investors’ rights to know what pollutants are in their environment and the environmental risks and liabilities a company may face.

In addition, the APP Working Group is focusing on countering attacks on SRI and corporate social responsibility (CSR) where they appear in the media or from organizations opposed to increased corporate transparency and accountability to stakeholders. Forum members are tracking negative remarks on SRI and CSR will be developing responses for members’ use.

APP is also reviewing SIF member polices on Sudan divestment. All Forum members are encouraged to contact Kate at (202) 872-5347 to share their investment strategies for this area.