Sustainability Reporting describing the company’s environmental, social and governance business practices—co-filed with Walden Asset Management

Hydraulic Fracturing: Community Impacts – Risk Assessment -- disclosure on the impacts of fracking on local community and the financial risks of these impacts. This resolution includes both environmental impacts to water quality, health impacts from exposure to water and air, and is broad enough to include social ills documented in fracking towns.

Here is a sampling of the significant press coverage after last year’s votes.

New: Political Spending Resolution – response to Citizens United ruling. Calls on corporations to review policies and oversight processes related to political spending and public policy, both direct and indirect including through trade associations, and present a summary report by September 2012.

by Claude Solnik
Published: October 3, 2011

It looks like a few firms have agreed to open the books on their political donations, a year after the Supreme Court unceremoniously closed the door on once strict limits to contributions.

A trio of Fortune 500 companies whose stock is held by the New York State Common Retirement Fund have agreed to disclose their political campaign contributions and procedures, after requests from New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

DiNapoli said Marriott International, Yum Brands (parent of Pizza Hut and Taco Bell) and Limited Brands(parent of Henri Bendel and Victoria’s Secret), whose stock is held by the state’s $146.9 billion retirement fund, agreed to disclose contributions to political campaigns and advocacy groups and outline their approval process for political contributions.

The comptroller and the Center for Political Accountability began a push last year for greater disclosure after the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision opened the doors to big corporate contributions.

“There’s cause for concern when corporations make it their business to finance campaigns,” DiNapoli said. “Now we’re asking corporations to do the responsible thing for their shareholders and for the public. These three companies have heeded the call.”

After finding that about 70 of the S&P 500 companies had public policies regarding disclosing political donations, the comptroller and the center sent out letters requesting information from the remaining firms.

“We engaged with these companies. Some came forward and said we’ll work with you,” said Eric Sumberg, a spokesman for the comptroller. “We proposed shareholder resolutions at some.”

The retirement fund filed nine shareholder resolutions, leading to agreements with these three firms during the proxy season.

The New York State Common Retirement Fund as of Sept. 16 owned nearly $150 million combined in these firms’ shares including 1.6 million shares of Yum Brands worth $86.2 million; 873,292 shares of Limited Brands worth $35.2 million and 938,109 shares of Marriott International worth $27.4 million.

DiNapoli said he’s continuing to push for disclosure of corporate contributions as a way of monitoring spending of firms whose shares are held by the state an their interaction with the political process.

“Proxy season is in the spring,” Sumberg said. “Over the next couple of months, we’ll look at which companies to engage with the next season. Hopefully, we’ll have more successful engagements.”

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sep. 01 /CSRwire/ - Two leading sustainable business organizations representing 5,000 small businesses today sent a letter calling on President Obama to reject the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and, instead, invest in clean energy technologies.  

The pipeline would deliver oil from the tar sands in Canada to the Gulf of Mexico across the United States.

In their letter, Green America’s Green Business Network and The Green Chamber of Commercesaid the pipeline would further United States addiction to oil and risk disastrous new oil spills in rivers and the Ogallala aquifer. Global warming and oil spills have been seen to have an extremely detrimental effect on the economy, which affects the well-being of their businesses.

In addition to these risks, production of the 700,000 barrels of heavy crude that would travel from the tar sands every day creates a tremendous amount of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. Both the potential for environmentally harmful oils spills and increase in GHG emissions would be harmful to the environment, in addition to the harm to business in the United States.

The text of the letter to President Obama follows:

“We write to you on behalf of thousands of small businesses in the United States that are deeply concerned about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The well-being of our businesses and the economy in the United States are tied to the health of our environment. The Keystone XL pipeline will have an immensely negative impact on the environment. It would bring 700,000 barrels of heavy crude from Canadian tar sands to the US every day, furthering the US addiction to oil, and risking new oil spills in rivers and the Ogallala aquifer. The production of oil from tar sands would generate enormous greenhouse gas emissions, and create greater impacts from global warming.

The impacts of global warming -- from droughts, to floods, to extreme weather -- are bad for business in the United States. As we saw in the Gulf, oil spills also have a devastating impact on the economy. The failure to shift America away from its dependence on oil to cleaner fuels will further imperil our economy and reduce the number of green jobs we need for sustainable economic growth.

Your administration has taken bold and necessary steps to increase the green energy economy in the US. Now, we urge you to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, and further invest in clean energy technologies. It is the right decision for the US, and it is the right decision for business.”

Each summer, animal activists travel across the country to meet and discuss the latest topics of the animal rights movement. This year, animal agriculture was once again the focus. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) hosted its annual Taking Action for Animals Conference in Washington, D.C. on July 15-18, and Farm Animal Rights Movement’s Animal Rights 2011 Conference (AR 2011) was held two weeks later on July 21-25 in Los Angeles. Both events claimed to have “record-breaking” attendance, attracting a combined total of more than 1,600 activists from around the world, ranging in age from 20-60 years old.

Securing rights for farm animals and the promotion of a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle to the mainstream public were hot topics at both meetings. Attendees were given tips on how to utilize social media, create “undercover” videos and craft effective messages to share their views with others. Speakers and exhibitors also encouraged aspiring activists to hold demonstrations, signature drives for ballot initiatives and leafleting campaigns.

The largest activist groups attended and sponsored both meetings, although messaging differed between audiences. Nathan Runkle, Executive Director of Mercy For Animals, Erica Meier, Executive Director of Compassion Over Killing, and Gene Baur, President of Farm Sanctuary, spoke at both meetings. They encouraged a more aggressive, physical approach to eliminating animal agriculture at AR 2011, which is seen as the more extremist meeting. For more information about the most active animal rights groups, access the Alliance’s updated activist profile report.

Both conferences discussed a growing embrace of the vegetarian lifestyle in the mainstream media. Speakers used inflated statistics (often citing their own studies) to increase misconceptions about animal agriculture and its effects on the environment and one’s health. The sessions on farm animal rights were the most widely attended at both conferences, with five presentations devoted to the topic including, ”The Global Campaign Against Factory Farming,” “Advances in Farm Animal Protection,” and “Agriculture Campaigns.”

TAFA included a formal vegan banquet with keynote speakers HSUS President and CEO Wayne Pacelle and Congressman Jim Moran (D-Va.). Both speakers stressed the importance of lobbying and having a presence in Washington, D.C. to promote animal rights on Capitol Hill. TAFA and AR 2011 featured an exclusively vegan menu for all guests. It should be noted that, in contrast to the lifestyle choices advocated for by the conference speakers, 97 percent of Americans enjoy meat, milk, and egg products as part of their diet.

Throughout TAFA, HSUS shared examples of celebrities and mainstream media outlets that promote a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. Though HSUS regularly attempts to portray itself as a mainstream organization, many of its conference speakers and attendees strongly advocate for animal rights. At AR 2011, the recommended tactics discussed were more extreme, including use of violence, sabotage to farms and other illegal actions.

Most people are not aware of these animal activist groups’ true motives to end all animal agriculture and rid the human diet of meat, eggs and dairy. For example, the “Meatless Monday” campaign is marketed as a mainstream idea to cut meat out of the diet for one day a week to improve one’s health and the environment. However, this well-funded campaign was founded by the husband of a wealthy, longtime animal rights activist and it actually pushes an extreme animal rights and environmental agenda by promoting false claims about animal agriculture.

“Meatless Monday” was discussed at both TAFA and AR 2011 by HSUS, Compassion Over Killing, and Mercy for Animals, all who referred to the campaign as a start to a vegetarian or vegan outreach lifestyle. Numerous celebrities, school systems, mainstream media and even cities were mentioned as having joined the campaign. Each presenter claimed that at least 51 percent of the American public is familiar with the “Meatless Monday” campaign, and that 18 percent actively participate, though a source for the statistic was not produced. Josh Balk of HSUS discussed the campaign as a way to not only get people to start eating vegetarian, but to “save 1.4 billion farm animals.”

The new agreement between HSUS and United Egg Producers to seek federal legislation for housing standards for egg laying hens was also discussed at both conferences. Audience members seemed upset about the agreement, noting HSUS “caved” by giving up its cage-free campaign. Others were frustrated because they had devoted time and energy to collecting signatures for the ballot. Kitty Jones, a 17-year-old student, was praised for her individual work of collecting more than 10,000 signatures for the proposed Washington state ballot initiative campaign. On the other hand, some of the activist groups viewed the agreement as a “monumental victory” for HSUS, although some attendees were wary of working with the agriculture industry. HSUS staff asserted that the biggest hurdle would be agricultural lawmakers in Congress.

Farmers and ranchers should educate themselves on the threat these groups represent. Unfortunately, most people are not aware of these extremists groups’ true agenda against animal agriculture. TAFA and AR 2011 showcased animal activists’ real beliefs that are often hidden behind emotionally appealing and celebrity funded public relations campaigns. It is critical that all stakeholders correct the misinformation presented by these activist groups, showcase the wonderful families and businesses involved in farming, ranching and food production and share with the public your commitment to your animals, the environment, food safety and continuous improvement. The Alliance will continue to work to bridge the gap between farmers and consumers to show that while today’s agriculture industry has evolved to meet the needs of society, the same core values remain.

Today’s shareholder vote at the Smucker’s annual meeting marked an important step towards getting the company to report on climate risks associated with their coffee business and supply chain. The proposal received roughly 30% support (based on preliminary numbers). While 30% might not sound notable, a recent report on the 2011 proxy season puts the vote in perspective: the report found that investor support for shareholder resolutions on environmental and social issues rose to a 20.5% average approval rate (the first time support has ever reached the 20% mark). 30% sure sounds like a lot when measuring against that baseline. Analysts at Trillium Asset Management and Calvert Investment Management also report that first year resolutions generally garner far less support as investors are initially introduced to the proposals.

This vote sends a clear signal to Smucker’s leadership that shareholders are raising legitimate concerns around disclosure of social and environmental risks in their coffee supply chain. Trillium and Calvert will engage with company representatives in the fall pressing them to respond meaningfully to investor concerns about coffee and climate change. While the two investment firms hope to make progress with the company over the course of the next year, they will reserve the right to re-file the resolution in 2012 if necessary.

Oxfam will help keep the pressure on Smucker’s to adequately respond and we’ll keep you updated on opportunities to engage.