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Resolution: Disclose Social, Environmental, and Economic Performance
2003 Shareholder Resolution approved by the Advisory Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility (ACCSR)
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Resolution:
Disclose Social, Environmental, and Economic Performance
Whereas:
Disclosure of key information is a founding principle of our
capital markets;
For investors, sustainability reporting will provide non-financial information that can contribute to long-term shareholder value. The Dow Jones Sustainability Index World (DJSI World), which analyzes financial performance as well as the economic, environmental, and social performance of included companies, has outperformed the Dow Jones Global Index from 1994 through 2002;
We believe the linkage between sustainability performance and long-term shareholder value is awakening mainstream financial companies to new tools for understanding and predicting value in capital markets. Major firms including ABN-AMRO, Neuberger Berman, Schroders, T. Rowe Price, and Zurich Scudder subscribe to information on social and environmental risks and opportunities to help make investment decisions, according to Innovest, an environmental investment research consultant;
Companies increasingly recognize that transparency and dialogue with stakeholders about performance, priorities, and future sustainability plans are key to business success. For example, 3M Company reports that its long-term success depends upon implementing principles of sustainable development and "stewardship to the environment." Likewise, Alliant Energy states that tomorrow’s investors will support energy companies "that have demonstrated the ability to minimize their impact on the environment";
We believe sustainability reporting can warn of trouble spots and signal cost-saving opportunities, to both management and shareholders. For instance disclosure of energy consumption allows companies and shareholders to assess environmental performance, potential regulatory actions and reputational risk associated with business activities;
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) (www.globalreporting.org) is an international standard-setting organization with representatives from business, environmental, human-rights and labor communities. The GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines (the Guidelines), created by the GRI, provide companies with (1) a set of reporting principles essential to producing a balanced and reasonable report and (2) guidance for report content, including performance against core indicators in six categories (direct economic impacts, environmental, labor practices and decent work conditions, human rights, society, and product responsibility);
More than 300 companies worldwide, including Agilent Technologies, Baxter International, BASF, British Telecom, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Danone, Electrolux, Ford, General Motors, Interface, KLM, NEC, Nike, Nokia, and Volkswagen, use the Guidelines for sustainability reporting;
Moreover, many important global organizations support the Guidelines. At the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, Article 17 of the Plan of Implementation commits countries to "enhance corporate environmental and social responsibility and accountability." In the United States, the EPA modeled certain disclosure requirements on the environmental component of the Guidelines. The European Union Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility recommends the use of the Guidelines. Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom have developed voluntary reporting guidelines consistent with the Guidelines. In 2002 the Johannesburg Stock Exchange became the first exchange to require all listed companies to comply with a code of conduct that requests disclosure of non-financial information consistent with the Guidelines;
RESOLVED
That shareholders request that the company disclose its
social, environmental and economic performance to the public
by issuing an annual report based on the Global Reporting
Initiative’s sustainability reporting guidelines.
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