Key Components of a Socially Responsible Company

by Conrad MacKerron

Our Mission

Use the power of financial markets to strengthen corporate social and

environmental policies

Shareholder Advocacy –Mobilizing Financial Markets for Social Change

Corporate Engagement

Shareholder Proposals

Proxy Voting

Blue Chip EngagementMore than 50 corporate engagements moving

companies towards greater environmental sustainability and social equity.

Traditional Measures of Corporate Responsibility

Quality of management Compliance with laws Honest accounting Financial soundness Product quality

Challenging But Essential Policies

Environmental Stewardship

Human Capital

Key Components of Environmental Stewardship

Policies and practices to promote:

• Materials Efficiency• Reduced Toxics• Reduced Waste• Extended Producer Responsibility

Key Components of Human Capital

Policies and practices to promote labor rights and deter…

• Forced Labor• Child Labor• Slave Labor

Product Stewardship

Shifts responsibility for recycling and safe disposal from society to

producers

17 states -- producer responsibility laws for electronic waste

11 states – beverage container deposit laws

Apple’s Commitment to As You Sow

Best Buy’s Commitment to As You Sow

The largest U.S. electronics retailer began to offer electronic waste recycling at all of its 1000+ stores in February

They expect to collect 50 million pounds of electronics in 2009

Bottle and Can RecyclingProblem• 66% of beverage bottles and cans are wasted!

Action• Coca-Cola agrees to recycle 50% of bottles

and cans it sells by 2015• Nestle Waters agrees to recycle 60% of PET

plastic bottles sold by 2018

CFLs and Mercury

In dialogue with GE, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Wal-Mart to encourage:

-No worker exposure to mercury at factory level

-Labeling of mercury content -Labeling of safe cleanup procedures if

bulbs break

Uzbek cotton

• Every fall, over 1 million Uzbek children are taken out of the classroom and into the fields—by government mandate— to pick cotton.

• Wal-Mart called for a boycott on Uzbek cotton; Target, Gap Inc., Levi’s & Co., Marks & Spencer, and Tesco have all made public statements and taken steps internally to eliminate Uzbek cotton from their supply chains.

Labor Rights Codes of Conduct

Risks of Inaction/Benefits of Action • Build brand social value

• Easier to implement policies early on

• Transparency builds stakeholder respect

• Lower operational costs

• Negative media

-Union Carbide - Bhopal-Enron/Andersen scandal-Exxon Valdez spill-Nike – sweatshop labor-Gap – sweatshop labor

• Activist NGO campaigns• Issue management costs• Remediation costs

Key Take Away #1

Environmental StewardshipReduce/remove toxics

Responsibility for recycling/disposal

Key Take Away #2

Implement supply chain Code of Conduct to assure worker labor rights

Key Take Away #3

Cross-Silo Effect: When environmental and social issues overlap

CFL- production/ consumer safety

E-waste disposal– protect people/ earth

Strengthening Corporate Responsibility

Shareholder EngagementPromoting Best PracticesSocial and Environmental Policy Consulting