New York Times on 02/13/07: Companies Pressed to Define Green Policies

Tracey C. Rembert, the coordinator of corporate governance and engagement for the Service Employees International Union, acknowledges that Wells Fargo is the country�s largest purchaser of renewable energy offsets and has specialists on staff studying all of the implications of climate change on its businesses.

TXU, Exxon Mobil Among 10 'Climate Watch' Companies Targeted by Investors

Contact:
Peyton Fleming Ceres, 617-247-0700 xt. 20 | fleming@ceres.org

• Read: 2007 Proxy Season - Resolution Tracker

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US Companies Face Record Number of Global Warming Resolutions

A group of leading US investors today announced the formation of a Climate Watch List, a list of 10 companies that have been identified as lagging behind their industry peers in their responses to climate change. As part of this effort, investors have filed shareholder resolutions with the 10 companies – and 26 other US businesses – aimed at improving their focus and attention to the business risks and opportunities from climate change.

The Climate Watch companies include influential electric power companies, oil producers, coal companies and other businesses that investors believe are not adequately dealing with potential climate-related business impacts, whether from physical changes, emerging climate regulations, or growing global demand for climate-friendly technologies and services.

The resolutions are among a record 42 global warming resolutions filed with U.S. companies as part of the 2007 proxy season – nearly double the number of climate-related resolutions filed just three years ago. The resolutions, seeking greater disclosure from companies on their responses and strategies to climate-related business trends, were filed by state and city pension funds and labor, foundation, religious and other institutional shareholders. The filers collectively manage more than $200 billion in assets.

The Climate Watch companies include:

Banking & Financial: Wells Fargo
Electric Power: TXU, Dominion Resources, Allegheny Energy
Coal: Massey Energy and Consol Energy
Insurance: ACE
Oil & Gas: ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips
Retail: Bed Bath & Beyond

“Many US companies are confronting the risks and opportunities from climate change, but others are not responding adequately – and they may be compromising their long-term competitiveness and shareholder value as a result,” said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres, a leading coalition of investors and environmental groups that helped coordinate the shareholder filings. “We want all companies to understand the business impacts of climate change – and plan for it accordingly. It’s is what any corporate director would expect of their CEO.”

“Those companies that are ignoring the serious risks posed by climate change do so at their own peril,” said North Carolina State Treasurer Richard Moore, whose office manages more than $70 billion in pension funds. “Acknowledging the business risks posed by climate change is just good business, and shareholders demand it.”

“Legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions looks increasingly likely,” added Leslie Lowe, director of the Energy and Environment Program at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, an association of 275 faith-based institutional investors. “Investors want to know whether companies are prepared to meet the challenge of reducing CO2 in their operations and products. They want companies to set voluntary reduction goals and tell the market how they plan to meet those goals.”

“Scientific projections of the potential destructive impacts of climate change on the global economy are now incontrovertible. Companies in every industry, especially energy sectors, must act now to assess and mitigate climate change risks,” said New York City Comptroller William Thompson Jr., whose office filed resolutions with electric power and coal companies. “To enable investors to make informed investment decisions, companies must provide full and transparent disclosure of the actions they are taking to address the risks and opportunities of climate change.”

The Climate Watch companies:

Dominion Resources Inc.: Dominion has balked at shareholder requests the past three years to disclose its potential financial exposure from foreseeable climate regulations. This year's resolution, filed by the New York City Comptroller's Office, requests that Dominion prepare a climate risk report, just as a dozen other US power companies already have done. The VA-based company emitted 62 million tons of CO2 from its power plants in 2004. (NYC Comptroller Contact: Jeff Simmons, 212-669-2636)

TXU Corp: TXU, which is proposing to build 11 coal-fired plants in Texas, has been targeted with three resolutions requesting reports on how the company is responding to growing regulatory pressure to reduce CO2 emissions and how enhanced energy efficiency programs in Texas could impact its ability to sell new power. The resolutions were filed by the New York City Pension Funds, Connecticut State Treasurer's Office and Benedictine Sisters of Texas. (CT State Treasurer Contact: Robyn Belek, 860-702-3013)

ConocoPhillips: Unlike BP, Chevron and other major oil producers, ConocoPhillips has made no significant investments in wind, solar and other renewable energy technologies that will be in increasing demand in the years ahead. The resolution filed by Trillium Asset Management and the North Carolina State Treasurer requests that the board of directors prepare a report on how it is responding to rising competitive and regulatory pressure to significantly develop renewable
energy sources. (Trillium Contact: Shelley Alpern 617-423-6655 and NC State Treasurer Contact: Sara Lang, 919-807-3132)

Wells Fargo: Unlike Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, which have set specific goals to reduce GHG emissions from their lending activities, Wells Fargo has been unresponsive to shareholder requests for comprehensive emission reduction goals relating to its business. The resolution filed by the Service Employees International Union and 10 other filers requests that the CA-based company develop specific GHG reduction goals regarding its operations, lending activities and project financing. (SEIU Contact: Tracey Rembert, 202-297-4162)

Bed, Bath & Beyond: Unlike Lowe’s, the Home Depot and other major retailers, Bed Bath & Beyond has been unresponsive to shareholder requests that it disclose its strategies and performance on energy efficiency and other climate related issues. Last year’s resolution requesting a report on its energy efficiency efforts received more than 27 percent support. This year’s resolution was filed by the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Sierra Club Mutual Fund. (Nathan Cummings Foundation Contact: Laura Shaffer, 212-787-7300 x233)

Massey Energy: Given that coal combustion accounts for about 35 percent of all GHG emissions in the US and given the growing regulatory momentum to reduce emissions from power plants, the New York City Pension Funds have filed a resolution with the VA-based company requesting a report on how the company is responding to growing regulatory and competitive pressure to significantly reduce GHG emissions. Massey is the nation’s 4th largest coal producer. (NYC Comptroller Contact: Jeff Simmons 212-669-2636)

Consol Energy: Given that coal combustion accounts for about 35 percent of all GHG emissions in the US and given the growing regulatory momentum to reduce emissions from power plants, the New York City Pension Funds have filed a resolution with the PA-based company requesting a report on how the company is responding to growing regulatory and competitive pressure to significantly reduce GHG emissions. Consol is the nation’s largest bituminous coal producer. (NYC Comptroller Contact: Jeff Simmons, 212-669-2636)

ExxonMobil: Investors are dissatisfied with the company’s climate risk disclosure and general lack of response to climate issues. Unlike other major oil firms, which are making tangible investments in low-carbon technologies, ExxonMobil has been unresponsive to investor requests for a decade regarding strategies intended to meet growing demand for diversified energy sources. The five resolutions request that the board develop comprehensive GHG emission reduction goals and disclose its plans for responding to climate legislation. The resolutions were filed by the CT State Treasurer, the Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment and the Midwest Capuchin Order. (Tri-State Coalition Contact: Sister Pat Daly, 973-670-9674)

ACE Limited: Unlike AIG and other industry peers, insurer ACE Limited has refused various investor requests to disclose its strategies, policies and potential exposure from climate change. The resolution filed by the Calvert Group requests that ACE’s board of directors provide a report describing the company’s strategy and actions relative to climate change, including the effects that climate change may have on the company. (Calvert Group Contact: Stu Dalheim, 301-961-4762)

Allegheny Energy: Based in Greensburg, PA, Allegheny is one of the 20 largest CO2 emitters in the country’s electric power industry, with 45 million tons emitted in 2004. Allegheny has not responded to repeated requests for disclosure regarding its potential exposure to foreseeable climate regulations. The New York City Comptroller’s office has filed a resolution requesting a report on how it is responding to growing regulatory and competitive pressure to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (NYC Comptroller: Jeff Simmons, 212-669-2636)

In addition to the Climate Watch companies, investors filed resolutions with the following other businesses. The list of investors filing resolutions with each of the companies can be found at http://www.ceres.org or http://www.iccr.org

Auto: General Motors, Ford

Building Companies: Boston Properties, Centex, *D.R. Horton, Kroger, *Standard Pacific, Pulte Homes, *Toll Brothers

Retailers: *Costco, CVS, Whole Foods

Coal: Arch, *Ameren

Electric Power: Sempra, Southern

Insurance: Hartford, Prudential, Chubb

Oil & Gas: *Anadarko, Chevron, EOG, Ultra Petroleum

S&P 500: *Bemis, *Teradyne, Starwood Hotels

*Resolution withdrawn after company agrees to comply with shareholder resolution request.

Contact:
Peyton Fleming, Ceres (617-247-0700 x 20 or 617-733-6660 cell)
Leslie Lowe, ICCR (212-870-2623)
Sara Lang, North Carolina State Treasurer's office (919-807-3132)

• Read: 2007 Proxy Season - Resolution Tracker

S&P 500 Companies Faulted For Poor Climate Disclosure

Contact:
Peyton Fleming Ceres, 617-247-0700 xt. 20 | fleming@ceres.org

• Read: Climate Risk Disclosure by the S&P 500

First-Ever Report Shows “Severely Lacking” Disclosure by S&P 500 Companies; Poor Responses Cited Among Retail, Bank and Insurance Industries.

BOSTON, MA & BETHESDA, MD — Despite growing financial losses in various business sectors from climate change, over half of the nation’s 500 largest publicly traded companies are doing a poor job of disclosing climate change risks to their investors, according to a first-ever report analyzing climate disclosure practices among S&P 500 companies last year.

The Ceres/Calvert report released today concludes that America’s largest companies still aren’t taking climate change seriously enough. Less than half (47 percent) of the S&P 500 companies responded to a global survey last year by the Carbon Disclosure Project requesting information about their climate risks and strategies, and those that did respond failed to provide much of the information investors are seeking. Nearly a third (30 percent) of the responders, in fact, declined to publicly release their responses, calling them “confidential.”

“Many US companies are still downplaying climate change and its far-reaching business impacts,” said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres, a leading coalition of investors, environmental groups and other public interest organizations. “More-extreme weather events, regulatory changes and growing global demand for climate-friendly technologies are just a few of the ways that climate change will ripple across all sectors of the economy. Yet, many US companies are not addressing these trends and are leaving investors in the dark about their strategies for mitigating those risks.”

Poor survey responses among lower-emitting companies – in particular, retailers, banks and insurers – was especially conspicuous. Many companies in these sectors provide insufficient climate disclosure to investors, even after suffering large financial losses from climate-related events, such as the 2005 hurricanes. Lubber said that all companies should disclose their risks using the three most common disclosure mechanisms: SEC filings, CDP, and sustainability reports using Global Reporting Initiative guidelines.

“All companies have a duty to provide shareholders with more analysis and disclosure on climate risks and their strategies for managing or mitigating those risks,” said Dr. Julie Fox Gorte, vice president and chief social investment strategist at Calvert. “Lower-CO2-emitting sectors and companies also face potential risks from new regulations, physical changes, and other climate-related impacts. Power and oil companies are improving their climate disclosure and it is now time for retailers, banks and telecommunication companies to start doing the same.”

"This report underscores the need for the SEC to take action to include climate risk as part of their ‘materiality’ standard for corporate reporting, and for the companies of the S&P 500 to take heed,” said Howard Rifkin, Deputy Treasurer, State of Connecticut. “The good news is that a coalition of investors have developed a set of reporting guidelines—the Global Framework for Climate Risk Disclosure—that corporations can use."

The Ceres/Calvert analysis was based on S&P 500 company responses to a questionnaire distributed last year by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), to obtain more information relating to corporate management of climate change. CDP is a coordinated effort by 225 global investors with total assets of $31 trillion. The report authors used the Global Framework for Climate Risk Disclosure to analyze the quality of responses.

Other key findings from the Ceres/Calvert report include:

• Poor Greenhouse Gas Emissions Management: 80 percent of the 228 companies that responded to the survey (182 companies) addressed the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but only a quarter (59 companies) disclosed measurable emissions reductions targets and specific time frames for reductions.

• Physical Impacts Not on Radar Screen: Nearly 75 percent of the responding companies (171 companies) acknowledged bottom-line risks associated with extreme weather events such as hurricanes, fires and floods. However, very few of the companies surveyed link more-extreme weather to climate change and fewer still—only four percent – disclosed strategies for mitigating and adapting to the growing physical impacts from climate change.

The case for action is clear, since the climate problem for S&P firms – and the shareholders who invest in them – is expected to grow even more severe. The report notes that climate change is expected to increase the severity of future hurricanes, as scientific evidence indicates that ocean warming is increasing their intensity. In fact, the energy released by the average hurricane has risen by about 70 percent in the past three decades, just as sea surface temperatures have increased during the same period. Scientists say warming temperatures are also contributing to record heat waves and more damaging wildfires and hailstorms across the U.S.

International, national and state regulations will have a similar rippling effect, as companies will come under increasing pressure to improve their energy efficiency, switch fuels or invest in emission controls. While momentum for mandatory federal climate legislation is growing, California and seven Northeastern states are already taking regulatory action to reduce global warming pollutants. Meanwhile much of Europe is pushing to reduce GHG emissions under a cap-and-trade carbon emissions trading program already valued at about $30 billion a year. All companies—including retailers, banks, oil producers and utilities—will be affected by these regulations. Understanding how individual companies and industries incorporate these regulations into capital investment decisions and strategic planning is increasingly critical to a complete understanding of a company’s health and financial value.

The executive summary and full Ceres/Calvert report is available online at http://www.calvert.com and http://www.ceres.org.

ABOUT THE REPORT

The Ceres/Calvert Report is based on the responses of U.S. companies to the fourth request for information sent by the Carbon Disclosure Project in February 2006, on behalf of 225 investors. The responses were evaluated against the Global Framework for Climate Risk Disclosure, a statement of the information that a growing number of investors now expect from companies on their climate change risks. The Ceres/Calvert report is one of a family of 11 CDP reports that analyze the responses of over 900 companies worldwide and can be found on the CDP Web site at http://www.cdproject.net.

ABOUT THE GROUPS:

Ceres
Ceres is a national coalition of investors, environmental groups and other public interest organizations working with companies to address sustainability challenges such as global climate change. Ceres also directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk, a group of more than 50 institutional investors managing $3.7 trillion in assets. Ceres published a recent report, Corporate Governance and Climate Change: Making the Connection, that evaluates and ranks 100 leading global companies on their climate governance practices. For more information on the March 2006 report, visit www.ceres.org.

Calvert
Since 1976, Calvert has set industry standards for asset management excellence - in selecting companies for its portfolios and in serving clients' interests. Calvert’s investment approach emphasizes rigorous fundamental research that goes beyond traditional measures to uncover companies with long-term value. Today, more than 400,000 investors entrust over $14 billion in assets to Calvert. Calvert offers one of the largest families of socially responsible mutual funds whose holdings are screened across seven key areas: Governance/Ethics, Workplace, Environment, Product Safety and Impact, International Operations and Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples' Rights, and Community Relations.

Ceres and Calvert Group commissioned this analysis by David Gardiner & Associates. This report was made possible by the financial support of Calvert, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Skoll Foundation and United Nations Foundation.

CONTACTS: Peyton Fleming for Ceres at (617) 247-0700 ext. 20 or fleming@ceres.org and Melinda Lovins for Calvert at (301) 657-7089 or Melinda.Lovins@calvert.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A streaming audio replay of this Ceres/Calvert news event will be available as of 6 p.m. ET on January 31, 2007 at http://www.calvert.com.

• Read: Climate Risk Disclosure by the S&P 500

Letter from Davos — Ceres President Mindy Lubber Blogs for WorldChanging.org

As the climate change conversations heat up here at Davos, the question was finally asked, "Why are we not ready to act on the central truth that energy conservation and energy efficiency are the cheapest, quickest, largest source of energy?" read the blog.

New Report Touts Vast Energy Efficiency Potential in Texas:

Challenges TXU, Other Utilities’ Call for Costly New Power Plants

• Read: Power to Save: An Alternative Path to Meet Electric Needs in Texas
• Contact:Peyton Fleming Ceres, 617-247-0700 xt. 20 | fleming@ceres.org

AUSTIN, TEXAS – Here’s a way to avoid spending billions of dollars on proposed high-polluting power plants in Texas: Saving energy.

A new report released today concludes that Texas can meet its growing energy needs at lower cost, and with significantly less pollution by using new incentives for businesses and consumers in the state, and requiring utility companies to invest in cost-effective energy savings before they spend money on expensive new plants. Together, the report says these strategies would yield nearly $50 billion in savings and other economic benefits to Texas over the next 15 years with an investment of $11 billion – a dividend of more than four to one.

“Texas has outstanding opportunities to meet its energy needs safely, reliably and affordably, without building dozens more smokestacks,” said Tim Greeff of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “Investment in cost-effective energy savings is an investment in cleaner air, lower energy bills and a stronger Texas economy.”

Each dollar in energy savings initiatives would generate $4.40 in savings, according to the study, which was prepared for the NRDC and the investor coalition Ceres by researchers at Optimal Energy, an energy efficiency consulting firm. Altogether, the energy saving programs could reduce peak energy demand in Texas by more than 18,500 megawatts – equivalent to the output of 20 large power plants – due to dramatic reductions in electricity use. The report findings are based in part on successful energy efficiency initiatives already in place in Austin and other parts of the country.

“Smarter strategies can provide Texas with all the energy it needs while maintaining a vibrant, robust economy,” said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres, which directs a $3.7 trillion network of investors focused on the business impacts from climate change. “Energy efficiency is a cheaper, less-risky solution to the state’s energy needs than betting its future on costly coal-fired power plants.”

Nineteen new power plants are currently proposed in Texas, including 11 new coal-fired power plants, costing an estimated $10 billion, by the TXU Corp.

“The cheapest energy is energy you don’t have to produce and buy in the first place,” said Philip H. Mosenthal, founding partner of Optimal Energy and the report’s lead author. “Numerous technologies exist to dramatically reduce homeowner and business energy use economically, while providing greater comfort and productivity. Texas has an opportunity to become a leader in clean energy development that will ensure its energy system reliability while saving billions of dollars, dramatically reducing global warming emissions, and creating jobs and strengthening local economies.”

The report, Power to Save: An Alternative Path to Meet Electric Needs in Texas, evaluates the potential benefits from enhanced energy efficiency efforts in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and other parts of the state covered by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). The region includes 75 percent of the state’s area and 85 percent of its overall electricity demand.

The report shows that by investing $11 billion in proven programs and policies focused on more efficient appliances, office equipment and building codes, as well as utility incentives, the Texas economy would achieve $49 billion of economic benefits – a net economic benefit of $38 billion.

The report cites the following additional benefits from enhanced energy efficiency efforts:

• Eliminate more than 80 percent of forecasted growth in electricity demand, which ERCOT now projects will grow 2.3 percent a year on average through 2020 without efficiency efforts.
• Save energy at a cost of less than 2 cents per kilowatt-hour, compared to more than 7 cents per kilowatt-hour by securing electricity from existing power plants.

• Save 20,700 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity each year by 2011 and over 80,000 GWh annually by 2021, enough energy to power more than seven million households.
• Prevent 52 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually by 2021, over 20 percent of Texas’ current emissions associated with electricity use and equal to the emissions from 10 million cars. Total CO2 emission reductions over the life of the efficiency improvements would be 400 million metric tons.
• For every $1 invested, Texas would recoup about $4.40 in economic benefits from lower costs to consumers and savings for utilities from reduced power-plant capacity and delivery costs.

The conclusions are consistent with those reported by the Western Governor’s Association 2006 Energy Efficiency Task Force, which found that adoption of best practices and policies for just energy efficiency could reduce load growth by about 75 percent over the next 15 years.

The new findings also include a preliminary evaluation of potential benefits from better maximizing combined heat and power (CHP) and demand response resources. By also tapping those sources, overall electricity demand could be reduced by 0.5 percent a year – eliminating the need for any new power plants altogether.

CHP refers to the generation of both electricity and useful heat energy, usually by an industrial energy consumer for use at their own facility. Demand response refers to technologies and strategies that enable facilities to reduce the power consumption of their customers during high demand periods using various approaches, including pricing and remote controls.

The report includes specific recommendations for achieving the energy efficiency goals, among those:

• Increase the state’s efficiency resource standard (ERS) from 10 percent of new load growth to at least 50 percent and preferably 75 percent as recommended by the Western Governor’s Association. A 50 percent ERS means that half of a utility’s new load growth must come from energy efficiency resources.
• Expand investment in energy efficiency programs, such as is occurring in other states and parts of Texas. Some utilities spend more than three percent of their annual revenues on energy efficiency, seven times more than the 0.4 percent that Texas investor-owned utilities such as TXU spend.
• Require electric utilities to invest in all cost-effective efficiency resources, removing disincentives to utility investment in efficiency, and giving them the flexibility to design and deliver programs in response to customer and market needs.
• Require the Public Utility Commission of Texas to review the potential for energy efficiency and demand side management and update efficiency goals and programs every two years.

This report is the first of several reports that will be released over the next few months regarding energy efficiency and demand-side management potential in Texas. A soon-to-be-released report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) will examine the efficiency potential in greater detail and make specific policy recommendations for Texas. The report will also include a detailed examination of CHP, demand response and on-site renewables potential.

# # #

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.2 million members and online activists nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Ceres is a leading coalition of investors, environmental groups and other public interest organizations working with companies to address sustainability challenges such as climate change. It directs the Investor Network on Climate Change, a network of more than 50 leading investors with collective assets totaling $3.7 trillion. For more information, visit www.ceres.org

Optimal Energy, Inc (OEI) is recognized as a leader in energy efficiency planning, program design, and analysis, particularly in the commercial, institutional, and industrial sectors. OEI is the chief architect of Efficiency Vermont, the nation's first and only Efficiency Utility and recognized internationally as using one of the most innovative approaches to delivering energy efficiency education and savings to utility customers. OEI has designed and assisted in the implementation of "best practice" efficiency initiatives throughout the U.S., Canada and China.

• Read: Power to Save: An Alternative Path to Meet Electric Needs in Texas

Inside Green Business on 1/4/07: Facilities Finding Business Benefits From Ceres Reporting Project

A pioneering project by Ceres to help define sustainability at the facility level has provide sufficient business benefits to companies that all of them want to repeat the effort.
Click here for full article.

Fortune on 1/3/07: How Green is Wall Street?

Investment banks say they are eco-friendly, but back coal plants.

"We are committed to a policy of environmental excellence," the Wall Street securities firm says on its Web site. This raises a couple of questions. Why, then, is Merrill a lead underwriter for a $10-billion plan to build 11 new coal-fired power plants in Texas that is strenuously opposed by just about every major environmental group in the United States?
Click here for the Fortune Article

Ceres-ACCA Annouce 19 Finalists for Sustainability Reporting Awards

Contact:Peyton Fleming Ceres, 617-247-0700 xt. 20 | fleming@ceres.org
December 11, 2006

Ceres and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) today announced the shortlist of candidate reports for the Ceres-ACCA North American Sustainability Reporting Awards for 2006. Of the 102 sustainability reports received, 19 were selected for further consideration by the judges’ panel that meets next month. The final winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Toronto on April 12, 2007 and also at the Ceres Annual Conference at the Seaport Hotel in Boston on April 25, 2007.

Now in its sixth year, the purpose of the awards program is to acknowledge and publicize best practices in reporting on sustainability, environmental and social performance by corporations and organizations and to provide leadership to those companies that are publishing or intend to publish sustainability reports.

The awards are not intended to endorse or reward corporate sustainability performance, but rather to acknowledge exemplary disclosure that places performance in the broader context of sustainability challenges, risks and opportunities. The judging criteria address completeness, credibility and quality of communication. The panel of 14 judges includes North American leaders and experts representing a broad spectrum of backgrounds.

Short-Listed Reports

• Alcan
• Baxter International
• Bristol-Meyers Squibb
• Citigroup
• General Electric
• Green Mountain Coffee (1st time reporter)
• Harwood Products (SME)
• Hewlett-Packard
• Mountain Equipment Cooperative (1st time reporter)
• Nexen
• PotashCorp
• Shell Canada
• Starbucks
• Telus
• Timberland (corporate report)
• Timberland (Dominican Republic facility report)
• TransAlta
• Vancity Group
• Weyerhaeuser

For 15 years, ACCA has held annual awards -- first in the UK and now in more than 20 countries to promote transparency in reporting the impact of business activities on sustainable development. Ceres launched the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which has become the internationally established standard for corporate reporting on the “triple bottom line” of economic, social and environmental performance. The Ceres-ACCA Awards Program was launched in 2001.

"The Ceres-ACCA Awards reward transparency by giving recognition to those organizations that report sustainability information in the most complete and credible way. We do not reward rhetoric,” said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres. “We are looking for organizations which document their key impacts and clearly explain changes in performance, positive or negative, and set a vision and targets for future progress. The Ceres-ACCA judging panel now has the difficult task of selecting the 2006 winners from this high quality shortlist.”

"ACCA is encouraged to see a wide range of sectors make the shortlist this year, including mining, telecommunications, banking and retailing,” said Rachel Jackson, Head of Social and Environmental Issues at ACCA. “These organizations have made the sensible business decision to be more accountable to their stakeholders by reporting publicly.”

CorporateRegister.com, the world's largest online directory of corporate non-financial reports, is one of the communications partner for the awards program, along with Canadian Business magazine and the Canadian Environment Awards run by Canadian Geographic. For more information about the awards program, call 617-216-7215 or visit www.ceres.org or www.accaglobal.com/sustainability.

About Ceres
Founded in 1989, Ceres is a leading network of investors, environmental groups and other public interest organizations working with companies to address sustainability challenges such as global climate change. Ceres also directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), comprised of more than 50 institutional investors who collectively manage nearly $4 trillion in assets. For more information, visit www.ceres.org.

About ACCA
ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the world’s largest international accountancy body with 110,000 members and 250,000 students in 170 countries. ACCA's headquarters are in London, and it has an extensive network of nearly 80 offices and other centers around the world. ACCA has promoted transparency in reporting the impact of business activities on sustainable development since the early 1990s. ACCA is involved in reporting awards in more than 20 countries across the world and participates in a number of influential organizations, including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). In recognition of their UK social and environmental issues program, ACCA has been awarded a Queen's Award for Sustainable Development.

Ceres-ACCA 2006 Reporting Awards Judges Panel

Helena Barton
CEO, Corporate Context Inc.

Kathrin Bohr
Director, Member Development, Canadian Business for Social Responsibility

Barbara Bramble
Senior Program Advisor in International Affairs, National Wildlife Federation

John Chibuk
Senior Policy Analyst, Strategic Policy Branch, Industry Canada

Valerie Chort
Partner, Deloitte & Touche’s Enterprise Risk Services

Elizabeth Everhardus
Director, Communications & Special Projects, Pollution Probe

Richard Ferlauto
Director, Pension and Benefit Policy, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Julie Fox Gorte
Vice President and Chief Social Investment Strategist, Calvert Group

David C. Greenall
Senior Research Associate, Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility, The Conference Board of Canada

Chris Jochnick
Director, Private Sector Engagement, Oxfam America

Chantal Line Carpentier
Head, Environment, Economy and Trade Program, Commission for Environmental Cooperation

Jennifer Nash
Director, Regulatory Public Policy Program, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Katharine Partridge
Managing Partner, Stakeholder Research Associates, Canada

Heidi Soumerai
Director of Social Research, Walden Asset Management

Contact:
Brooke Barton, Ceres, 617-216-7215, barton@ceres.org
Nigel Hall, ACCA, 416-966-2225, Nigel.Hall@ca.accaglobal.com

Shareholders Challenge TXU on New Coal Plants and Energy Efficiency

Contact: Peyton Fleming Ceres, 617-247-0700 xt. 20 | fleming@ceres.org
December 8, 2006

Leading institutional investors this week filed shareholders resolutions with the TXU Corp. regarding the company’s plan to build 11 new pulverized coal-burning power plants in Texas at an estimated cost of $10 billion.

Noting that the new coal plants would more than double the company’s carbon dioxide emissions, the shareholder resolutions request reports on how TXU is responding to rising regulatory pressure to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and how enhanced energy efficiency programs in Texas could impact the company’s ability to sell its new power. The two resolutions were filed by five New York Pension Funds and the Connecticut State Treasurer’s Office, which collectively own more than 1.7 million shares of TXU stock.

A third resolution, filed by the Benedictine Sisters of Boerne, Texas, requests that the company’s board of directors adopt specific goals to reduce its CO2 emissions below 2004 levels and reduce mercury emissions to levels that are achievable using best available control technologies.

“Investors are concerned that TXU is charting a course into a potential perfect storm of increased greenhouse gas regulation, enhanced energy efficiency and unprecedented growth in clean energy,” said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres, an investor coalition that helped coordinate the shareholder resolution filings.

Texas-based TXU plans to build 9,100 megawatts of new coal plant capacity – all without any controls for capturing greenhouse gas emissions. The new plants would boost the company’s CO2 emissions from 55 million tons in 2004 to 133 million tons in 2011.

CO2 is currently not regulated in Texas or federally, but momentum favoring regulation is growing. While Congressional support is increasing to require greenhouse gas emission reductions nationally, California and seven Northeastern states have already adopted plans to reduce CO2 emissions. Pulverized coal plants are especially vulnerable to regulations because they emit substantially more CO2 than other forms of power generation. Wall Street investment firms, Citigroup and Sanford C. Bernstein Research, have both issued reports this year raising concerns about TXU’s significant financial exposure to future greenhouse gas regulations.

“At a time when other major utility companies are seeking to reduce their contribution to global warming and are proposing cleaner plants that would release less CO2 and provide for greater control over emissions, such as gasification, TXU is building 11 big power plants that will be fueled with pulverized coal,” said New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. “Given the anticipated focus on federal regulations of CO2 emissions in the new Congress, TXU’s strategic thinking seems glaringly short-sighted and unsustainable.”

TXU’s plans come amid growing efforts for stronger energy efficiency programs in the U.S., which could reduce the need for many of the new power plants. A dozen leading power companies, for example, are participating in the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency, which has presented numerous recommendations for boosting energy efficiency programs across the U.S. TXU, however, is not part of that effort.

The resolution filed by the Connecticut State Treasurer’s Office requests that the company analyze potential energy savings, which could be generated if recommendations from the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency were implemented, and outline plans to advance policies that will reward TXU and its shareholders for efforts to reduce demand and increase energy efficiency.

“Shareholders are aware that the impending regulation of carbon emissions will have a significant impact on the electric utility industry and its customers. In addition, new technology is creating opportunities to conserve energy, and there is a growing interest by electric customers – both industrial and residential – to reduce electric usage and lower costs through energy efficiency,” said Connecticut State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier. “As TXU shareholders, we need to know whether and how the company is taking these factors into account as it moves forward with plans to invest $10 billion in new power generation capacity.”

The new coal plants, if they are built, would make TXU the third largest CO2 emitter in the U.S. compared to its current ranking as 10th largest emitter. Three of TXU’s existing plants also rank in the top 10 nationwide for total mercury emissions.

“As religious shareholders, we have a long history of interactions with TXU. We are hopeful that the company will respond to the questions we are asking,” said Sr. Susan Mika of the Benedictine Sisters, which filed a resolution seeking reductions in CO2 and mercury emissions. “We have been instrumental in pushing TXU to consider many environmental questions in the past. As we look forward to the next decades, it will be an important to consider questions that are being raised by our resolution.”

The Benedictine Sisters are part of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), an association of 275 faith-based institutional investors, many of which are actively involved in filing global warming shareholder resolutions. For more information, visit http://www.iccr.org/

Ceres is a national coalition of investors, environmental groups and other public interest organizations working with companies to address sustainability challenges such as global climate change. Ceres also directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk, a group of more than 50 leading U.S. investors whose collective assets total $3.7 trillion. For more information, visit www.ceres.org

The five New York Pension Funds filing one of the three resolutions are the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, the Teachers’ Retirement System of New York City, the New York City Police Department Pension Fund, the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, and the New York City Board of Education Retirement System.

Contact: Peyton Fleming, Ceres, 617-247-0700 x20 or 617-733-6660 cell
Bernard Kavaler, Connecticut Treasury, 860-702-3277
Laura Rivera, New York City Comptroller's Office, 212-669-2701
Susan Mika, Benedictine Sisters, 210-348-6704

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Chicago Sun Times on 12/4/06: Midwest Economy is Especially Vulnerable to Climate Change

Area's economy is especially vulnerable to global warming
(http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/158878,CST-EDT-REF04.article)

BY TIM WAGNER AND MINDY LUBBER
December 4, 2006

The World Bank's former chief economist, Nicholas Stern, recently conducted a sweeping analysis of the economic risks of global climate change. His conclusion: Climate change is "the greatest market failure the world has seen" and, if unchecked, it could cause "economic upheaval on the scale of the 1930s Depression" at a greater cost than both world wars combined. British Prime Minister Tony Blair declared Stern's report the most important document ever put before his government.

The Midwest will be examining its own special risks from climate change Thursday at a meeting of Midwest investors and business leaders at the University of Chicago Business School. The gathering is a cogent reminder that climate change is not just a coastal issue, but also a heartland issue, with potentially far-reaching consequences for the regional economy. So serious is the issue that 50 leading U.S. investors, including the Illinois State Board of Investment, have joined the $3.7 trillion Investor Network on Climate Risk to examine the financial implications of climate change and actions to reduce risks.

The Midwest is home to a large concentration of industries particularly vulnerable to climate change: agriculture, automotive, power generation and insurance. Conversely, these industries are well-positioned to develop products and technologies that can minimize the environmental effects of climate change while also improving their bottom line.

The effects of climate change in the region are already being felt. There is a growing body of evidence that the region's winters are getting shorter, annual average temperatures are getting warmer, and extreme heat and heavy precipitation events, such as damaging hail storms, more common. Studies suggest that unless the pace of change is slowed, annual average temperatures in the region could increase by 5 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit in winter and an astonishing 5 to 20 degrees in summer by century's end.

The effects of climate change on agriculture could be profound. According to a 2005 report by the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Ecological Society of America, severe flooding and extreme weather could significantly reduce crop yields. While no one event can prove climate change, Nebraska and other Midwest states have in recent years suffered through their worst drought since the Dust Bowl. Scientists say these kinds of events could eventually become the norm as global temperatures rise.

One of the financial risks of climate change relates to regulations designed to address global warming. California and seven Northeast states have already mandated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and other states and the federal government are likely to follow. The automotive and energy sectors will either have to prepare for regulatory changes or face financial peril. Indeed, carmakers and power providers that look around the curve and begin implementing strategies to reduce emissions and operate with greater energy efficiency will have a significant competitive edge over those that do not. Similarly, those that exploit alternative energies such as bio-based fuels will reap the financial benefits of their foresight -- and, in fact, already are doing so.

For the insurance sector, climate change is a particularly critical issue. That's why the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the key regulatory body that oversees the insurance industry for the public's protection, has formed a task force on climate change.

Extreme weather related to climate change exposes property insurers to enormous financial risks. One single event, Hurricane Katrina, resulted in a staggering $45 billion of insured losses. The ripple effects of Katrina are still being felt. Many private insurers are no longer willing to take risks in areas prone to extreme weather. In the last year alone, 600,000 homeowner's policies in Florida and Louisiana have been cancelled, forcing under-funded state-run insurance pools to pick up the slack, a burden borne by taxpayers.

How firms manage the risks and opportunities of climate change will affect their future competitiveness and, in some cases, their survival. Good corporate governance demands company directors and CEOs make climate change risk a top priority.

In the insurance sector, for example, some industry leaders are already adapting with financial incentives for commercial building owners that re-build using energy efficient "green" building practices or engineering improvements that reduce storm vulnerability. Other insurers are offering premium discounts for drivers of lower-polluting hybrid vehicles.

Climate change is one of the great challenges of this 21st century. Rising to that challenge is essential if executives and corporate boards -- in this region and beyond -- are to meet their fiduciary duties to the companies they serve and their larger responsibilities to the public at large.

Tim Wagner is director of the Nebraska Department of Insurance and co-chair of the Climate Change Executive Task Force of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Mindy Lubber is president of Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmental groups working with companies to address the business challenges posed by climate change.

Ceres Receives Fast Company Social Capitalist Award

Ceres was selected from among 314 nominations for a Fast Company/Monitor Group 2007 Social Capitalist Award. The full list of "43 Entrepreneurs Who Are Changing the World" is published in the December issue of Fast Company magazine. click to see more.