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.

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