EY-Lets-talk-sustainability2

Recommendations

Info

Join the conversation. An effective sustainability strategy needs to look at all of the components that can affect your business. In Let’s <strong>talk</strong>: sustainability, we help you demystify the highly complex world of sustainability, and assist you in taking concrete actions to identify competitive advantages, increase operational efficiency and mitigate risk. <strong>EY</strong> has identified nine key elements that frame the discussion: Tax implications Climate change Supply chain Beyond compliance Social impact Sustainability Emissions Reporting Energy agenda Innovation Continue the dialogue For more insights or to browse our archive of webcasts and videos, visit ey.com/us/sustainability.
Climate change | Beyond compliance | Emissions | Reporting | Social impact | Supply chain Proxy season 2014: Preview of environmental and social shareholder proposals Allie Rutherford Center for Board Matters allie.rutherford@ey.com Environmental and social topics continue to be the dominant category of shareholder proposals based on the number of proposals submitted – more than half to date. They also represent the leading area for proposals withdrawn in connection with successful companyinvestor engagement and agreement prior to the proposal going to a vote. This agreement may include implementation of the proposal in part or full, providing additional disclosure, or a commitment to ongoing dialogue on the topic. Three of the 10 most commonly submitted shareholder proposals – across all topics – focus exclusively on sustainability: 1. Requests for first time or enhanced sustainability reporting is the most heavily filed sustainability proposal to date with a growing number asking for reports on the sustainability performance of suppliers or to require significant suppliers to issue sustainability reports. Some proposals seek more targeted disclosure based on a company’s specific situation, e.g., water usage and impacts and the energy efficiency of operations. 2. Investors are also showing renewed interest in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions cuts, asking companies to disclose quantitative goals. Some of these proposals focus on the impact of a financial institution’s lending and financing portfolios. GHG proposals more than quadrupled from the same period in 2013. 3. Investors also seek a review of and reporting on global labor practices and human rights, and include new proposals on risk assessments across a company’s global supply chain. These proposals are up about 20% from the same period last year. The top 10 list includes two other proposals that share an overlapping focus on sustainability topics: proposals requesting increased disclosure and oversight of political and lobbying spending. These are the two most common proposals submitted to date. At least 25% of these proposals focus on whether corporate expenditures align with a company’s stated policies and practices on environmental sustainability; an even greater portion are likely driven by environmental sustainability interests based on a review of the investors submitting the proposals. • Top 10 most common shareholder proposals in 2014 Publicly disclosed through March 21 Report on sustainability Set and report on GHG emissions reduction targets Assess and report on global labor practices/human rights Disclosure and oversight of political spending Disclosure and oversight of lobbying spending Increase diversity on the board Eliminate classified board Limit executive compensation Appoint independent board chair Adopt majority vote to elect directors Environmental and labor sustainability Other proposals overlapping environmental sustainability Governance proposals 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 ey.com/us/sustainability 1
Page 1: Let’s talk: sustainability April
Page 5 and 6: with implementation. This will help
Page 7 and 8: Innovation Gaining the edge in gove

EY-Lets-talk-sustainability2

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?