Search

While the 2015 Cranfield Female FTSE Board Report confirms that Britain’s top boardrooms are set to meet the 25% women on boards target this year, critics maintain that the percentage of female or non-white executive directors in the UK’s biggest companies remains “pitfully small”.

The report reveals 23.5% of FTSE 100 boards are now female (up from 20.7% last year), with 263 female held directorships across the FTSE 100. The percentage of non-executive directors has increased to 28.5% and women in executive directorships is at an all time high of 8.6%.

Only 17 more female appointments are needed across the FTSE 100 boards to reach the target set by the Lord Davies review. If the appointment rate of one woman to every two men appointed is sustained over the coming months, the Cranfield authors expect the 25% target to be met before the end of this year.

The percentage of women directors on FTSE 250 boards has also risen to 18%, with 65 FTSE 250 companies having met the 25% target. However, it is not all good news for the FTSE 250. Twenty-three still have no women on their boards and the percentage of women holding executive directorships has fallen to 4.6%.

Indeed, Marianna Fotaki, of Warwick Business School, a Professor of Business Ethics and co-author of Gender in the Organisation: Women at Work in the 21st Century. said: “Although this is welcome progress, why are Britain’s boardrooms so stubbornly white and male? Despite a growing consensus that companies with more diverse boards perform better or take more ethical decisions, the percentage of female or non-white executive directors in the UK’s biggest companies remains pitifully small.
 
“Lack of diversity hurts businesses and gives the wrong message to younger generations. Diversity brings different perspectives, greater innovation, and people tend to behave more ethically, rather than conforming to the social norms of the in-group. Diversity is not just good practice - it’s simply the right thing to do.

“Yet all-white executive teams run 69% of FTSE 100 companies – that’s up from 65% at the start of 2014, according to a study by Green Park Executive Recruitment, which found not a single person of Chinese or east Asian origin on the board of any of Britain’s biggest companies. According to the Office of National Statistics, 14% of the UK population is non-white.”

Human rights and labour rights groups are to face a new challenge, finds Keith Crane reporting last month’s forum, “The new normal in China Communications and CSR”, organized by the British and Australian Chambers of Commerce and the China-Britain Business Council. 

New legislation being drafted by the Chinese government could force some sensitive non-government organisations to leave country.

That’s the warning from the country’s top charity adviser, Wang Liwei.

But he describes the move, expected to agreed this autumn, is a challenge rather than a threat.

Wang was speaking at a forum last month,organised by the British and Australian Chambers of Commerce and the China-Britain Business Council, “The new normal in China Communications and CSR.”

It aimed to help companies navigate the narrow path of the Government’s new normal strategy with falling off the policy cliff and was attended by more than 40 people representing firms and charities including Airbus, Rio Tinto, Harrow International School and Action Aid.

Much has changed in China since its new leadership, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, were handed the reins of power less than three years ago.

In that relatively short space of time (remember they have another seven years to go), the political and economic landscapes have been redrawn dramatically.

Most obviously has been the clampdown on corruption which has seen the downfall of many senior officials, including the former Head of Security, Zhou Yongkang and the former top aide to former President, Hu Jintao, Ling Jihua.

The latter’s downfall came when his son and passengers died in a fiery Ferrari crash on a Beijing ring road.

Despite state media attempts to cover up the story, many ordinary Chinese were left wondering how a government official could afford such a car?

Economically the growth in GDP is officially slowing to its lowest in decades – both to restructure the business base, but also now more importantly to tackle the country’s chronic pollution.

Such has been the scale of the changes, the government has even conjured the new term, as if to reassure people both inside and out the country, this is the “new normal”

It’s a phrase that appears in politicians’ speeches and across state media – stressing get used to it, this is what it’s like now. Now it’s moving into philanthropy, CSR and NGOs.

NGOs currently operate in a grey area, with little regulation Wang says, which makes the change necessary.

He said organisations could face a situation where officials from the Public Security Bureau, “knock on the door and ask you to explain what you’re doing?”

That he says a whole change in attitudes will be needed.

Wang says NGOs will need to think more carefully about issues such as staffing and management, and work in areas that meet government needs. “They will have to be much more under the thumb. Explaining their work to the government will be their challenge.

“The government will control what area you work in, under strict control. They will need to have a VPN, that’s vision, passion and be native, for example staff who speak Chinese and can think natively. If police come knocking on your door, you’ll need to respond in an understanding way. Attitude is everything.

“The government is afraid of a lot of NGOs hiding things, but if they have a good Chinese management and staff, and understand what China needs, they will be fine.”

I asked him afterwards if he could see some NGOs having to leave.

Yes, he said, such as those working in human and labour rights.

Clare Pearson, co-chair of the CSR forum described the new normal as having a Chinese boss, who is much more concerned about his staff welfare “because there is no welfare state.”

“You’ll be judged on how you treat your Chinese colleagues, not on how well you do your job.”

The forum was held just days after end of the government’s two parliamentary meetings which confirmed a new lower growth target of 7%, the lowest in decades.

But despite the slowdown in the economy, Chinese philanthropy is on the rise said Jean Sung, head of the Philanthropy Centre at JP Morgan.

“More and more of China’s wealthy want to do more to bridge the country’s wealth divide.”

She says China now has more than 200 dollar billionaires compared with 90 in India and 2.63 billion dollars in donations were made in 2013, double the figure of 2012.

“If we can continue this trajectory of the last 20 years, we could see happy faces.”

Asked how companies should approach deciding what to support, Sung says geography is the key.

“Many wealth divide issues are the same the world over such as pre and post-natal care, early years’ education, water and the environment.

“Talk to the local government where you are. It is crucial to address local needs and adopting a tripartite approach; private, public and social.

Many people could see the moves on NGOs as a further clampdown on freedoms in the country.

But Frances Fremont-Smith, Executive Director at the United Foundation for Children’s Health, says living and working in China is all about breaking down barriers.

One of the first Americans to work here 36 years ago, her marriage to a Chinese man was the ultimate hurdle. The first such marriage she said had to be agree by then president, Deng Xiaopeng. She approached it differently, asking her Chinese Foreign
Experts’ official if the man she fancied was good enough for her. Of course she was told, he has a degree, is educated and has a good job and the ideas embraced by her community.

“Forget China’s Great Wall and break down barriers to succeed. It’s living, working and thinking like Chinese that matters.” 

As more and more corporates take to social media to engage with consumers around sustainability issues, do they really know what they are doing? Tom Idle explores what current best practice looks like

Every sixty seconds, 1.8m new ‘likes’ are made on Facebook, 120 new members join LinkedIn and at least 600 Tweets are sent that contain the word ‘Starbucks’. The number of people using the internet for social media will soon overtake the number that uses it for that favourite of past-times, porn. It is big business. Before we go to bed at night, we check in with our friends on Facebook. When we wake the next morning we check the news on Twitter. According to MarketingProfs.com, 25% of smartphone users, aged 18-44, say that they can’t remember the last time their mobile wasn’t right next to them.

It’s no wonder companies and brands have jumped on the bandwagon, keen to grab the opportunity a wealth of new channels brings in marketing products and services. Encouraged by consumer research claiming 53% of Americans who ‘follow’ brands on social are more loyal to those organisations, many have poured vast resources into it. Take the computer giant Dell, for example: Its Facebook fan-base is bigger than the population of Singapore.

But it’s not just about selling products. Social media is seen as the perfect tool for brands to engage customers, investors and so-called ‘influencers’ (those that have a big following) on issues that are important to them.

“The way brands are using social media has changed dramatically in the last five years,” says Matthew Yeomans, founder of Sustainly, an organisation that has been tracking exactly how the world’s biggest companies communicate sustainability issues using social media since 2010. Back then, Yeomans found just 60 businesses that “were putting any real effort into it”. In comparison, the latest study features analysis of 230 companies who are dedicating resources to it.

The shift is a result of what he calls “the rise of soft sustainability” – a realisation by business that meeting their sustainability goals will become tougher without the support of consumers, who’s buying habits will drive innovation. They must talk to consumers about these big issues – whether they be climate change, youth unemployment or gender equality – in a way that doesn’t bore, alienate or confuse them. “Food that won’t hurt you; products free from poisons; paying workers a decent wage – these are issues most people agree on and they just happen to dovetail with the technical terms sustainability professionals hold dear. It’s about talking the same language.”

But finding the right language is easier said than done.

For Nathan Strauss, digital communications manager at GE, the key is to make it a two-way engagement. “Unlike an advertisement, where you’re pushing a message out, on social you’re sharing what you think will be of interest – and with that sharing you have a responsibility to engage.”

And it is this need to engage, as opposed to merely communicating, that poses a challenge: creating an authentic voice that the general public truly buys into. The last ten years has seen many of the most pressing sustainability issues enter mainstream consumer decision-making. “One word scares the hell out of the big corporates: trust,” says Yeomans.

“Trust is fundamental to the credibility of a company – and social media has played an enormous role in that. The relationship between brands and consumers has changed because of an ability for consumers to ask questions, share voices and come together in a group mentality to call companies out.”

It’s why Strauss ensures that GE’s social output is “not just about us, us, us”, opting instead for unique content that “has some value for everybody – inspiring imagery, interesting facts and educational content”.

It’s the same for Mary Bradburne, corporate global social media lead at Cisco. “Our followers consist of media influencers, analysts and Wall Street players; if we ‘sell’ to those audiences, they get suspicious. It has to be inspirational,” she says.
Cisco and GE are among the brands recognised in the new SB{influencers}100 Index, the first study of its kind to use data to quantify the success companies are having in reaching and engaging audiences across social media when it comes to sustainability. The resulting Top 100 league table puts Nestlé at No.1.

“What the study found is that there isn’t one clear strategy being adopted, rather a range of approaches,” says Gemma Dodd, a director with Salterbaxter, the sustainability communications consultancy that carried out the study and produced the index. “However, those that came out on top have invested the right amount of effort and resources. That is key.”

Nestlé employs a seven-strong team to run its range of channels, including a dedicated Twitter account for its Creating Shared Value (CSV)-specific content. For Strauss at GE, which ranked ninth, you have to have a long-term commitment in place. “To establish presence on any social media channel, you should think in years, not months.” And it is not something to be delegated to junior members of the team, regardless of how tech-savvy they happen to be. You’ve got to be willing to dedicate resources if you want to be leading in this area.”

So, if you want to do a good job, it’s going to cost you. Part of this resources conundrum is establishing how much content to create and how many different channels to run. The Salterbaxter index shows that almost all of the brands that came out on top have at least one dedicated social media channel on sustainability – “and that is no coincidence”, says Dodd, as it allows them to focus their content and engagement efforts within a narrower, more specific universe of interests. However, as business models start to integrate non-financial considerations into decision-making, so too will social media strategies.

“[The challenge] is getting the balance right when communicating complex topics,” says Madeleine Lewis, a storyteller with Virgin Unite, the non-profit arm of Virgin Group, which ranked fifth in the SB{influencers}100 Index. “This isn’t always easy, as our audience is so broad and ranges from experts to those just becoming interested in sustainability.”

Ultimately, it’s about being “authentic and open”. “We stay true to Virgin’s culture and are honest about our own efforts. We’re not perfect, but we’re on a journey and happy to share it as we learn and change.”

For Yeomans, Coca-Cola is a shining example of a company willing to tackle issues that might be uncomfortable for them. “It has mastered the online art of talking about tricky issues associated with health and exercise.”

He points to it’s ‘What is Happiness?’ campaign, a key part of which involved experiential advertising where consumers were invited to use a vending machine powered by a bicycle. “They worked out that 20 minutes of cycling burned enough calories to ‘earn’ a can of Coke. It was a piece of theatre that confronts a major issue for Coca-Cola. They are trying to say, ‘Our product is great, but you do have to take care of how much you drink’.”

So, what does the future hold for brand use of social media? The evidence points to greater investment in editorial content, the launch of issue-specific channels and listening tactics (watching conversations unfold online and trying to be a part of them, as opposed to purely pushing content out there).

Alongside familiar platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, brands are likely to pilot the use of newer kids on the block, like Instagram, Tumblr and Vine. And they might also opt for even newer options, such as 2degrees’ targeted stakeholder dialogue or the Millennials favourite Collectively.org which is producing rich, shareable content that aims to normalise sustainable lifestyles.

As more and more companies prove the value of their activity – that social media is not just another communications channel, but rather a chance to influence and engage – investment will continue to grow. As Strauss concludes: “As we increase our share of voice on sustainability issues, it has a positive impact on some of the key metrics we measure against, such as favourability or willingness to invest.

“And there’s a brand and reputation halo to be gleaned from being active and vocal about our position in tackling the really tough issues through what we’re doing to find innovative solutions.” 

The inaugural National CSR Awards took place last month and saw winners both large and small, celebrating the best of ethical governance and good business practice.

 

Individual Outstanding Leadership Award
Sending out a strong signal for the importance of sustainability saw Bill Eyres (pictured left)w, head of sustainability (UK & Europe), at telecoms giant O2, picking up the Individual Outstanding Leadership Award. Eyres’ work with the Think Big and O2 Recycle initiatives were particular highlights for the judges. O2 Recycle, which encourages responsible recycling and reuse of electronic waste, delivers clear environmental benefits and has also passed on over £2.3m to support young people. Think Big is a £1.5m youth programme, managed by the National Youth Agency, to provide young people with opportunities to set up projects to make a difference to their own lives and to the well-being of their communities.

Best Education Project Award (Large Organisation)
Supermarket giant Tesco proved it was hungry for success in the CR space with its Eat Happy Project picking up the Best Education Project Award (Large Organisation).
With studies showing that almost a third of primary school pupils believe that cheese comes from plants, Eat Happy is the retailer’s long-term commitment to help primary school children have a healthier and happier relationship with food. It offers interactive Farm to Fork trails at stores, distribution centres and suppliers’ farms and factories. Children get to bake bread rolls, talk to lorry drivers or see how cows are milked. It’s all geared to help children to understand where their food comes from in a fun and memorable way. The project has been a huge undertaking with Tesco having invested over £8m since its launch in March 2014 when it committed to reaching 1m children. Judges were impressed by the reach of the programme with the retailer currently on track to reach 750,000 children in its first year.

Best Community / Education Development Award (SME)
BAM Construct UK is a national construction and property service company operating in seven regional divisions. They are consistently ranked as one of the top three contractors in the UK and take pride in the proactive way they work alongside the local community. In partnership with Manchester City Football Club, it scored a winner with the creation of community information and learning centres, as part of its City Football Academy construction project. The idea was to form an information and learning hub for local people seeking employment and other development opportunities. Apart from bringing together many different and various partners to bring the project to fruition, judges were particularly impressed that BAM also worked with one of its key competitors (Laing O’Rourke).
Showing that projects like this aren’t ‘one-offs’, BAM is currently discussing with the University of Manchester how it can work with them to set up a similar facility through their construction framework – this would be a “Construction Academy” and would house a Training Centre, a Learning Zone and would provide a walk in facility for people looking for employment linked to the university’s facility for people looking for work.

Best Community Development Award (Large Organisation)
One of the most talked about winning programmes was Call in Time, an initiative from Zurich Community Trust in partnership with Age UK.
Call in Time is a national telephone befriending service using employee volunteers, which was initially set up with funding from Zurich Community Trust (the charitable arm of Zurich in the UK funded by pre tax profits) and Zurich employee volunteers.
Call in Time was designed to engage employee volunteers to tackle one of the fastest growing UK social issues of loneliness and isolation faced by many older people. This is one of three long-term sustainable programmes that the Zurich and Zurich Community Trust has developed alongside its leading and broader employee community engagement programme. Now, after 10 years of development and delivery, 800 friendship calls are made every single week by volunteers from across a range of companies to some of the most lonely and isolated older people in the UK. Each volunteer makes one 20-30 minute call a week, without even having to leave their desk. Judges were impressed by the replicable nature of the programme that Zurich is keen to share with others. Indeed many other corporates (including Legal and General and BT) are already operating their own volunteer Call in Time programmes.

Innovation for Workplace Practices Award
All work and no play make Jack a dull boy… The playground nursery rhyme could have been the inspiration for Chiswick Park Enjoy-Work, the winner of Innovation in Workplace Practices.
The Chiswick Park concept was initiated by architect Lord Richard Rogers and developer Sir Stuart Lipton. Their idea was to create a physical space that would enhance the work environment and promote the work-life balance of employees. They appointed an estate management team (unusually for the time they sought people from a hospitality, rather than property background) to create and develop the Enjoy-Work philosophy and brand. All Chiswick Park-based companies and their employees are its customers and are referred to as Guest Companies and Guests respectively.
Some of the workplace practices include weekly lunchtime events (ranging from pig racing and high ropes climbing, to performances from the English National Ballet) to encourage guests to leave their desk, enjoy lunch breaks, network and return to work more productive. The judges were impressed by the unique approach of Enjoy-Work, in creating an innovative workplace, which has attracted interest globally with developers, architects, investors, facilities professionals and others requesting visits and information about the approach. It regularly shares good practice and has been held up internationally as a British standard of excellence

Environmental Leadership Award
Somerset dairy farmer Wyke Farms (pictured left) reaped the rewards of its sustainability focus with its Wyke Farms – 100% Green sustainability strategy scooping the Environmental Leadership Award. Through the long-term programme Wyke has dramatically reduced its carbon footprint and has become the first national cheddar brand to be 100% self-sufficient in green energy. It is also self-sufficient in its own solar and biogas. Judges were particularly impressed by Wyke’s onsite biogas plant, which converts 75,000 tonnes of its biodegradable waste materials from the farm and dairy per year into energy, which is then used to power the dairy and cheese making process, saving more than 5m kilos of carbon dioxide per annum.

Individual Outstanding Leadership (for Innovation & Technology) Award
Alejandro Agag, ceo of Formula E, took pole position winning the Individual Outstanding Leadership for Innovation and Technology Award. Agag was recognised for managing to create Formula E – the world’s first fully-electric championship - in just 12 months. In 2011, the EU Commission asked the FIA to set up a racing championship series for electric cars, as a way of increasing public awareness about new-technology vehicles. In the face of weighty criticism, Agag managed to sign eight host cities (Rio, Miami, London, LA, Berlin, Beijing, Malaysia and Buenos Aires) within three months as well as create the cars the from scratch by wooing some of the world’s most prestigious technical companies. Judges were impressed by Agag’s persistence – many critics didn’t think he would be able to achieve his goals within the set timeframe – and his belief in the project which managed to attract drivers, celebrities, sponsors and team principals.

Overall Excellence in CSR & Special Judges Recognition for Legacy
As Ed Gillespie of Futerra and awards presenter put it, “This isn’t just CSR… this is M&S CSR”. The stalwart of the British high street Marks and Spencer took the honours twice (pictured top right). Firstly, the Overall Excellence in CSR Award and also the Special Judges Recognition for Legacy, both awarded for the retailer’s Plan A sustainability programme.
Plan A was originally launched six years ago but was updated last year to extend its remit to its international business. Called Plan A 2020, the 100-commitment plan retains and strengthens the store’s 2015 eco and ethical commitments. Its achievements are many but include: worldwide operations, not just the UK, are now carbon neutral; its employability programme – Make Your Mark – has now been launched in international markets and sustainable learning stores have also been launched overseas. On the products side, nearly half of all its lines have a least one Plan A quality (such as being Fairtrade, sustainably sourced or made in an eco-factory), one year ahead of the 50% by the 2015 target. M&S is also the first retailer to receive the triple award of certification of achievements in carbon, water and waste reduction from the Carbon Trust.
Judges said that despite M&S being a familiar winner in the CSR space, the chain had set the bar to which others still needed to aspire, becoming one of the CSR benchmarks in the country.

Special Judges Award for Community Innovation
The Special Judges Award for Community Innovation went to the Zero Emissions Network, a tri-borough (Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets) project that aims to reduce the air pollution problems that exist in and around the Shoreditch area by engaging with businesses and helping them reduce their emissions.
It helps the businesses deliver measures that would not only benefit the business itself (namely from an economical perspective but also in terms of health benefits to employees) but also improve the air quality in the area. The project has two main priorities, recruit businesses to the network in order to promote the benefits of operating cleaner and greener, and also deliver a number of measures that will help the businesses to do this, including: free trials of electric vehicles. The project managed to recruit 130 businesses in Shoreditch (Hackney) during the period March 2013 - June 2014 at which point it was agreed to expand the project into Tower Hamlets and Islington. Since then the project has grown 180% with members now totalling 365. The judges were impressed by the scale and scope of the initiative.

Special Judges Recognition for Community Partnership
Charities Aid Foundation in partnership with Legal & General won recognition for its Social Enterprise Assist scheme (SE-Assist).
SE-Assist is a pioneering community development scheme that supports job creation, economic growth and regeneration in regional and/or city-based economies through creating a vehicle to support social enterprises to build business capacity, economic resilience and business acumen. Judges were impressed by the reach of the scheme and its replicable model that other financial services operators could easily adopt. 

David Picton, chief sustainability officer at Carillion, gives an update on the expanded Supply Chain Sustainability School for FM and Service suppliers

Martin Luther King once explained that “we must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” This notion of collaboration for the common good was at the heart of our work to help launch the expanded Supply Chain Sustainability School for Facilities Management (FM) and Services suppliers.

A tough and competitive industry, the construction and services companies which provide, build and maintain the nation’s built environment have not always been known for positive collaboration, and maybe few would regard themselves as brothers (or sisters). But, more than eight months of hard work came to fruition at the start of 2015, as the award-winning Supply Chain Sustainability School expanded its original coverage of just the construction sectors and branched out to include Facilities Management and Services. Leaders and partners from across the industry packed into the Natural History Museum, not to stare at the dinosaurs or protest the change of the main hall exhibit, but to stand in unity to support one great idea. This idea was the upskilling of an industry.

Having chaired the Steering Group of partners which brought this expansion to life, it was clear that there is an exceptional buzz of energy around the complexity and tough challenges of our industry.

As we were successful in securing part-funding from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills – there was an unmistakeable recognition of the need for skills development. In the fields of sustainability, there’s little chance of achieving anything very meaningful without collaboration – and the Supply Chain Sustainability School is a leading example of this.

The School has made exceptional progress in the last two years in upskilling supply chain companies and people across the construction industry, and now features content, resources and best practice to focus on the FM and Services sub-sectors. The School offers a comprehensive virtual learning environment free to its registered users, including:
- Best practice resources to help FM suppliers and sub-contractors develop their sustainability knowledge and competence
- Self-assessed action plans to demonstrate benchmarking, and routes of progress towards greater skills
- E-learning modules, plus unique management systems to track progress
- Opportunities for involvement at supplier development days and sustainability workshops
- Access and input to other groups, events and initiatives within the wider School (including groups focused on construction, infrastructure, and research)

FM companies and their workers have free access to help them develop their sustainability knowledge and competence, improve efficiency and cut costs across the built environment’s supply chain. With UK markets for FM and Services forecast to rise to over £117bn by 2017, the ability to meet the needs of that growth sustainably and responsibly will be critical to long-term success. The call is for innovation in management, leadership development and action-focused delivery … and this means working together to make it happen.

Now, more than ever, sustainability is not a nice-to-have, it is critical for long-term business success. That critical nature extends to making sustainability a strong, balanced approach across environmental, social and economic responsibilities. In sectors like construction and services, which rely fundamentally on working with supply chain partners, it is important not just to set high expectations and commercial mechanisms for delivery of those responsibilities, but also to recognise that collaboration is key to success. If we are to develop and maintain tomorrow’s buildings and infrastructure, we must act today to ensure the next generation of tradespeople are suitably skilled, prepared and conscious of their impacts.

Beyond the online School setting, businesses need to work with government, schools and colleges to jointly address the industry’s skills shortages. Collectively, we need to ensure that those who are working within the industry are equipped with the skills needed to deliver some of the most exciting infrastructure projects that will transform the UK over the next decade and beyond.

In helping to play its part, the School’s leadership group has set itself some challenging aims:
• Driving greater sustainability knowledge, best practice and performance in the FM supply chain
• Inspiring and persuading more FM suppliers to develop their sustainability knowledge
• Using the School to disseminate new sustainability learning materials
• Identifying sources of funding to support the development of sustainability skills

Managing resources wisely, developing new and competitive innovations, engaging credibly with local communities and building long-term economic success all require learning and skills development. This – fundamentally – is what the School is trying to deliver. Success depends on a community of people working together to make things happen. In the same way, sustainability can only be achieved by groups working together to change the way things are done.

The School is very much about delivery and progression of an industry, and hopefully, if we continue to work together, we will see that collaboration leads to success.

Carillion is standing shoulder to shoulder with other major industry partners – contributing funds, helping to create content and leadership governance – and we are actively encouraging all our accredited suppliers to join us in supporting the School and harvesting its sustainability resources.

This School is very much about delivery and, through working together, we will also learn together – and that will be at the heart of our collaboration to help the UK become more competitive in the global market place.
 

The global sustainable investment market grew substantially over a two-year period between 2012 and 2014 in both absolute and relative terms according to ‘The Global Sustainable Investment Review 2014’ from the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA), an international collaboration of membership based sustainable investment organisations including Euro SIF, the European Sustainable Investment Forum, and others in Australasia, Canada, the United States as well as the Japan Social Investment Forum.

The 36-page review, which follows an inaugural study from 2012, revealed that global sustainable investing assets have since risen by 61% to US$21.4 trillion (trn) - up from US$13.3trn in 2012. Over the course of this period the fastest growing region has been the US (+76% to US$6.57trn from US$3.74trn), followed by Canada and Europe.

Together these three regions are also the largest regions in terms of assets, accounting for 99% global sustainable investing assets, the review noted. That said, the majority of the identified global sustainable investments discussed in the Review - 65% - are in Europe.

In total the assets employing sustainable investing strategies have risen to 30.2% (2012: 21.5%) of the professionally management assets across the regions covered - Europe, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and Asia.

Simon Howard, chief executive of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), commenting said: “The Review shows that sustainable investing is growing rapidly around the world.” He added: “In the UK the market has been growing at 32% a year with ESG integration and engagement and voting being the leading styles. The market continues to expand in all segments with UKSIF members reporting increasing interest particularly from pension fund trustees.”

A foreword to the Review signed by parties including Francois Passant, Executive Director of Eurosif, Lisa Woll, ceo of US SIF, and Deb Abbey, ceo of Canada’s Responsible Investment Association, stated: “We are heartened by regulatory and other developments that promise to increase investors’ access to corporate environmental, social and governance data and to further drive growth in sustainable investing products.”

Of other key highlights, the most common sustainable investing strategy used globally is negative/exclusionary screening, which was found to be affecting US$14.4trn in assets. And, ESG integration, the systematic and explicit inclusion by investment managers of ESG factors into traditional financial analysis, is the “second most prominent strategy” in asset terms and affecting US$12.9trn.

In terms of corporate engagement and shareholder actions, the use of shareholder power to influence corporate behaviour, including through communicating with senior management and filing shareholder proposals - is the third most prominent strategy - affecting US$7.0trn.

The Review also noted that: “Negative screening is the largest strategy in Europe, while ESG integration now dominates in the US, Australia/New Zealand and Asia in asset-weighted terms.” Corporate engagement and shareholder action was found to be the dominant strategy in Canada.

These findings also show too that sustainable investing represents a significant share of the market not only in Europe, where more than half of professionally managed assets practice an ESG strategy, but also in Australia, the US and Canada, where its share of the market ranges from 17% to 31%.

Each region covered in the Review used a slightly different methodology to collect data for their respective regional reports and all assets reported were as of 31 December 2013, except Japan which reported as of 30 September 2014.
Further information: www.gsi-alliance.org 

Robeco Indian Equities D EUR Acc fund again top ranked amongst UK Registered Funds over the past year to 28 February 2015 with a cumulative return of +58.58% versus +47.47%/36th rank over the last three years.

In second place out of 244 funds for the past year was the Pictet Water-HR USD fund on +31.59% and ranked 15th (+53.99%) over the past three years and 22nd (+80.89%) over five-years. It was closely followed by Vontobel Sustainable Asian Ldrs (ex-Japan) A fund on +31.41% over the past one year.

Sparinvest SICAV Ethical HY Val Bond EUR R fund bottom ranked in this sector over the past 12 months on -30.11% - against -14.30%/227th over the last three years to date. The bottom five funds here - from SUNARES (-14.35%) down to Sparinvest SICAV Ethical - all posted negative performances over the past one year.

The US Mutual funds sector produced the best peer group average out of all five sectors analysed by Morningstar at +70.68% for the past five years.

Parnassus Endeavor Fund, which was ranked third over the past 12 months to end of January 2015, scooped the top spoils this time round with +20.32% out of 194 sector funds, followed by GuideStone Funds

Real Estate Secs Inv fund on +17.08% in second place (+37.60%/94th over last three years) and Ariel Investor with +16.90%
in third (+82.37%/2nd on the three-year view). Bottom of this sector was Guinness Atkinson Alternative Energy with -20.50% over the past year versus +7.00% (168th) over the past three years, while the Ave Maria Opportunity fund came second from bottom on -13.56% (+4.56%/176th over last three years).

The Robeco Institutional Liability Driven EurCor Govt Bond 40 fund dropped one spot over the previous month to second in the European Funds sector over the last one year with +71.20% (+85.21% over past three years).

AXA Framlington Health R Acc fund came fifth top with +46.50% on the past one-year view, but ranked top over both three and five years with +131.41% and +195.07%, respectively. MCO2 New Energy FEIF propped up the sector over the past year with a woeful -55.17% and over past five years did even worse (83.90%).
The European Funds sector produced the best peer group average overall for past three years (+39.71%), while the UK Individual Pensions sector posted the best peer group average of all the sectors over the past year with +27.37%.  

I was temporarily impressed by footballer’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 50 new tattoos. Not so long ago, the PSG star hoisted off his shirt after scoring against Caen to reveal the names of hunger sufferers across the globe. He uploaded a short clip to his Instagram account – a snippet of a wider video showing support for the United Nations World Food Programme – announcing that he would etch every name onto his body if he could. “Wherever I go people recognise me, call my name, cheer for me,” Ibrahimovic says in the video.“But there are names no one cheers for. There are 805 million people suffering from hunger in the world today. Too many of them are children. They are struck by war, natural disasters and extreme poverty.
“I have supporters all over the world. Beginning today, I want this support to go to the people who really need it. “So whenever you hear my name, you will think of their names. Whenever you see me, you will see them.”
This all sounds extremely laudable until you discover that they were only temporary tattoos. Support for such things needs to be seen to be real and ongoing not just a gimmicky one-off. Support, be it celebrity or financial, needs to be sustainable!
I suppose I shouldn’t have expected them to be permanent but in this tattoo-centric world I just assumed he had. He’s a rich footballer after all – he could have afforded to get them lasered off!
And lest we forget just how well off the beautiful game is, the Premier League has recently landed £5.1bn for its television rights, meaning an average £50m windfall per club. The Living Wage Foundation, which campaigns for companies to pay an enhanced income ensuring a basic standard of living (currently set at £7.85 an hour or £9.15 inside London), points out it would take a club cleaner or catering worker 13 years to earn what a leading player gets every week.
Chelsea, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, is the only one of the Premier League’s 20 clubs to be formally accredited as paying the living wage, meaning it is paid to both direct employees and sub-contracted staff. Manchester City pays the living wage to all direct employees.And only two other professional clubs in Britain –Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Premier League and League Two Luton Town – pay the enhanced basic wage.
Tattoo campaigns seem to be rather on trend right now. Surfers Against Sewage has just launched a new ‘Save Our Seas’ Marine Litter Tattoo campaign to highlight the growing scale and permanence of the marine litter crisis. The campaign takes its inspiration from highly-stylised maritime tattoos that are synonymous with the sea and those deeply connected to it – mariners, sailors, fishermen, seafarers, explorers and in more recent times, surfers and those seeking thrills, excitement and adventure connected to the coastline. The organisation maintains that as tattoos, the designs convey a strong sense of permanence, something that the marine litter crisis is threatening if urgent action is not taken soon.
Maybe I should review my opinion of Ibrahimovic? Maybe his gesture was to reinforce a similar idea that world poverty feels like a permanent fixture and that we mustn’t accept that. It needs to be addressed, ultimately eradicated – just like his temporary tattoos.
 

I’d like to see the day where there is a revolving door between the academic and corporate worlds. Companies can learn a huge amount from academics, and academics can gain insights from companies which help them keep their courses current. There are already a number of companies teaming up with academic institutions to find solutions to corporate dilemmas, but we at the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (ICRS) feel that more can be done to broker business-academic partnerships, and to bring valuable research ‘to market’.
That is why the Institute is setting up a Research Working Group to discuss how we can help bridge the gap between academe and CR and sustainability professionals. Corporate research funding programmes are one aspect to this, and there are already lots of good examples of such partnerships creating fruitful results:
• Nike is funding research into sustainable materials through the Sustainable Materials Project at the London College of Fashion
• Apple have created a Supplier Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) Academy in China in partnership with Nanjing University, Sun Yat-sen University and the Institute for Sustainable Communities to help train EHS managers and raise standards in their supply chain
• Imperial College London’s Smart Water Systems Lab is receiving input from NEC to develop technologies that make water supply infrastructures more energy efficient, adaptable and environmentally sensitive
But there’s also a plethora of ‘every day’ Masters and PHD research projects that practitioners could find useful but usually do not have the time or connection to explore. This is where the ICRS can step in.
We are committed to learning and one of our roles is to propagate best practice by opening people up to new ideas. In May, we will launch the Research Working Group, bringing together academics and professionals to build a plan. The Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and the Doughty Centre at Cranfield, among others, have proved that academic institutions can harness the results of their research and translate them into practical insights for business. We want to help disseminate findings from centres such as these, and over the medium to longer term, we want to identify and support areas of research that will provide the greatest benefit to practitioners and their employers.
Our first academic partnership is with Nottingham University to develop an e-Book for the profession.
If this interests you, keep track of the conversation by following us on Twitter @WeAreICRS,
And if you are keen to become a part of the community, do consider joining us. ICRS membership will help you to develop your CRS career, give you recognition of your experience, and let you demonstrate your credentials to employers. It will also create a network for you to test ideas, make you part of a wider movement, and ensure that you stay on top of your game. Find out more about membership and how to apply here: https://icrs.info/membership
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at info@icrs.info or call us on 020 7839 019

Claudine Blamey is Chair of the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (ICRS) and Head of Stewardship at The Crown Estate.
 

Americans just love their canned tuna: The U.S. is the world’s largest market for the product. But that can of tuna -- and other types of seafood products so many people enjoy -- might be traced back to human and labor rights abuses.

The Associated Press conducted a year-long investigation into Thailand’s fishing industry. What the AP found is downright chilling. Its report reveals that seafood sold in popular American grocery chains may have been caught by slaves. The AP interviewed men, most of them hailing from Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). The Burmese men were taken through Thailand to Indonesia and forced to fish. What they caught was shipped to Thailand and sold globally, ending up in grocery stores “such as Kroger, Albertsons and Safeway,” according to the AP.

The slaves told the AP that they work under deplorable conditions:

“They said the captains on their fishing boats forced them to drink unclean water and work 20- to 22-hour shifts with no days off. Almost all said they were kicked, whipped with toxic stingray tails or otherwise beaten if they complained or tried to rest. They were paid little or nothing, as they hauled in heavy nets with squid, shrimp, snapper, grouper and other fish.”

What the AP found is backed up by a 2014 report on human trafficking by the U.S. State Department. As a result of what the State Department uncovered, Thailand was downgraded to a Tier 3 country, the worst level. And what was uncovered was a fishing industry filled with labor trafficking victims. Burmese, Cambodian and Thai men are forced to work on fishing boats in Thailand. Some of them are at sea for “up to several years,” the report states, and are not paid much but expected to work 18- to 20-hour days, seven days a week. They are “threatened and physically beaten.”

Thai Union is one of the companies connected to the tuna suppliers in Thailand. It may not sound familiar but the company it owns, Chicken of the Sea, surely must. Thai Union is set to buy Bumble Bee, which will give it 40 percent of the American canned tuna market. The environmental organization Greenpeace pointed out in a blog post that while the AP did not specifically investigate the tuna industry, it “reinforces serious concerns over the supply chains for the biggest tuna companies in the U.S.”

Greenpeace released its Canned Tuna Shopping Guide earlier this month. The guide ranked 14 American canned tuna brands on environmental and social responsibility issues. Chicken of the Sea and Bumble Bee were both ranked, and both brands received failing grades. As John Hocevar, Greenpeace U.S. oceans campaign director, said: Thai Union is “responsible for the majority of destructive tuna found across the country.”

What can concerned consumers do who love their canned tuna? Don’t buy Chicken of the Sea or Bumble Bee. Instead, look for tuna brands that are ranked high by Greenpeace. That includes Wild Planet Foods, a company that clearly defines its sourcing policy on its website, available for all to see.

Image credit: David Mulder