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Recent Posts by Joel Makower
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Is greenwashing really as bad a problem as some are making it out to be? I've been thinking about this question a lot recently, as the G-word crops up more and more frequently in articles, blogs, reports, and conversations. Of course, the answer depends a lot on one's view of the potential for big companies to improve their environmental performance — and talk truthfully about it — and whether the pace of corporate change is sufficient to address the magnitude of the problems we face. Like "beauty" (and "green"), "greenwash" is in the eye of the beholder. The definition of greenwashing has changed in recent years. In the early 1990s, the term was used to describe deliberate and cynical attempts by companies to mislead the public about their
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As fuel and electricity prices have ratcheted up, so, too, have the queries about what to do: where can companies, especially smaller ones, go for help? On the one hand, that's a big, vague question. Where you go depends on what business you are in, where you're located, what you need, and how much, if anything, you're able to spend. On the other hand, there's a lot of help out there, much of it low-cost or free, if only you know where to look. Below are just a few of the resources aimed at small and midsize companies. They will be of help largely to U.S.-based companies — apologies to those elsewhere, though there likely are analogs to these resources in other countries. This is by no means comprehensive; indeed, it probably only scratches the surface. But it points to a handful
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The spring rains have yielded a bumper crop of new reports on the business of green. I've been a bit behind in fielding them, given my travels and last week's highly successful Greener by Design conference. Here are five of the latest:
My colleagues at Clean Edge have just released the Utility Solar Assessment (USA) Study, making the case that solar power has the potential to reach cost parity with retail-electricity rates in most regions of the U.S. in less than a decade — but only if electric utilities step up to the plate. The free report (Download — PDF), published in partnership with Co-op America, provides a robust roadmap for electric utilities to accelerate the growth of solar energy. Incorporating the latest technology, market, and policy breakthroughs, and
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The greening of design is gaining interest, and I'm not simply talking about our fast-approaching conference on the topic, Greener by Design. Last week, Business for Social Responsibility and the design firm IDEO released a new free report (download - PDF) showing how companies are infusing sustainability into their design processes in ways that have led to innovative products that offer value to consumers.
The report offers an "A-B-C-D Approach to Making Better Products," as the subtitle promises. And while the real-life process may not be quite that alphabetic, or simple, the report offers a useful framework for how to think about product design and development through the lens of environmental sustainability, including some key questions that never seem to get
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My life often takes me to amazing places, no more amazing than the Great Barrier Reef, where I've just taken two dives. I'm not an experienced diver, though my two dives off the coast of Cairns, Australia, nonetheless rank high in life experiences. Hovering over almost any spot of the reef yielded an abundance of life, the level of action growing the longer one stays and looks.
My too-brief Australian adventure took place en route to Wellington, New Zealand, from where this is being written. I'm here for World Environment Day, which, for the initiated, is a United Nations-sponsored event, celebrated since the mid 1980s each June 5, hosted by a different city. Wellington is this year's host and the theme — "Kicking the Carbon Habit" — seems as fanciful as it is formidable. In
The 2008 Shareholder Season
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The 2008 Shareholder Season
Some of the most important voting of the year doesn't involve candidates or political parties. It's taking place between shareholders and the companies they own.
It has become an annual rite of spring: a bumper crop of shareholder resolutions filed by activist investors aimed at compelling companies to address any of a wide range of social and environmental issues. This year is no different.
A new report on the 2008 season — the majority of companies hold their annual meetings in the spring — has been published by As You Sow (Free download). And while its intended audience are foundations, whose endowments typically include large stock holdings, the report offers insight for anyone interested at the state of the art of shareholder activism.
First, some background. Shareholders file all sorts of proxy proposals at annual meetings. Many have to do with corporate governance — such issues as selection of directors, appointment of auditors, and approving company stock plans. There are also social proxy proposal, frequently introduced at annual meetings by activist pension funds, especially those representing public employees and schoolteachers; universities (remember how schools divested investments in companies doing business in South Africa during Apartheid?), labor unions, foundations, and large faith-based institutional investors (what I lovingly refer to as "Little Sisters of the Immaculate Investment").
Over the past decade of so, shareholder proposals from such organizations have grown, from just over 200 in 1999 to 368 last year, according to As You Sow's "Proxy Season Preview." Environmental topics have historically accounted for the largest category of social proposals filed, covering such issues as greenhouse gas emissions, recycling, water, forestry, genetically engineered food, nuclear waste, oil production, protected lands, and environmental justice.
Many of these proposals never come up for a vote, but that's part of the process, As You Sow explains.
The goal of shareholder advocates is to change a company's practice or policy. Most shareholders prefer to do this through a "good faith" dialogue with the company. Shareholders file proposals if a dialogue is not going well or the company is unresponsive. Filing a proposal can often bring the issue to the company's attention and lead to a dialogue or change in policy or practice, in which case a proposal is no longer warranted and ultimately withdrawn.
Even when votes are held, success doesn't always require a majority vote. While most social and environmental proposals receive votes in the single digits, a significant number have received 20% to 50% in the last few years. "These votes are comparable to or better than traditional governance proposals and serve as further evidence that social, environmental, and reputational risks are being viewed as legitimate concerns in their own right by mainstream investors," says the report.
Because of this, proposals tend to be repeated year after year, largely in hopes of garnering bigger and bigger support. Indeed, says As You Sow, many of last year's top issues will dominate this year's crop of proposals, though 2008 will also see a slew of new proposals and shareholder campaigns. Major issues include global warming (50+ proposals covering climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, energy, and related issues), sustainability (35+ proposals), and animal welfare (25+ proposals).
One topic entering the picture is "toxic TVs." On February 19, 2009, all television signals in the U.S. will convert to digital broadcast, rendering millions of analog TVs obsolete. This so-called Digital Deadline is likely the largest government-mandated planned obsolescence in U.S. history. Tens of millions of TVs are expected to be discarded as consumers purchase new digital sets rather than obtain a low-cost converter which will allow current sets to function. Absent a responsible recycling system, this flood of TVs will add to the growing electronic-waste stream, much of which is sent to unsafe overseas recycling facilities. As You Sow filed a proposal at Best Buy asking the company to study the feasibility of using its stores as a take-back venue for e-waste and to give special consideration to have infrastructure in place for the digital switchover next year.
If nothing else, the "Proxy Season Review" is a good primer on environmental topics companies are being asked, or forced, to confront. Historically, a handful of leadership companies break ranks with their corporate brethren, taking a bold stance on a topic that has become a sore spot with investors and activists.
What topics and companies will be the talk of the 2008 proxy season? What will be the next domino to fall?
We should all take stock.
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