Covalence EthicalQuote » News

Private and Public Partners Unite to Combat 10 Neglected Tropical Diseases by 2020

info — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:21:19 +0000

Today, 13 pharmaceutical companies, the U.S., U.K. and U.A.E governments, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank and other global health organisations announced a new, coordinated push to accelerate progress toward eliminating or controlling 10 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by the end of the decade. Uniting efforts with NTD-endemic countries, partners pledged to bring a unique focus to defeating these diseases and to work together to improve the lives of the 1.4 billion people worldwide affected by NTDs, most of whom are among the world’s poorest. In the largest coordinated effort to date to combat NTDs, the group announced at an event at the Royal College of Physicians that they would: sustain or expand existing drug donation programs to meet demand through 2020; share expertise and compounds to accelerate research and development of new drugs; and provide more than US$785 million to support R&D efforts and strengthen drug distribution and implementation programmes. Partners also endorsed the “London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases,” in which they pledged new levels of collaborative effort and tracking of progress. “Today, we have joined together to increase the impact of our investments and build on the tremendous progress made to date,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “This innovative approach must serve as a model for solving other global development challenges and will help millions of people build self-sufficiency and overcome the need for aid.” The Gates Foundation announced a five-year, US$363 million commitment to support NTD product and operational research. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company: Sanofi, Bayer, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Merck KGaA, Novartis, Pfizer, Abbott, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eisai | Source: Uniting to combat neglected tropical diseases

Apple hit by boycott call over worker abuses in China

info — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:11:46 +0000

Apple, the computer giant whose sleek products have become a mainstay of modern life, is dealing with a public relations disaster and the threat of calls for a boycott of its iPhones and iPads. The company’s public image took a dive after revelations about working conditions in the factories of some of its network of Chinese suppliers. The allegations, reported at length in the New York Times, build on previous concerns about abuses at firms that Apple uses to make its bestselling computers and phones. Now the dreaded word “boycott” has started to appear in media coverage of its activities. “Should consumers boycott Apple?” asked a column in the Los Angeles Times as it recounted details of the bad PR fallout. The influential Daily Beast and Newsweek technology writer Dan Lyons wrote a scathing piece. “It’s barbaric,” he said, before saying to his readership: “Ultimately the blame lies not with Apple and other electronics companies – but with us, the consumers. And ultimately we are the ones who must demand change.” Forbes magazine columnist Peter Cohan also got in on the act. “If you add up all the workers who have died to build your iPhone or iPad, the number is shockingly high,” he began an article that also toyed with the idea of a boycott in its headline. The New York Times’s revelations, which centred on the Foxconn plant in southern China that has repeatedly been the subject of accusations of worker mistreatment, have caused a major stir in the US. Although such allegations have been made before in numerous news outlets, and in a controversial one-man show by playwright Mike Daisey, this time they have struck a chord. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: USA, China | Company: Apple | Source: The Guardian

Major investor coalition seeks disclosure of US corporate lobbying expenditure

info — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:18:10 +0000

A group of US investment institutions have filed shareholder resolutions at 40 companies calling on them to report on their spending on direct lobbying and lobbying via trade associations. The group wants greater transparency on how companies influence regulation and law-making. Backers of the initiative include investors such as the $134bn (€104bn) New York State Common Retirement Fund, Walden Asset Management, the AFSCME Employees Pension Plan, PAX World Fund and the Tides Foundation. The coalition has been organised by Walden and the AFSCME and also includes faith-based investors such as Christus Health, Catholic Health East, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston, the Sisters of Notre Dame and Mercy Investment Services. Among the companies targeted are household names like AT&T, Bank of America, Chevron, Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, J.P. Morgan Chase, PepsiCo and UPS. “This year investors have taken a logical next step and asked companies to disclose their direct and indirect lobbying activities,” said Timothy Smith, Director of Environmental, Social and Governance Shareowner Engagement at Walden. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: USA | Company: AT&T, Bank of America, Chevron, Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson, J.P. Morgan Chase, PepsiCo, UPS | Source: Responsible Investor

BBGI-EthicalQuote Swiss Equities Indices

info — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:27:58 +0000

The BBGI-EthicalQuote Swiss Equities Indices show that it is possible to outperform the Swiss Market Index (SMI) and the Swiss Performance Index (SPI) while integrating ESG criteria.

After a particularly difficult year for the majority of investors, BBGI Group SA and Covalence SA have decided to publish their BBGI-EthicalQuote Swiss Equities indices to answer the multiple preoccupations of investors seeking a benchmark to judge their results on their ethical Swiss stock investments.

The BBGI-EthicalQuote indices constitute the first family of ethical Swiss equity indices. These innovative indices reweigh the SMI and SPI through an inclusive ethical approach and a principle of diversification of investments which generates a superior yield. These three indices represent the 20, 40 and 60 of the country’s largest market capitalizations and their composition depends on an optimization between financial and extra financial criteria. From 1999, the composite annual performance of these indices has shown to be superior to those of the SMI and SPI. This performance is +3.77% for the BBGI-EthicalQuote 20 index, +5.77% for the BBGI-EthicalQuote 40 and +5.81% for the BBGI-EthicalQuote 60 index. In the same time frame the SMI shed 2.01% and the SPI stagnated at +0.52%.

From now on, the publication of these indices, designed for all institutional and private investors, will for the first time allow them to have daily stock market indices integrating Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria. Investors will finally have statistics tracing back to 1999 (performance and risk) which will be available for free at the Analysis and Research department of BBGI Group SA (www.bbgi.ch) or at Covalence SA (www.ethicalquote.com) on a simple demand through the respective websites of both companies.

The BBGI-EthicalQuote Swiss Equities Indices constitute the first genuine and objective benchmarks of the Socially Responsible Investing sector (SRI) in Switzerland. They will certainly establish themselves as the essential tool to measure the effectiveness of the management truly achieved by financial professionals offering ESG approaches, an indispensable tool for investors willing to dialogue as professionals with their agents.

More importantly, BBGI Group SA offers the access to the exceptional performances achieved by these indices through specialized management mandates allowing to integrate specific management restrictions of investors and in their own ESG principles.

The ethical expertise of Covalence and the financial knowledge of the BBGI Group have therefore been combined to create the BBGI-EthicalQuote Covalence indices, the first group of ethical indices in Swiss equities. These reweigh the SMI and SPI through an ethical inclusive approach and follow a principle of diversification which aims to reduce the excessive representation of very large market capitalizations.

Clearly demonstrated by a simulation of a historic 11 year period, the out-performance of the BBGI-EthicalQuote indices emanates from financial and ethical factors. Financially, the construction of the indices based on market capitalization groups allows for an optimal diversification which proves to be beneficial yield-wise. Ethically, a good grading is an indicator of the quality of management, the strategic vision, the risk management and the brand positioning, all elements favorably perceived and valued by the markets which have been factored in the construction of the indices.

The three BBGI-EthicalQuote indices aim to satisfy investors on a financial, as much as on an extra-financial level. They feature better ethical grades than the SMI and SPI indices in all criteria groups (Working conditions, Impact of production, Impact of product and Institutional impact).

These indices are built with the EthicalQuote system developed by Covalence, a Geneva based company founded in 2001. Inspired by stock quotes, this ethical quotation system is composed of thousands of documents collected in medias, companies, NGOs and other varied sources. These documents are coded, quantified and synthesized into an ethical reputation measure based on an international legal framework. This process depends on technology, as much as human analysis. This inclusive system, reflecting public opinion in a pragmatic and evolutionary manner, takes into account the challenges related to extra-financial rating: the plurality of ethical definitions, the credibility of information, the economic relevance.

BBGI Group’s skills are also critical in the creation of these indices: recognized specialist of institutional investment and private wealth management, the BBGI Group has already launched the BBGI Share Clean Energy Fund and the BBGI Clean Energy 100 Index, one of the first and rare indices on renewable energies that is greatly diversified. In the 1990s the group’s founders were employed by a major private Geneva bank with the creation of the first SRI funds in Switzerland. Finally, the BBGI Group has already provided the management of private and institutional mandates under SRI guidelines for several years.

Today, 70% of sustainable investments in Switzerland use negative screening (exclusion). Exclusion leads to the reduction in diversification in a group limited to one hundred marketable securities. This reduces the expected value of portfolios and can harm performance which explains the reluctance of numerous managers in regards to SRI. Moreover, current products tend to be market capitalisation-weighted.

The BBGI-EthicalQuote indices use a different approach with ethical integration and optimal diversification of investments. This method aims to explicitly include sustainable development stakes in traditional financial analysis and favors a greater diversification through its distinction of weights from market capitalization based indices.

Download:

Press release 15 January 2012 | Communiqué de presse (français)

Monthly historical performances since 1999

Daily historical performances: 20 Index | 40 Index | 60 Index

For more information please contact:

M. Alain Freymond (Partner)
afr@bbgi.ch
BBGI Group SA
Rue Sigismond Thalberg no 2
1201 Geneva
Tél : +41 (22) 595 96 11

M. Antoine Mach (Partner)
antoine.mach@ethicalquote.com
Covalence SA
Avenue Industrielle 1
1227 Carouge
Tél : +41 (22) 800 08 55

Sainsbury’s launches responsible drinking campaign

info — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:52:39 +0000

Sainsbury’s has launched a campaign to help consumers to better understand the importance of responsible drinking. Run in partnership with Drinkaware, Diageo and Heineken, the campaign will emphasise the importance of managing alcohol intake and encourage customers to develop a better understanding of alcohol units, as well as highlight the variety of lighter style wines available. The move forms part of Sainsbury’s 20 by 20 Sustainability Plan, in which Sainsbury’s has committed to doubling its sales of lighter alcohol wine by 2020. Until 24 January, Sainsbury’s will offer a range of in-store activity including sampling, where customers can try samples of the lighter wines and alternative serve sizes of spirits and beer. They will also have the chance to test their awareness of alcohol units by pouring a typical home measure to find out how many units are in it. Each participating customer will receive a unit wheel from Drinkaware to help them better judge the units and calories they are likely to consume in wines, beers and spirits. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: UK | Company: Sainsbury’s| Source: The Retail Bulletin

Facebook and Greenpeace end feud over renewable energy

info — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:42:20 +0000

Social network megalith Facebook has announced it will work with Greenpeace to promote clean energy ending a feud between the two. Facebook announced today (December 15) it will collaborate on the promotion of renewable energy, encourage major utilities to develop renewables and develop programmes to help its estimated 850m users save energy. The news comes two years after Greenpeace launched its global Unfriend Coal Campaign, which urged Facebook to ditch coal as its power source of its data centres. Facebook’s goal, announced today, is to power its operations, including its data centres, using clean and renewable energy. As part of the agreement Facebook will invest in on-going research into energy efficiency and the open sharing of that technology through the Open Compute Project, which Greenpeace will work to support. Facebook also hopes to engage in dialogue with energy companies about the sources of energy that power its data centres. “This move sets an example for the industry to follow”, said Greenpeace’s International Climate and Energy Program co-director, Tzeporah Berman. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company: Facebook| Source: edieEnergy via Corporate Citizenship Briefing

Energy Aid Founded by IBM and Practical Action Launches to Provide Universal Energy Access

info — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:32:59 +0000

IBM (NYSE: IBM) and international development charity Practical Action today announce the launch of Energy Aid, a new global charity with a mission to provide sustainable energy for those who have limited or no access for heating, lighting, cooking, communications and mechanical work.Energy Aid recognizes that improved access to energy can be a route out of poverty for the 1.3 billion people globally who have no access to electricity. As a result, the charity will identify and address issues preventing large portions of the population from using electricity safely such as helping the 2.7 billion people a year who cook with biomass, wood, dung, coal and other solid fuels to avoid indoor smoke from cooking stoves. Surpassing the death toll caused by Malaria, indoor smoke kills 1.4 million people each year, most of which are women and children. Energy Aid will provide investment and resources including data, technology, skills and research across the world’s poorest areas including South America, South Asia and sub Saharan Africa. This will support charities and agencies running or planning energy projects in these regions, helping people to find their own way out of energy poverty. Currently more than 80 percent [2] of these energy projects are not achieving their goals and charitable investment is under pressure. This situation highlights the need for a charity that will support local organizations and charities and encourage collaboration between the private, public and charity sectors, which can attract private investment. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company: IBM | Source: IBM

Image via Shutterstock and earthtechling.com

Nokia helps endangered turtles as part of ‘Take-Back’ recycling campaign

info — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:53:43 +0000

200 environmentally friendly mobile phone users get the chance to adopt a turtle as part of EWS’s Marine Turtle Conservation Project. Nokia and Emirates Wildlife Society in association with WWF (EWS-WWF), a leading regional not-for-profit environmental organization, have joined forces to spearhead a month-long campaign to raise awareness of the region’s Marine Turtle Conservation Project. As part of the initiative, mobile phone users who recycle their old mobile devices at any Nokia Care Centre in UAE, Oman and Qatar can stand to win one of 200 Turtle Adoption Packs, which includes receiving an adoption certificate for the endangered Hawksbill turtles which are native to Gulf waters. More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: UAE, Oman, Qatar | Company: Nokia | Source: SmartOman.com

Schneider Electric triumphs at Gigaton Awards ceremony during UN climate change talks

info — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 13:22:49 +0000

The Carbon War Room, The Gigaton Throwdown, and the World Climate Summit today awarded Schneider Electric Gigaton Awards for outstanding business leadership in action to reduce carbon usage, along with Suntech, Tesco, Phillips, Swisscom, and Centrica. The Gigaton Awards are designed to inspire and challenge businesses to run their business in the most carbon efficient way possible. “We applaud Schneider Electric, 2011 Gigaton winner, for its outstanding efforts that will set the industry standard in corporate carbon reduction and sustainability,” said Jigar Shah, CEO, Carbon War Room. “Carbon War Room looks forward to seeing the ripple effect the winners’ efforts will inspire.” As 2011 Best-In-Class Gigaton Award winner, Schneider Electric was recognized for its leadership in energy efficiency and the development of the smart grid. “Carbon is not only an environmental issue but a business imperative. As the global specialist in energy management, we have been focusing on fostering energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions for our customers, whilst walking the talk by using these solutions in our own sites,” says Gilles Vermot Desroches, Senior VP Sustainable Development for Schneider Electric. “Not only is it a good thing for the planet but also a fantastic business opportunity. We are honoured that the Gigaton Award Academy recognizes our day-to-day efforts towards more sustainability.” More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company: Schneider Electric | Source: Schneider Electric

The Coca-Cola Company Joins (RED) to Help Eliminate AIDS

info — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:42:34 +0000

Partnership will benefit the Global Fund to help bring about an AIDS-free generation by 2015. ATLANTA, Dec. 1, 2011 – The Coca-Cola Company today announced a multi-year partnership with (RED) to raise awareness and money for the Global Fund’s efforts to virtually eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015. The partnership includes an initial commitment of more than $5 million USD from The Coca-Cola Company over the next four years. This commitment will fund marketing awareness campaigns activated through global Coca-Cola music initiatives and programs. As part of the $5 million USD contribution, a minimum of $3 million USD will be donated directly to The Global Fund to purchase anti-retroviral medicine and distribute literature. “It’s encouraging to think that we could witness an AIDS-free generation during our lifetime,” said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company. “We’re proud to help this effort and believe it complements the current work we’re doing in many parts of the world to educate and prevent HIV/AIDS as well as provide support to people affected by this preventable and treatable disease.” More…

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company: The Coca-Cola Company | Source: The Coca-Cola Company