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March 10, 2000
Environmental Groups Endorse Shareholder Resolutions
Friends of the Earth leads a coalition of 11 environmental groups raising public awareness about
environmental and social resolutions of shareholder activists.
SocialFunds.com --
Shareholder activists proposing resolutions to improve the social and environmental performance of
publicly owned corporations face many obstacles, including the fact that most shareholders are
uninformed on the issues. Friends of the Earth has garnered the support of a band of environmental
groups to help overcome this obstacle.
 As the 2000 proxy season begins a
coalition of 11 environmental groups, led by Friends of the Earth (FOE), endorsed a slate of 85
social and environmental shareholder resolutions. This is the second year FOE has organized an
endorsement from the environmental community, and is an important step in educating group members
who are shareholders and potential proxy voters.
"Environmental groups call on people and
institutions to claim their power as shareholders, through retirement plans, mutual funds, or
endowments, and demand more environmentally responsible corporate behavior," said Michelle
Chan-Fishel, coordinator of Friends of the Earth's Green Investments program. "Challenging and
changing corporate behavior is key to environmental progress."
Groups that endorsed the
resolutions include Greenpeace, Ozone Action, Rainforest Action Network, and U.S. Public Interest
Research Group. Many of the endorsers do not have endowments, so are not shareholders themselves,
but they may provide technical support to shareholder activists or other institutional investors
concerned with environmental issues.
"About 70 percent of Americans consider themselves
environmentalists, or have environmental concerns," said Chan-Fishel. Shareholder activism provides
a constructive direction for environmentalists who acknowledge the overwhelming impact of
corporations on the world's natural systems.
Most of the 85 resolutions on the slate
advocate improved environmental policies, performance, disclosure, or the elimination of
environmentally harmful projects or practices. Environmental resolutions range from endorsing the
CERES environmental code of conduct to addressing genetically engineered foods, global warming, or
nuclear issues.
In addition, several resolutions oppose specific environmentally perilous
projects and investments around the world. These include resolutions with ARCO, Chevron, and
ExxonMobil regarding plans to exploit oil reserves in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and one
with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, concerning their financing of the calamitous Three Gorges Dam
project in China.
But all the resolutions on the slate are not strictly on environmental
issues, indicating the broad appeal of social and human rights resolutions and the complexity of
the issues they address. Examples are resolutions on global labor standards for companies operating
overseas, corporate governance issues, and one on the impact of Occidental Petroleum's drilling
plans on the U'wa tribe of Colombia.
According to the public endorsement, resolutions that
do not have a clear environmental goal include environmental language in supporting statements, or
are filed at companies where environmental issues play a role in the shareholder dialogue. The
environmental organizations involved do not necessarily endorse nor have expertise on every
resolution included.
"By endorsing these resolutions, the organizations are able to help
'get out the vote' by educating the public about important opportunities to improve environmental
quality," said Chan-Fishel. "At the same time, we are raising awareness about the importance of
exercising ownership responsibility in personal and managed investment."
The 11
environmental groups included in this endorsement set an example for publicizing shareholder
advocacy to a broader audience. It remains for other groups with concerns about corporate behavior
to follow suit.
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