5 Top Sustainable Investment Stories of 2010
[Editor's note: This article originally appeared at SocialFunds.com.]
Viewed through the lens of growth, 2010 can be seen as one in which sustainable investment moved closer to acceptance by the mainstream investment community, in the US and elsewhere.
By the end of the year, three reports detailing regional states of sustainable investment -- in Europe, the United States, and Australia and New Zealand -- had been published, and each showed that uptake of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors in investment decision-making was on the increase. (Here are articles on the reports:Growth in Sustainable Assets Outpaces Mainstream，，，，2010年在澳大利亚和新西兰的可持续投资优于市场andPrinciples for Responsible Investment Publishes 2010 Report on Progress。）
此外，联合国的签署人数Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)has grown to include over 800 signatories with a total of $22 trillion in assets under management. The number of new signatories since July 2009 now stands at 268, "evidence," the PRI states, "of the increasing recognition by institutional investors worldwide of the need to consider environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues when investing."
考虑到许多观察家警告说，在金融危机之后，投资者和公司对ESG因素的考虑将下降，因此对于可持续投资的从业者来说，这种结果令人鼓舞。
However, 2010 was a year in which the political winds in the US in particular turned sharply to the right, and the year's top stories indicate that the engagement practices of sustainable investors, both with companies and legislative and regulatory processes, will be if anything even more crucial in 2011. Here are the top five sustainable investment stories for 2010.
5.国会通过医疗改革立法。
Despite the ongoing economic recession and high unemployment, President Obama maintained his priority of seeing health care reform enacted by Congress, and succeeded in the face of fierce opposition by most Republicans in Congress. In March, the House of Representatives passed the bill in a 219-212 vote, and a reconciliation bill passed the Senate afterward.
长期以来，可持续投资者将医疗保健改革成为其任务的核心部分。在过去的两年中，解决医疗保健改革的股东建议的数量大大增加，这是AFL-CIO领导的努力，指出获得负担得起的，全面的医疗保险的机会是美国最重要的社会政策问题。
2009年11月，在2010年代理季节之前信仰企业责任中心（ICCR）向美国商会的36名成员发送了信件，他们发表了公开声明以支持医疗改革原则，要求他们澄清会议厅是否会在医疗保健改革上说明他们对此效果的陈述。（这是有关ICCR信函活动的文章：要求公司与医疗改革的商会保持距离。）
Following the historic vote in the House, ICCR members issued astatement欢迎美国的医疗保健改革，并说：“获得医疗保健是一项基本的人权，使社会受益，并为个人，共同的福利和雇主服务。”
4.国会未能针对气候变化采取行动。
Of all the macroeconomic issues with which sustainable investors have been engaged, none have a more far-reaching global effect than climate change. In June 2009, when the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate change bill, it seemed cause for celebration.
但是，参议院随后未能通过针对气候变化的谦虚立法提案，这使奥巴马政府别无选择，只能寻求监管方案，以减少温室气体（GHG）排放的有意义的减少。环境保护署（EPA）以其对《清洁空气法》有关的2007年最高法院裁决的规范授权的权力，建立了规定的法规，要求大型设施每年发射25,000吨超过25,000吨的温室气体排放，以证明他们正在使用最佳实践和最小化温室气体排放的技术。
Sustainable investors associated with谷神星， 这关于气候风险的投资者网络（递增），，，，andAs You Sowhave aggressively pursued climate change mitigation through resolutions asking for improved reporting by companies as well as assessments of risks and opportunities associated with climate change. (Here are several articles on the subject:Environmental Shareowner Resolutions Gain Record Levels of Support in 2010 Proxy Season，，，，Investors Lead Way on Climate Change As Senate Fails to Act，，，，Leading Companies are Not Waiting for Climate Change Legislation，，，，Carbon Disclosure Project Issues 2010 Reports on Climate Change Disclosure by Companies in Global 500 and S&P 500andInvestors Call on World Leaders to Act Now on Climate Change。）
3. Congress passes financial regulatory reform legislation.
Since the financial crisis and subsequent global economic recession, many books have been published lionizing the few industry insiders who foresaw the collapse of the subprime mortgage lending market. None of them, however, have detailed the prescience of many sustainable investors who have been issuing warnings about the practice for many years.
ICCR成员介绍了九十年代中期的承销行为的股东决议，并解决了九十年代后期证券化实践的决议。在2010年代理季节，ICCR成员要求公司报告其衍生工具抵押品的政策。
参议院以59-39的投票通过了多德 - 弗兰克法案，对5月份的金融改革呼吁做出了回应。当参议院和众议院联合会在6月开展和解法案时，Social Investment Forum (SIF)published a信件outlining the organization's support for provisions that would improve corporate governance, protect consumers, and provide regulatory oversight of investment products. (Articles on the subject include:Investors and Shareowners Applaud Senate Passage of Financial Reform Bill，，，，竞彩足球app怎么下载可持续性投资者在金融改革立法上表达了声音andSEC与Country Winder Winder Winders的高管解决：个人责任模板？）
2. BP oil rig explodes in Gulf of Mexico.
That the worst environmental disaster in human history occurred in the controversial practice of deepwater drilling was not much of a surprise. Sustainable investors have called on companies to effectively address the risks associated with such practices, which are becoming increasingly prevalent as the clearly unsustainable global reliance on fossil fuels encounters limitations in conventional extraction.
鉴于其冗长的健康和安全违规历史，尤其是在美国，造成灾难的公司也不应该让人感到惊讶。尽管违规行为导致了德克萨斯城和其他地方的多次死亡，但BP仍然是许多可持续投资者的最爱，这主要是由于其作为有效记者的声誉。最新的灾难最终迫使许多投资者重新考虑对BP作为最可持续公司的评估，2010年，该公司从几个可持续指数中撤离。（这是BP覆盖范围的抽样：Sustainability Investors Reconsider BP Holdings in Wake of Gulf Disaster，，，，BP Among Companies Removed from Global Sustainability Index，，，，Shareowner Resolution Addresses Risk Management at BPandOil Spill Commission Asked to Recommend Improved Disclosure by Offshore Drillers。）
1.最高法院的裁决为公司政治支出开辟了闸门。
最高法院在一月份就公民联合诉联邦选举委员会裁决，该委员会阻止政府监管竞选活动的公司支出，并通过公司问责制和股份权利权利的倡导者社区发动了冲击波。
实际上，法院裁定，尽管公司的权利与私人的权利相同，尽管他们清楚地阐明了作为独立实体的法律地位。
Following the ruling, President Obama said, “With its ruling today, the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics. It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans."
这Center for Political Accountability (CPA)于2003年启动，试图为公司的政治支出带来透明度和问责制。到目前为止，有75多家公司自愿采用了政治披露框架，其中包括标准普尔100指数上市的框架。
In response to the Supreme Court ruling, Bruce Freed, President of CPA, said, "The Citizens United decision will place companies under immense pressure to use shareholder funds to support candidates, groups and causes whose positions and activities could threaten a company’s reputation and bottom line and shareholder value."
11月，由投资者联盟领导多米尼社会投资andWalden Asset Managementsubmitted proposals for the 2011 proxy season addressing corporate political spending at four large corporations. The four companies sit on the Board of the US Chamber of Commerce, which reportedly poured $75 million into the 2010 election. (Articles on the decision and its impact include:Advocates for Corporate Accountability Denounce Supreme Court Ruling on Political Spending，，，，在有争议的最高法院裁决之后，股东活动家制定了公司披露政治支出的计划，，，，Social Investors Brainstorm Responses to Citizens UnitedandShareowners Launch Campaign Against Corporate Political Spending。）
Image CC licensed by Flickr userPerpetualTourist2000。
