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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
6.06.2005 ET
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US Investors Support Global Warming Resolution with General Motors
(CSRwire) Today several leading U.S. institutional investors, representing
more than $400 billion in invested assets, announced their support for a
shareholder resolution requesting that General Motors assess and disclose
its strategies for facing the significant financial risks posed by global
climate change. The resolution will be voted on at the company's June 7
annual meeting.
The shareholders include state treasurers and pension fund leaders from
California, Connecticut and New York, as well as faith-based investors.
Citing the growing prevalence of climate change regulations, rising
consumer demand for lower-emitting vehicles and the high "carbon burden"
of GM's vehicle fleet, the investors said they will support a resolution
requesting that General Motors assess how it plans to:- ensure
competitive positioning based on emerging near- and long-term greenhouse
gas regulatory scenarios at the state, regional, national and
international levels.
- comply with California's greenhouse gas standards.
- significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its vehicle fleets
(using a 2004 baseline) by 2014 and 2024.The resolution requests that the
report be prepared by a committee of independent members on the company's
board of directors and that it be submitted to shareholders by September
1, 2005.
The resolution was filed by the sisters of St. Dominic of
Caldwell, N.J., the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds and
members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR).
"General Motors has lost sight of a major market shift," said California
State Controller Steve Westly, trustee of the CalPERS and CalSTRS pension
funds that together own more than 4.2 million shares of GM stock. "Canada
and the European market must meet their Kyoto targets and China has
recently adopted new fuel efficiency standards that could also place GM at
a competitive disadvantage. To remain successful, auto companies must
address this changing global regulatory environment."
"As a long-term investor and fiduciary, I encourage General Motors and its
board to evaluate and report on the company's financial risks and
opportunities from climate change," added Connecticut Treasurer Denise L.
Nappier. "Consumers are already responding to rising fuel prices by
shopping for fuel efficient automobiles. As more countries address the
need to reduce carbon emissions this trend will intensify and GM's current
product line will become obsolete. We are asking General Motors to look to
the future and tell shareholders how it plans to address the emerging
reality and thereby protect the long-term value of the company and our
investment."
The resolution comes as many of General Motors' leading domestic and
foreign competitors are moving more aggressively to evaluate their
potential financial exposure on the climate change issue and improve their
overall competitive positioning. In late March, for example, the Ford Motor
Co. announced that it will prepare a comprehensive report for investors
examining the impacts greenhouse gas reduction regulations and other
climate-related policy changes will have on its North American business
over the next 5 to 10 years. This agreement with Ford resulted in the
withdrawal of the same resolution sponsored by many of the same
shareholders who are pressuring GM.
Meanwhile, competitors such as Toyota have been successfully selling
lower-emitting gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles in the U.S. for the past
three years and recently announced plans to begin producing hybrids in
Kentucky in 2006. Canada, California and a half-dozen states in the
Northeast have all announced plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from
vehicles sold in their regions.
"Supporting this resolution sends a signal to GM and the auto industry
that a business plan ensuring profitability in a carbon-constrained
economy must be in place in order to assure stockholders of the long-term
fiscal health of the corporation," said Sister Patricia Daly, OP,
corporate responsibility representative of the Sisters of St. Dominic, a
member of Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, which filed the
resolution.
For the full text of the resolution, please contact Rachel Harold of the
Investor Network on Climate Risk at 617-247-0700 x23.
Contact:
Robyn Belek, Connecticut State Treasurer's Office (860-702-3013)
Russ Lopez, California State Controller's Office (916-445-2636)
Patricia Daly, Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility
(973-670-9674)
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