Surveillance Capitalism

Apple's Board Rejects Proposal on Management Diversity

January 21, 2016

As activist pressure on companies to adopt policy commitments to equality and diversity ramps up, the board of directors of technology company Apple has rejected a shareholder proposal that seeks a recruitment policy increasing the representation of minorities in its leadership, asserting that the company has already demonstrated its commitment to diversity.
Irish Company Divests from Israeli Cement Firm Amid Pressure

January 20, 2016

Independent.ie reports that, amid pressure and protests from the activist organization Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign at corporate meetings, Irish building materials group CRH has sold its 25-percent stake in an Israeli firm whose cement has been used in the construction of a security wall between Israel and the West Bank.
Businesses Offer Advice on Corporate Global-Warming Policies

January 06, 2016

Aman Singh, a vice president of communications and marketing firm Edelman, highlights how consultancies and similar firms are capitalizing on developments such as the recent UN climate deal by advising companies to implement often-complex and costly changes in their operations to make way for the "inevitability" of global warming and responsive measures.
Paper Outlines US Corporate Lobbying on Human Rights

January 06, 2016

In a working paper, Professor Emilie Hafner-Burton and Heidi McNamara of the University of California, San Diego, highlight how US corporations are responding to increased pressure by global organizations and activists on the business and human rights ("BHR") agenda by feeding more funding into lobbying on human-rights legislation at the federal level.
Report Highlights Corporate Climate Pledges by Industry

December 30, 2015

Website GreenBiz has produced a "cheat sheet," set out by industry, illustrating pledges that companies, increasingly facing pressure to deal with climate change in their operations and their supply chains, made to reduce their contributions to global warming during the recent talks leading to a global climate pact in Paris.
Danish Pension Fund Blacklists Companies over Israel Ties

December 22, 2015

PFA Pension - the largest commercial pension fund in Denmark - has announced that it has added the company HeidelbergCement to its investment "exclusion list," along with other companies operating in territories containing Israeli settlements, due to the company's operation of a quarry in the disputed West Bank.
Financial Companies Agree to "Portfolio Decarbonization"

December 22, 2015

The UN Environment Programme ("UNEP") has announced the addition of financial institutions from the UK, the Netherlands, and France to its "Portfolio Decarbonization Coalition," which seeks to pressure investors to remove funding from companies that UNEP argues contribute to climate change.
NGO Seeks Investor Pressure on Companies over Trafficking

December 22, 2015

Acknowledging the "unprecedented scrutiny" British corporations are facing following the passage of a UK law requiring companies to report on their efforts to rid their supply chains of forced labor, nongovernmental organization Finance Against Trafficking has released a report guiding investors on how to pressure companies to perform extensive supply-chain due diligence in this area.
Report Finds Forced Labor in Nestle Supply Chain

December 16, 2015

As activist and government pressure on businesses to identify and address human-rights and environmental problems in their often-complex supply chains ramps up, a report commissioned by Nestle has found that portions of the food company's supply chain in Thailand uses forced labor.
Reuters: Investors Resist Adherence to ESG Agenda

December 02, 2015

Reuters reports that investors, while signing up for environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") principles such as the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment, have shown "a patchy response, at best," in actually shifting their behavior on climate-related investment.