News & Commentaries by Ron Robins

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Corporate Knights And Innovest Strategic Value Advisors Announce At Davos Their Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations. – [COMMENTARY] This list is always worthwhile looking at, as it is compiled by two outstanding organizations and includes companies whose stocks are among the best socially responsible stocks to invest in. The UK has the most companies in the list: 24 UK companies. The USA follows with 16 and Japan 13.
Corporate Knights Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations Announced in Davos, January 23, 2008, Corporate Knights Magazine, Canada.

CRO Magazine Publishes Its 100 Best Corporate Citizens List. – [COMMENTARY] This is an interesting list. Personally, I find the listing of some companies not to my liking. However, CRO has specific criteria as to how they judge companies and I guess what goes into that criteria is what one may argue with. Nonetheless, it is worthwhile to read their overall summary and then see the specifics.
100 Best Corporate Citizens 2007, January, 2008, CRO Magazine, USA.

Article Reviews Impact Of European Commission’s Renewable Energy Directive On Companies. – [COMMENTARY] The directive will have enormous impact on many green stocks. This article describes its potential impact on some of Europe’s biggest green energy companies.
Impact of Renewable Energy Directive on companies, January 28, 2008, Easier Finance, UK.

New Website: Investors Against Genocide. – [COMMENTARY] Website contains a list of companies and investment firms that they believe are engaged in helping states commit human rights abuses. They encourage investors to contact these firms to show their displeasure with the company’s participation with such abusers. Ethical investors may also want to go to this site to see who is listed. The types of actions advocated by Investors Against Genocide are gaining ground and could well affect stock values of companies involved.
Investors Against Genocide, USA.

UK’s EIRIS Launches Investors And Advisors Guide To Ethical Investing Funds. – [COMMENTARY] This is a great guide for UK ethical investors. It makes selecting a green or ethical fund easier. Non UK investors might also find some useful information in this directory as well.
The EIRIS Green & Ethical Funds Directory, January, 2008, EIRIS, UK.

Ceres Report: HSBC Leads Global Banks In Corporate Governance Regarding Climate Change. – [COMMENTARY] The Ceres report, Corporate Governance and Climate Change: The Banking Sector, took a look at forty global banks as to their management of climate change issues. “HSBC was followed by ABN AMRO, Barclays, HBOS and Deutsche Bank, all of which are European institutions. U.S. banks Citigroup and Bank of America ranked sixth and seventh. The banks with the lowest scores include Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Bank of China and Bank of Nova Scotia.” If you want to invest in environmentally and socially conscious banks, the Ceres report could be a good place to start.
Banks Take Steps Addressing Climate Change but Long Road Ahead: Report, January 11, 2008, GreenBiz.com, USA.

New Dow Jones Indexes Based On Dharmic Religions–Hinduism and Buddhism–Launched. – [COMMENTARY] “The Dow Jones Dharma Index series includes the Dow Jones Dharma Global Index, as well as four country indexes for the U.S., the U.K., Japan and India. The indexes are designed to underlie financial products such as exchange-traded funds and other investable products that enable investors to participate in the
performance of companies which are compliant with Dharmic religious traditions… [these] are the first faith-based indexes created to measure Dharma compliant equities, said Michael A. Petronella, president of Dow Jones Indexes.” The development of these indexes is great news for spiritual investors, especially those who follow Hindu and Buddhist ideals.
Scroll down the press releases to Dow Jones Indexes and Dharma Investments to Launch New Faith-Based Indexes, January 15, 2008, Dow Jones Indexes, USA.

Worldwatch Institute Says As Much As $66 Billion Invested Globally In 2007 In Wind Power, Biofuels And Other Alternative Energy Sources. – [COMMENTARY] In 2006, an estimated $52 Billion was invested which was in itself up by 33% from 2005.
State of the World 2008: Innovations for a Sustainable Economy, January, 2008, Worldwatch Institute, USA.

Last Year’s Top Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Stories According To Bill Baue. – [COMMENTARY] Mr. Baue, a longtime, insightful reporter on CSR and socially responsible investing, provides a good overview of the top CSR stories in 2007.
Top Corporate Social Responsibility News of 2007, by Bill Baue, January 2, 2008, CSRWire.com, USA.