How to finance a climate friendly economy? The Swiss Sustainable Finance report published today presents a range of solutions available to achieve this goal. There are two contributions from Ethos in this report: the benefits of shareholder engagement and the evolution of Swiss environmental legislation in recent years.
The B Corp label attests to the positive social and environmental impact of Ethos on society. It rewards almost 25 years of commitment to responsible investment and promotion of a stable and sustainable socio-economic environment for the benefit of present and future civil society. With 109 points, Ethos ranks directly among the best professional services companies involved in the B Corp movement.
The board of Ethos Foundation has decided to amend the eight Socially Responsible Investment principles of Ethos. All companies that generate more than 5% of their turnover with unconventional oil and gas are now excluded from the investment universe. Companies that transport these energy sources by oil or gas pipeline are also excluded. This decision will have no impact on Ethos' funds as the concerned companies had insufficient ESG evaluation to be part of Ethos’ investment funds.
Ethos Foundation and 26 institutional investors with CHF 808 billion in assets under management, have sent an investor statement to the members of the Swiss upper house to ask them to support legislation for mandatory human rights due diligence. The legislation has been approved by the lower house on 13 June and will be discussed again on 18 December 2019 in Bern. The initiative committee has already indicated that it agrees to withdraw the original initiative if the proposed legislation is approved.
Ethos welcomes the publication of Boston Common Asset Management's fifth study on climate risk management by the world's major banks. This new study shows that the measures taken by the banks remain largely insufficient. Ethos has participated in this international initiative and is engaging in dialogue on this issue with Swiss banks, urging them to strengthen their commitments to finance the low carbon transition.
Ethos Foundation and 26 institutional investors with CHF 808 billion in assets under management, have sent an investor statement to the members of the Swiss upper house to ask them to support legislation for mandatory human rights due diligence. The legislation has been approved by the lower house on 13 June and will be discussed again next Thursday in Bern. The initiative committee has already indicated that it agrees to withdraw the original initiative if the proposed legislation is approved.
While the members of the Swiss lower house were approving the counter-proposal to the responsible business initiative, Ethos Foundation organised a conference and debate on Thursday 13th June 2019 in Bern on the topic of "multinational companies and respect for human rights: ethical, economic and political issues". Almost 120 people attended the event.
Ethos Foundation and 22 institutional investors with CHF 395 billion in assets under management, are asking the members of the Swiss lower house to support legislation for mandatory human rights due diligence which will be discussed in parliament on Thursday 13 June.
The Ethos Foundation has joined the Shareholders for Change engagement network, which provides a collective engagement platform that allows smaller institutional investors dedicated to socially responsible investment to increase the impact of their engagement activities with European companies.