De Vereniging van Beleggers voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling (VBDO)

🌳 Wat is de oorzaak van de huidige vlucht in verduurzaming? Is er meer draagvlak en wat betekent bijvoorbeeld de recente motie van het kabinet tegen “activistisch beleggen?” 🎙 In het tweede fragment bespreken New Business Radio presentator Ron Lemmens en Sr. Manager Sustainability Jacqueline Duiker de huidige ontwikkelingen in #duurzaamheid. Ze gaan daarbij ook verder in op de rol van #wetgeving, #bedrijven, #NGO’s en de #VBDO zelf. 🔘 Luister hier het fragment terug: https://lnkd.in/e7gTTAib

🖐 Investors are asked to take notice of JBS stock market registration and sign a petition letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): 📣 Green Century Funds is calling out to let the SEC know; 🍖 Headquartered in Brazil, JBS S.A. is the largest meat processing enterprise in the world. It also has a long history of misleading investors in its corporate filings by exaggerating its environmental track record and minimising environmental risks. 🍖 Should JBS gain access to the US stock market, such deficiencies may impair US investors’ ability to decide about material risks the company faces. 🍖 This investor letter asks the SEC to decline to declare JBS S.A.’s registration effective unless the company discloses material Scope 3 emissions data and aligns its climate rhetoric with its climate impact, thereby remedying inaccurate and incomplete environmental disclosures. 🖋 Sign the investor letter to the SEC now: https://lnkd.in/eJYtJJX8

💡 Uit welke gedachte is de VBDO ontstaan? Hoe en met welke leden geven we invulling aan onze missie en wanneer mogen we die succesvol noemen? 🎙 In 10 minuten gaan New Business Radio presentator Ron Lemmens en Sr. Manager Sustainability Jacqueline Duiker van de VBDO, terug naar de oorsprong van onze vereniging en de manier waarop ze al sinds 1995 impact maakt. 🔘 Luister hier het fragment terug: https://lnkd.in/gPR5yJbw

❗ Investor opportunity supporting #sustainable #mining by signing an investor letter - 📣 Green Century Funds is calling on The Chemours Company; ⛏ To make permanent its existing, near-term commitment to not engage in #titanium mining, nor to purchase titanium mined by others, at the Okefenokee, the largest blackwater wetland in North America and one of the largest freshwater wetlands in the world. ⛏ Due to a proposed mine at the Okefenokee receiving draft permits earlier this year and reports from local stakeholders, Green Century is concerned that Chemours may be more seriously considering this prospect, which may expose the company to undue regulatory, legal, reputational, climate and nature risk. ⛏ This investor letter asks Chemours to make its commitment permanent and requests a dialogue to discuss the aforementioned risks. 🖋 Sign the letter on responsible titanium sourcing now: https://lnkd.in/e3y249nN

🤷♂️ "A large company dependent on natural resources, recently announced that #biodiversity is not an urgent topic for them". 🌻 More than 55% of the global economy depends on #nature. Given this fact, many companies still don't consider biodiversity a material topic for their activities. 📗 Earlier this year, we published our report Biodiversity and Business, Challenges and Good Practices, which undoubtedly makes clear that companies often focus on just one of the five drivers of biodiversity, namely climate change. 🔎 Alexander Spek, Sustainability Lead at PwC, and Angélique Laskewitz, Executive Director at VBDO, are pushing to create business transparency on this topic. They explain the necessity of creating a #biodiversity #benchmark. 📗 You can find the report Biodiversity and Business here: https://lnkd.in/ejDUZj8s Read the article; 🦁 in Dutch: https://lnkd.in/gQwN3x78 🦁 in English: https://lnkd.in/gGipYEPq

🙉 "When investors are made aware of the lack of action, they often shift their responsibility". 👶 We've now seen International Day Against Child Labour come and go 20 times. Pauline Neefjes, UNICEF, and Manon Koelewijn-Timmerman, VBDO, think it's time investors paid more attention to this subject and did their part. NL 👉 https://lnkd.in/eV9rGPG3 EN 👉https://lnkd.in/eia2mYQV #Child_labour #Human_rights #RI #kinderarbeid #mensenrechten

We are pleased to announce that insurer Scildon has recently joined as a new member. With this step, Scildon strengthens its commitment to sustainability and socially responsible investing. 🙎♂️ Wim van Huizen, Sustainability Lead at Scildon, explains: “Joining VBDO is a logical and beautiful step for us. We are committed to a sustainable capital market and believe in socially responsible investing. We promote this with our products. For instance, with our investment insurance Scildon Easy B, you only invest in sustainable funds, and we donate an amount to the charity Justdiggit for every new insurance. Often, sustainability is only associated with CO2 emissions, but it is so much more. It’s not without reason that we talk about ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). VBDO helps us through knowledge sharing, benchmarks, research, and its network. We look forward to this collaboration.” 🙎♀️ Angélique Laskewitz, Executive Director at VBDO: “We are convinced that adding Scildon as a member will provide a valuable boost to our joint efforts towards a sustainable financial sector. Scildon’s focus on ESG criteria and its innovative approach to sustainable insurance products align perfectly with VBDO’s mission. Together with Scildon, we will continue to strive for transparency and responsible investments within the sector. We look forward to a sustainable collaboration and the positive impact we can achieve together."

🚘 #Investors in #auto_companies face huge legal, regulatory and reputational risks if they do not take adequate action on human rights, climate and environmental issues in their supply chains. 📣 In February this year, together with Regnskogfondet (RFN), we published an investor statement signed by 31 institutional investors. The statement calls upon companies, for responsible mining requirements in their nickel supply chains of the electric vehicle (EV) industry. 🚓 Last month we started #engagement with 28 EV-auto manufacturers and EV-battery producers, including Tesla, Stellantis, Volkswagen, Toyota Motor Corporation, Samsung SDI and BYD. 🤙 On July 17th, EVCONNECTORS LEADTHECHARGE will organise an investor briefing. The briefing explains how investors can encourage automakers to act on climate and human rights, and accelerate progress toward decarbonization of heavily polluting industries. 🙋♀️ Join them, RSVP for the briefing at 9 AM CEST/4 PM KST here: https://lnkd.in/e-TyT2T3

Volgens VVD'er Thierry Aartsen staat "activistisch of ideëel beleggen" door #pensioenfondsen een koopkrachtig pensioen in de weg. Deze woorden volgende na de bekendmaking van Pensioenfonds ABP dat met het oog op behoud van #biodiversiteit en tegengaan van #klimaatverandering al zijn #fossiele beleggingen van de hand heeft gedaan. Aartsen diende hier op 30 mei een motie over in bij de Tweede Kamer. Een meerderheid stemde hiermee in. "Pensioenfondsen en andere institutionele beleggers houden in toenemende mate rekening met risico’s als gevolg van o.a. klimaatverandering of verlies van biodiversiteit. Dit getuigt niet alleen van financieel gezond verstand, maar is ook verplicht volgens (inter)nationale regelgeving." Aldus onze collega Jacqueline Duiker. Lees haar opinie in het Het Financieele Dagblad: https://lnkd.in/ecA45Meu Of op onze website: https://lnkd.in/e4F2Qvaa

💡 If not labelled as material for new European legislation, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (#CSRD), companies are falling behind with action and reporting on sustainable themes. This became evident from our latest #AGM #engagement report, resulting from engagement with 30 Dutch stock-listed companies on biodiversity, lobbying and living wage. We also found that: 🐝 #Biodiversity: A significant improvement has been seen this year on the topic of biodiversity compared to last year. However, companies still need to focus on integrating biodiversity-related risks and opportunities in their risk assessments, working on nature-positive transformative solutions, and making meaningful public commitments. 💶 #Living_wage: This marks the first year since 2019 that VBDO has conducted assessments on the crucial topic of the living wage. It is encouraging to note that 53% of the companies in scope reference the living wage in their strategies. However, to truly advance on this topic, companies need to also formulate policies specifically addressing the payment of a living wage for workers in the supply chain. 🤝 #Advocacy & #lobbying: Despite limited progress in reporting on lobbying activities, dialogues have increased awareness and prompted more transparency. More companies are now discussing lobbying at the Board level and are committed to publishing their memberships of trade associations next year. 👉 Want to know more? Read the full press release & report here: https://lnkd.in/e_ns55Jb