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Global Warming a Risk to Investors, Unions Warn
Would you invest in a house built on sand? Then why own stock in companies that are increasingly likely to face stiff government regulation or industries that could incur severe costs and liabilities because of the damaging effects of global warming?
"We represent more than 30,000 union members and pensioners who depend upon Plan investments to provide them with a secure retirement income," said Bill Boarman, president of CWA's Printing Sector and chairman of the CWA/ITU Negotiated Pension Plan. "They deserve to know if their combined investment affects the environment and whether it is at risk due to planned regulation or environmental damage to assets."
The CWA/ITU Plan, a defined benefit plan, controls more than $970 million in assets invested in a wide range of companies.
Recent studies have also suggested that because U.S. companies are not currently subject to carbon dioxide regulation, they are falling behind their foreign counterparts in developing new, carbon-free technologies and will hold costly "carbon burdens" in global emissions trading markets.
Industries directly vulnerable to the effects of global warming include agriculture, fisheries, forestry, insurance, real estate and tourism.
Boarman and Service Employees National Industry Pension Fund Director Steve Albrecht participated in an historic Summit on Climate Risk held at the United Nations in November. Organized by CERES, a U.S.-based coalition of investment funds and public interest groups, the summit called for tough new steps by the Securities and Exchange Commission, corporate boards and Wall Street firms to increase corporate disclosure of the risks posed by global warming.
"Research shows that by 2090 nothing will be able to live on this planet, if we don't change," Boarman said. He also pointed out that in several European countries that have taken steps to curb toxic emissions, development and implementation of the necessary technologies has created jobs.
The coalition released a 10-point action plan calling for full disclosure of risks to the environment, risk of damage to assets and corporate liability, and for SEC recognition that shareholders should have the right to vote on resolutions asking their companies to report on financial risks due to climate change.
"We represent more than 30,000 union members and pensioners who depend upon Plan investments to provide them with a secure retirement income," said Bill Boarman, president of CWA's Printing Sector and chairman of the CWA/ITU Negotiated Pension Plan. "They deserve to know if their combined investment affects the environment and whether it is at risk due to planned regulation or environmental damage to assets."
The CWA/ITU Plan, a defined benefit plan, controls more than $970 million in assets invested in a wide range of companies.
Recent studies have also suggested that because U.S. companies are not currently subject to carbon dioxide regulation, they are falling behind their foreign counterparts in developing new, carbon-free technologies and will hold costly "carbon burdens" in global emissions trading markets.
Industries directly vulnerable to the effects of global warming include agriculture, fisheries, forestry, insurance, real estate and tourism.
Boarman and Service Employees National Industry Pension Fund Director Steve Albrecht participated in an historic Summit on Climate Risk held at the United Nations in November. Organized by CERES, a U.S.-based coalition of investment funds and public interest groups, the summit called for tough new steps by the Securities and Exchange Commission, corporate boards and Wall Street firms to increase corporate disclosure of the risks posed by global warming.
"Research shows that by 2090 nothing will be able to live on this planet, if we don't change," Boarman said. He also pointed out that in several European countries that have taken steps to curb toxic emissions, development and implementation of the necessary technologies has created jobs.
The coalition released a 10-point action plan calling for full disclosure of risks to the environment, risk of damage to assets and corporate liability, and for SEC recognition that shareholders should have the right to vote on resolutions asking their companies to report on financial risks due to climate change.