Business-ES480
From ClimateNetworkWiki
Purchasing and Investment
Investment
Investment Overview
Post Secondary intuitions investments are separated into two areas; a pension fund and an endowment fund. Climate change presents a serious risk to both of these funds. If carbon emission regulation is implemented it could potentially hurt the value of these funds. The funds however could be invested in a way that not only protects them from any devaluing from climate change but also influences corporate and industry behaviour in environmental and social areas.
What actions are happening at a world level?
Framing Climate Risk in Portfolio Management:
This report from Ceres and the World Resource Institute lays out the problems for investors with the new risk of climate change
Key Highlights:
For investors, GHG regulatory risk and its competitive implications are the most immediate and tangible aspects of climate risk
It is important for investors to analyze the effects of climate policies on their portfolios and begin to take appropriate steps to mitigate this risk.
Principles for Responsible Investment:
The creation of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in April 2006 by the United Nations lays out a framework for investors to incorporate ESG principles into the assessment and evaluation of their investments.
Key Highlights:
The Principles have quickly become the global benchmark for responsible investing.
By incorporating environmental, social and governance criteria into their investment decision-making and ownership practices, the signatories to the Principles are directly influencing companies to improve performance in these areas.
What actions are happening at a national level?
CPP Policy on Responsible Investing
The Canadian Pension Plan’s policy on responsible investing includes the use of ESG principles to evaluate investments.
Key Highlights:
Responsible corporate behaviour with respect to environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors can generally have a positive influence on long-term financial performance, recognizing that the importance of ESG factors varies across industries, geography and time;
Disclosure is the key that allows investors to better understand, evaluate and assess potential risk and return, including the potential impact of ESG factors on a company’s performance;
Investment analysis should incorporate ESG factors to the extent that they affect long-term risk and return
Who are the leaders for post secondary institutions?
Sustainable Endowments Institute report: College Sustainability Report Card 2008 (Pg22-28)
This Report lists which North American campuses are most sustainable according to certain criteria, one being the use of investments. Three areas evaluated are; endowment transparency, investment priorities and shareholder engagement.
The Report Card regards endowment practices as a vital component of a school’s sustainability efforts. Choices about the transparency of the endowment, its investment priorities, and shareholder decisions are all expressions of a school’s values and priorities–the type of future it is helping to create with its financial resources
Key findings:
Only three schools qualify as Endowment Sustainability Leaders. Carleton College, Dartmouth College, and Williams College
A significant percentage of schools have endowment investments in renewable energy funds
Schools are weakest in Shareholder Engagement and Endowment Transparency categories (Uvic makes endowment investments available)
What have local universities achieved?
The UBC endowment – A Foundation of excellence (pg20)
UBC in their endowment fund have aligned their values with fund managers to see if the fund manager will reflect how UBC wants its endowment invested. UBC has also divested its self of investments that did not match the appropriate standards. UBC believes shareholder engagement is the most effective way of changing corporate practice and timely transparency. A separate company UBC IMANT manages the endowment and has the responsibility to exercise voting rights but it can delegate it to the fund mangers if they so wish.
Resources:
1. Framing Climate Risk in Portfolio Management - http://pdf.wri.org/framing_climate_risk_uncertainty.pdf
1. PRI - PRI
1. CPP policy - CPP
1. Sustainable Endowments Institute - SEI
1. UBC endowment info -http://www.treasury.ubc.ca/assets/pdf/endowment07s.pdf
1. Dartmouth investment advisory committee dartmouth
1. Carlton college endowment committee Carlton
1. UBC Investment Management Company imant
Purchasing
Purchasing Overview
Post secondary institutions purchase and consume a vast amount of resources. Campuses purchase a very diverse range of products like paper,disposable dishes and cutlery, lightbulbs, electronics, and appliances such as refrigerators and coolers for cafes and laundry machines for residences. Purchasing plans on campus tend to focus on keeping costs down while trying to maintain quality of products. Ethical and green purchasing is not necessarily included for consideration, although it is becoming more popular in small campus-based cafes, especially concerning coffee and chocolate products. Sustainability purchasing plans are just beginning to appear in small businesses and institutions. However, post secondary institutions are ideally positioned to lead the way in developing and promoting comprehensive sustainability purchasing plans.
What actions are happening at a world level?
UNEP Green Procurement database:
Countries such as Norway and the Netherlands are leading the way in developing and adopting sustainable purchasing plans. These are not only feasible, but also beneficial in swaying the market in the right direction. One positive relationship between purchasers and businesses is the development of eco-labelling, which acts as a beacon for those who are looking for ecologically and socially responsible products.
Key Highlights:
UN Environment Program has constructed a database that you can search through to find organizations, companies, and articles on different products. Try searching for paper or lighting. [1]
The European Union's Eco-Label program is a voluntary program designed to help eco-friendly businesses market their products to consumers. The program is spreading across the EU and beyond, and is encouraging businesses and customers to practice green production and consumption. [2]
What actions are happening at a national level?
EnerGuide and Energy-Efficiency Regulations
This topic is covered in greater detail in the Energy working group, but should be mentioned in this section as post secondary institutions spend a considerable amount of money and energy in purchasing and operating appliances, lighting systems, and heating and cooling systems. Therefore, the procurement of these items and services should be included in any comprehensive sustainable purchasing strategy.
Key Highlights:
EnerGuide is a Canadian program that rates and labels appliances on their energy efficiency. This helps consumers make smart choices when selecting appliances such as refrigerators and washer/dryer units, as well as heating/air conditioner systems and lighting systems. While the EnerGuide program targets home owners and small businesses, it is also useful for post secondary institutions when purchasing appliances for residences or refrigeration units for cafeterias and cafes. The program also provides strong incentives to manufacturers to increase the efficiency and quality of their products. [3]
The federal government has created energy-efficiency regulations to improve the energy-performance of products by increasing the minimum energy-performance standards of a number of appliances in order to remove the least efficient products from the market and shift consumer preference towards energy efficient models. By deciding to purchase only products that meet or exceed these standards, post secondary institutions and businesses can make a statement and set a precedent, as well as adding further pressure to manufacturers to increase the energy efficiency of their products. [4]
Who are the leaders for post secondary institutions?
University of Pennsylvania Green Purchasing
Faculty and staff at U. Penn can access the Penn Marketplace online to purchase goods and services from accredited companies.
Key findings:
The U. Penn website has a link to the Penn Marketplace as well as links for students and other campus community members to educate them about recognizing green products in the marketplace, and encourage sustainable purchasing. [5]
Concordia University
Concordia doesn't have a campus-wide sustainability purchasing strategy. Rather, different departments have decided independently to develop and follow sustainable purchasing policies. The website does provide rationale and tips for sustainability purchasing. [6]
Rutgers University
Arguably the strongest and most comprehensive university purchasing policy in use, the Rutgers Green Purchasing Policy contains specific, achievable short and long term goals, and checklists for purchasing agents to use to encourage university suppliers in the reduction of packaging, transportation distance, raw materials and poor environmental practices. Go Rutgers! [7]
What have local universities achieved?
The UBC Alma Mater Society
The UBC Alma Mater Society has taken a firm stance on ethical and sustainable purchasing, requiring its suppliers to adhere to the AMS purchasing policy. This means that companies serving the AMS must ensure that their own suppliers and contractors meet the standards of the AMS ethical and sustainable purchasing policy. [8]
UVic Sustainable Purchasing...
We're not there yet, but UVic is working hard to develop a campus-wide sustainable purchasing strategy that will lead the way for other local institutions. The Purchasing group's goals, as outlined in the Purchasing proposal are:
- To raise consumer awareness relating to the products used and consumed on campus and encourage a positive shift in consumer behaviour.
- To work with the campus community to adopt best-practices of green purchasing on a sector-by-sector basis.
- To create a purchasing consortium and work with local businesses to develop closed loop product-of-service economies.
- To develop a closed-loop, cradle-to-cradle, purchasing system. [9]
