Podcast Center
Video Center
Webcasts
Resource Center
Events
May 17, 2012 at 10:39 AM
A coalition of investors committed to environmental stewardship and corporate responsibility are using their combined $1 trillion in assets to pressure energy companies to adhere to “best practices” in fracking shale oil gas.
The coalition, led by Boston Common Asset Management, the Investor Environmental Health Network and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, includes companies such as Dexia Asset Management, Domini Social Investments and Pax World Funds.
In a statement released Wednesday, the socially responsible investing (SRI) asset managers said they wanted energy companies to adopt 12 best practices regarding risk management and reporting that members of the coalition drew up last December.
Called “Extracting the Facts: An Investor Guide to Disclosing Risks from Hydraulic Fracturing Operations,” the guidelines include goals such as reduction of toxic chemicals, disclosure of fines, penalties and litigation and the securing of community consent to fracking projects.
Speaking for the group, Steven Heim of Boston Common decried the lack of consistent standards among companies engaged in fracking, saying, “the best course…for investors, the environment and human health will be if all shale gas extractors wake up, get the message, and use [the group’s guidelines] to do it right.”
