Responsible Investor

RI Global news round-up week end 02/11/07

Summary of the news stories you need to know about.

Venture capitalists in North America and Europe invested a record $1.74bn (€1.2bn) in cleantech investments in the third quarter of 2007, according to statistics from The Cleantech Network, a US membership group that analyses the growth of the asset class.
It said the year-to-date level of investment in cleantech had reached $3.64bn, a 13% increase over the same period in 2006. Solar investment reached $410m in North America, a 16% increase over Q2, and $246m in Europe compared to the $15m invested in the second quarter. Biofuels companies raised $215m in North America and $16m in Europe. Investments in water & waste-water showed promise with an increase of 146% over the second quarter of the year for clean water tech on the two continents.
A group of signatories to the UN Environmental Programme Finance Initiative (UNEPFI), including F&C Asset Management and Insight Investments, is working on research to clarify how human rights issues relate to the activities of finance institutions, including those rights linked to environmental sustainability. The working group aims to produce international guidance for finance, highlighting relevant laws, standards, initiatives and examples of best practice. For further information click here: UNEPFI working group
CalPERS, the giant $247bn (€181bn) US pension fund

for Californian public employees has won support from over 80% of the shareholders of the Sara Lee, the US food and beverage group, in a non-binding vote to amend the company by laws and improve corporate governance. Sara Lee was one of the few Fortune 500 listed companies not to allow shareholders to amend company by laws. 
CalPERS, which owns 4.2m shares in Sara Lee, placed the company on its list of under performing companies on corporate governance in March this year.
France’s Forum for Responsible Investment has criticised the French government for not giving sufficient attention to socially responsible investment in its recent national forum on environmental issues, the ‘Grenelle de l’environnement’. The Forum said SRI funds had proved themselves a beneficial actor in the area of climate change and called on the government to re-evaluate its position.
SRI fund options for French workers in the country’s ‘epargne salariale’ employee savings schemes are still marginal but growing “gradually”, according to a report by a French cross-union organization. Almost 11 million French workers have the possibility to invest in company administered employee savings schemes.
The funds worth €1.019bn at June 30, 2007, are managed by banks, insurers and mutual companies.

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