Tuesday, February 13, 2007



The Cullen Fund and the CDP

Last year, I wrote to the Minister of Finance Michael Cullen asking him to direct the New Zealand Superannuation Fund to sign up for the Carbon Disclosure Project - a project which uses the leverage of large institutional shareholders to force companies to publicise and think about their greenhouse gas emissions. The response was not encouraging - however reading Matt Nippert's Listener piece about the Fund's dirty investments, it seems there has been a change of heart:

The Fund’s approach is generally not one of exclusion, says O’Connor. “It’s not really a divestment policy, it’s much more an engagement policy.” She points to the recent decision by the Super Fund to join the Carbon Disclosure Project – an initiative to encourage companies to report on their greenhouse-gas emissions and the risks they face from global warming – as an example of this approach.

So, it's not all bad news, it seems. Now, if only Cullen can get Air New Zealand to do the same thing...

3 comments:

if an airline can't do basic things like provide service and meet schedules, then ethical investment is a very very long shot.

Posted by Triple T : 2/13/2007 06:55:00 AM

Please explain to me how AirNZ can be publicly listed AND bailed out by the NZ taxpayer?

Posted by Unknown : 2/13/2007 08:34:00 AM

Merc: simple: the government acquired a controlling stake, but not enough to take the company private. In other wods, a perfectly normal ownership arrangement.

Posted by Idiot/Savant : 2/13/2007 11:14:00 AM