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...
if an airline can't do basic things like provide service and meet schedules, then ethical investment is a very very long shot.
ReplyDeletePlease explain to me how AirNZ can be publicly listed AND bailed out by the NZ taxpayer?
ReplyDeleteMerc: simple: the government acquired a controlling stake, but not enough to take the company private. In other wods, a perfectly normal ownership arrangement.
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