Wed, 01 Sep 2010 07:06:36 +0100 http://www.eccr.org.uk/ ECCR - Site Administration en-gb http://www.eccr.org.uk/images/eccr.png http://www.eccr.org.uk/ info@eccr.org.uk http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article193.html Forthcoming, November 2010, London BP's Gulf of Mexico oil disaster has highlighted the risks and costs of current models of business and investment. Meanwhile urgent action to address climate change and poverty is acutely underfunded.Can positive impact investment help meet the social and environmental challenges that humanity faces while still generating sound financial returns? Are innovative approaches to capital allocation the shape of investment to come or more likely to remain a niche sector?ECCR's 2010 open debate will explore these questions with a panel chaired by Lord Harries of Pentregarth and featuring James Bevan, CCLA Investment Management; Ryan Brightwell, Co-operative Financial Services; Clare Brook, WHEB Asset Management; and Adam Ognall, UKSIF the sustainable investment and finance association.Thursday 18 November 2010, 4.30-6.15 p.m., Methodist Church House, London. Book your place.Debate flyer (pdf) Wed, 01 Sep 2010 07:06:36 +0100 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article192.html August 2010 While ethical investment funds still amount to only a tenth of the market, many of the concerns that underpin this sector of the industry, such as climate change, energy and pay levels, are now increasingly being championed by the mainstream...Read more (pdf)Reproduced with permission - www.thetablet.co.uk Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:42:14 +0100 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article191.html Summer 2010  Sally Reith, Shared Interest Supporter Relations Officer for the South East, interviewed Miles Litvinoff, Coordinator of ECCR, to find out more about the organisation and how he sees the relationship with Shared Interest growing...Read more (pdf) Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:23:37 +0100 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article190.html July 2010 Christian Aid and ECCR  have made a joint submissi­on to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) consultation on a country-by-country financial reporting standard for the extractive industries (oil, gas, mining). The importance of country-by-country reporting is increasingly recognised – most recently in the new US Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.­Our submission argues that a fully mandatory and comprehensive standard will increase companies’ accountability to governments and investors by combating aggressive tax avoidance, corruption and non-disclosure of risk, and will support the public interest by enabling civil society in developing countries to better monitor payments to governments as advocated by the Publish What You Pay coalition. Investors and others can read the IASB’s discussion paper and make submissions ­here until 30 July..Joint submission (pdf) Mon, 19 Jul 2010 06:53:47 +0100 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article189.html Newsletter (pdf) Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:23:33 +0100 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article188.html July 2010 Following BP’s Gulf of Mexico disaster, ECCR and many other human and environmental rights groups and civil society leaders have called for equivalent compensation to address the impact of oil spills in the Niger Delta.Press letter (pdf)Full statement (pdf) Sun, 04 Jul 2010 19:48:27 +0100 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article187.html Newsletter (pdf) Mon, 14 Jun 2010 23:23:46 +0100 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article186.html May 2010, London A new ECCR group for London and the South East was launched at the Mount Street Jesuit Centre, London W1, with a presentation by Dr Robert Howell of the Council for Socially Responsible Investment, New Zealand, on 'Rethinking Ethical Investment in Turbulent Times'. For information about the group  please contact Helen Boothroyd (tel. 075 0393 1172).­­­ Sun, 16 May 2010 14:21:16 +0100 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article185.html Newsletter (pdf) Sun, 16 May 2010 14:17:02 +0100 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article183.html April 2010 ­Christian investors have been holding their heads high of late, and not just because last week they were celebrating Easter, the most important period in their religious calendar. They had a relatively good financial crisis ... The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility, a voluntary coalition of church-based investors and ethical asset managers, has seen Co-operative Financial Services and Triodos Bank join its ranks ....Read more (pdf)­ Thu, 06 May 2010 06:44:55 +0100 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article181.html Newsletter (pdf) Tue, 20 Apr 2010 07:01:05 +0100 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article180.html Ireland's National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) today faces calls from British and Irish church-based investor coalition the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR) to back up its statements on responsible investment and prudent investment management by supporting resolutions on controversial 'tar sands' projects at Shell and BP's annual general meetings ...­News release. (pdf)­­Irish Green Party Senator Dan Boyle calls on the NPRF to support the resolutions.  Mon, 12 Apr 2010 06:48:33 +0100 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article179.html ECCR intends to vote for, and is urging its members to support, shareholder resolutions on Canadian tar (oil) sands, brought to the 2010 AGMs of BP and Shell in April and May respectively. Behind the resolutions are a coalition of major investors, NGOs and trade unions, including Co-operative Asset Management, CCLA, Rathbone Greenbank, FairPensions, ECCR, WWF, Greenpeace, Platform and Unison.FairPensions' investor briefing.BP resolution and supporting statement.Shell resolution and supporting statement.Take action. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:35:00 +0000 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article177.html Newsletter (pdf) Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:29:11 +0000 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article176.html March 2010, Edinburgh Held at St George's West Church, Edinburgh on 18 March 2010 in partnership with ECCR corporate member the Church of Scotland. Chair: Rev. Ian Galloway, Convener, Church and Society Council, Church of Scotland. Speakers: Ryan Brightwell, Co-operative Financial Services; Alex Connor, Triodos Bank; Kathy Galloway, Christian Aid Scotland; Doug Gay, co-author Justice and Markets; Jamie Hartzell, Ethical Property Company; Miles Litvinoff, ECCR; Victoria Woodbridge, EIRIS.Conference report (pdf)Conference programme (pdf)News release (pdf)  Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:27:37 +0000 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article174.html February 2010 As Shell faces a lawsuit in the Netherlands over alleged oil pollution in Nigeria, ECCR’s new report argues that the oil giant can and should take both prompt and longer-term action to reduce the negative social and environmental impacts of its operations in the Niger Delta.The report, Shell in the Niger Delta: A Framework for Change, considers how the operations of Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), affect the human rights and living conditions of Niger Delta communities.Based on case studies researched and written by five civil society organisations working in the Niger Delta, the report raises concerns about Shell’s operations in relation to international social and environmental standards, pollution levels, communities’ health and livelihoods, and the right of local people to a say in decisions that affect their lives.News release. (pdf)Read more. Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:13:53 +0000 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article173.html February 2010 As Shell faces a lawsuit in the Netherlands over alleged oil pollution in Nigeria, and a fresh challenge over plans to drill for billions of barrels of oil in the Arctic's environmentally sensitive frozen waters, a new report published today argues that the oil giant can and should take both prompt and longer-term action to reduce the negative social and environmental impacts of its operations in the Niger Delta ...Read more (pdf) Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:10:55 +0000 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article171.html Newsletter (pdf)  Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:48:17 +0000 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article168.html Newsletter (pdf)­­ Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:34:30 +0000 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article167.html December 2009 The Future of Banking: Ethical and Sustainable?The Future of Banking - debate reportBankers' pay and the financial crisisThe UN Principles for Responsible Management EducationResponse to a flawed SRI model­[Read this issue] (pdf)­­­ Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:14:33 +0000 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article166.html November 2009 Migrant workers are still struggling in subhuman conditions, says Richard Harries. When 23 Chinese cockle-pickers were drowned in Morecambe Bay in February 2004, the country was alerted to the existence of gangmasters. These gangmasters recruited vulnerable workers - mainly migrants, both legal and illegal - with great scope for abuse...Read more (pdf) Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:11:19 +0000 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article164.html November 2009 On 27 October ECCR’s Patron Lord Harries of Pentregarth tabled a debate 'To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the protection of vulnerable migrant workers’ rights'. Several organisations helped ECCR produce an issues briefing for peers taking part in the debate.ECCR’s work in producing the briefing was praised during the debate, and the research for its report Vulnerable Migrant Workers was cited.A transcript of the debate is available in Hansard.During the debate, issues of slavery and forced labour were raised, and the following day the House of Lords agreed to an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill that will make both a criminal offence. See report from Anti-Slavery. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:44:23 +0000 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article163.html Newsletter (pdf) Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:42:00 +0000 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article162.html November 2009 A Columban priest has challenged the environmental and human rights record of the world’s biggest mining company at its recent AGM on 29 October. Attending alongside other justice and peace activists and indigenous Wayuu people from Colombia, he called on BHP Billiton to respect the human rights of local people in mining areas around the world. Also, to care for water, air and biodiversity which are often polluted by large scale mining, thus destroying livelihoods ...Read more Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:48:17 +0000 http://www.eccr.org.uk/Article160.html November 2009, London Held at Friends House, London, ECCR's 2009 open debate explored the ethics and sustainability of banks and banking. Chair: Lord Harries of Pentregarth, former Bishop of Oxford. Speakers: Chris Hewett, Green Alliance; Edward Mason, Ethical Investment Advisory Group of the Church of England; Kevin Smith, Platform and BankTrack; James Vaccaro, Triodos Bank.­Debate report (pdf) ­ Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:13:42 +0000