SustainabilityHQ.com Weekly Highlights October 11, 2012

Top Story of the Week

Study: Corporate Social Responsibility Engagements With U.S. Public Firms Yield Excess Return Of 4.4 Percent   
(Friday - October 05, 2012)
Source: Sacramento Bee - Using 10 years of privately compiled data, three leading academics have tied positive market performance to corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities at major publicly traded U.S. companies. ...

Are Electric Cars Bad for the Environment?   
(Friday - October 05, 2012)
Source: Business Insider - A study by engineers based at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology has questioned some common assumptions about the environmental credentials of electric cars. Published this week in the Journal of Industrial...

ESG / Sustainability

Is sustainability here to stay' What retailers think   
(Tuesday - October 09, 2012) Associated Profiles : Sustainable Apparel Coalition
Source: GreenBiz - Recent news include the Sustainability Consortium, Walmart's Sustainability Index, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition and other major industry initiatives. But given a history of industry plans and programs which proved...

Why the Next Financial Crisis Will Be Nastier   
(Tuesday - October 09, 2012) Associated Profiles : Council on Foreign Relations
Source: Forbes - Of all characteristics that made the 2007-2008 financial crisis unique, one stands out: The simultaneous decline of almost every asset category. US stocks dropped 37 percent, German stocks 42 percent, and Chinese stocks...

Foxconn workers strike over iPhone 5 demands, labor group says   
(Monday - October 08, 2012)
Source: CNN - Thousands of factory workers at Foxconn went on strike Friday to protest their working conditions on the iPhone 5's production lines, according to a report from an independent workers' rights organization.

Wal-Mart's Green Performance Reviews Could Change Retail for Good   
(Friday - October 05, 2012) Associated Profiles : Sustainability Consortium (TSC)
Source: Bloomberg - Asking 100,000 suppliers to answer and provide data on 15 environmental impact questions. -Building the Sustainability Consortium (TSC) with many of the world's largest consumer products companies and big retail...

Sovereign Wealth Funds

Democracy is messy – especially in Libya   
(Tuesday - October 09, 2012) Associated Profiles : Libyan Investment Authority
Source: Guardian.co.uk - Libya's experiment in democracy has taken another unexpected turn. On the surface, the elections to the General National Congress (GNC) last July produced a surprising victory for the "liberal" National Forces Alliance (NFA) and...

More woe for Norwegian pension funds   
(Monday - October 08, 2012) Associated Profiles : Government Pension Fund (Thailand)
Source: bignewsnetwork.com - Norway's Government Pension Fund; lost NOK 29.6bn (2.95bn) in 2008, a massive drop attributed to the equities, according to figures from Folketrygdfondet. The asset manager is a state-owned company, and is...

Abu Dhabi fund swings to profit   
(Friday - October 05, 2012) Associated Profiles : Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
Source: Gulf Daily News - Unlike other regional sovereign wealth funds like Abu Dhabi Investment Authority or Qatar Investment Authority, Mubadala's main goal is to engage in investments which enhance the local economy. The fund has...

Investors wait for IMF deal before venturing into Egypt
(Thursday - October 04, 2012) Associated Profiles : Invest AD
Source: Saudi Gazette - Asset managers including ;Invest AD of Abu Dhabi; and Silk Invest were already invested in Egyptian equities during the turbulent period of army rule after Mubarak's overthrow. Silk holds local-currency corporate...

This is just a sample of some of the articles from this weeks SustainabilityHQ Highlights.  You can view the full Highlights by using the following links.  Sustainability | ESG, Highlights for the Week of October 11, 2012