| With
the Capital Markets & Sustainability program, the
NRTEE is exploring the relationship between capital
markets, financial performance and sustainability in
Canada.
By facilitating a strong, neutral and
independent multistakeholder debate on responsible investment1
and corporate responsibility2
and exploring the links between sustainability (comprising
environmental and social issues) and financial performance
in Canada, the National Round Table hopes to address
two key questions:
- Is there a financial return to business
in pursuing the integration of environmental, social
and governance (ESG) factors?
- Is the pursuit of such policies rewarded
through the investment allocation decisions of fund
managers in the capital markets?
Additional issues the NRTEE will examine
include: what are the consequences for companies that
either decide to, or decide not to, integrate ESG factors
into their business decisions; do capital markets influence
such decisions by rewarding leaders or punishing stragglers;
and, what can be done to encourage pension funds and
companies to increase their integration of ESG factors
into their decisions.
Over a two year period, the NRTEE met
with representatives from the private, public and civil
society sectors in a series of regional stakeholder
meetings and consultations across Canada (15 meetings
in total, held in Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto,
Calgary and Vancouver). The feedback and advice from
these meetings and consultations, in addition to a series
of commissioned background papers, helped broaden the
Task Force’s scope and understanding of existing
barriers and opportunities available to promote and
reward corporate competitiveness, innovation and sustainability
in the investment decision-making process in Canada.
There have been four Task Force meetings over the course
of the program (one in Ottawa, two in Toronto and its
final meeting in Calgary).
A State of the Debate report
– including the program’s findings and policy
recommendations – will be released in the spring
of 2006. The final report will not only provide advice
to the federal government regarding, for example, changes
to legislation and reporting practices, but will also
be of interest to a broad audience including private
sector corporations, large institutional fund managers,
labour and environmental groups.
Footnotes
1 The NRTEE
defines responsible investment (RI) as the integration
of environmental criteria and social criteria, insofar
as the latter underpins the “social license to
operate,” into investment decision making.
2
The Round Table defines corporate responsibility (CR)
as encompassing an examination of the same environmental
and social issues as RI but CR deals with the issues
within the context of how capital is allocated within
a company.
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