2007 Social Impact

 

Download our 2007 Social Impact Updates (PDF Format)

 

2007 Highlights

 

As a shareholder in the Domini Funds, you make a difference in the world. Listed below are some of the ways that you made a difference in 2007.

 

Sustainable Forestry: After two years of filing resolutions and engaging in dialogue with Kimberly-Clark over its forestry practices, in the second quarter of 2007 the company issued a new policy expressing preference for fiber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. This sends an important signal to the marketplace from a very significant purchaser of wood fiber.

 

Rights for Shareholders: Domini took an active role in opposing ideas advanced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that could have restricted or eliminated the right of shareholders to file nonbinding resolutions. Our two Action Alerts on the subject generated more than 2,000 responses. Domini also submitted three comment letters, including one submitted on behalf of 47 institutional investors and service providers from ten countries — all signatories of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment — representing approximately $1.4 trillion under management. Ultimately, the SEC decided — at least for now — to continue allowing shareholders to place important social, environmental, and governance issues onto corporate proxy ballots.

 

First Shareholder Resolution in Europe: Together with trade unions and employees of the British transportation company FirstGroup, Domini co-filed its first shareholder resolution in Europe. The resolution addressed allegations of anti-union activity at First-Group’s U.S. school bus subsidiary, First Student. Domini’s participation was critical in allowing the unions to meet the onerous British filing requirements.

 

Rights for Coffee Farmers: Despite its generally positive social and environmental record, Starbucks refused for more than a year to acknowledge the Ethiopian government’s ownership of the valuable naming rights for its prime coffee-growing regions: Yirgacheffe, Sidamo, and Harar. Domini engaged with Starbucks on this issue, beginning in August 2006, and helped enable representatives of Oxfam and Ethiopian coffee farmers to ask questions at Starbucks’ annual meeting. We were pleased that Starbucks agreed to sign a licensing agreement acknowledging Ethiopia’s right to the names. According to Oxfam, this agreement will improve the lives of poor farmers by helping them capture a greater part of the retail price of the coffee they grow.