Liz Claiborne, Nordstrom and Hilton Hotels are among the 19 companies
dropped from the FTSE4Good index after the benchmark index’s latest
review.
The majority were removed for failing to meet the index’s revised
environmental management standards. These standards, introduced in
2002, require participants to meet progressively higher standards on
environment-related policy, monitoring and reporting. Will Oulton,
FTSE’s head of responsible investment, said: ‘They’d been given a lot
of warnings … they were well aware of what they had to do.’
Meanwhile, Inco was dropped from the ethical index for failing to meet
revised human rights criteria. The Canada-based nickel producer has
operations in more than 40 countries, including China and Indonesia.
Inco blamed its efforts to take over rival company Falconbridge for
distracting attention and resources from remedying shortfalls in its
human rights policy.
At this latest review, 40 companies have joined the index. Most are
UK-based (13 companies), followed by Japan (eight) and the US (six).
Several global companies are new entrants, including Goldman Sachs,
Motorola, Peugeot and tyre manufacturer Bridgestone.
The FTSE4Good policy committee is considering new criteria on
management accountability for social, environmental and ethical
matters. ‘We’re working on what kind of incentive structures are in
place at board level to make sure that … the CSR team doesn’t end up
in a lower department,’ Oulton told EP. More details will be made
public at the end of this year.
