Participants agree to collaborate on corporate responsibility issues 

New York, NY// September 20, 2011///40 participants representing church investors from North America, Europe, Australasia and Africa met in Paris on 14 September for an event hosted by the Church Investors Group (CIG) of Britain and Ireland.

Church investors have often collaborated across international borders, most recently in response to crises at News Corp and BP. As investment portfolios become more global, the need for trusted partners in other regions has become more important. Local engagement expertise can be combined with aggregated global church shareholdings to create a powerful lever for improving corporate performance on environmental, social and governance issues.

One example of future work relates to next year’s London Olympics. US investors are working through the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) to reduce corporate complicity in human trafficking and modern day slavery. CIG has now agreed to take this forward with UK-listed hotel groups.

Richard Nunn, Chair of CIG, said: “It is important we use our voice as investors to hold companies to high ethical standards. This meeting has helped us form alliances around issues important to church investors.”

Laura Berry, Executive Director of ICCR, remarked: “As ICCR celebrates its 40th anniversary, we were delighted to participate in this pioneering event hosted by our friends from CIG.  Inspired by the success of this gathering, ICCR will continue to support future events, looking towards our February gathering in New York City as a potential venue.”

Bishop Jo Seoka, representing the South African Church Investors Group, gave the keynote address and commented: “I recall the important role played by church investors in the fight against apartheid and look forward to their involvement in creating a fairer society in the future.”

CONTACT:
Susana McDermott
Director of Communications, ICCR
212-870-2938
smcdermott@iccr.org

 

About Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
Currently celebrating its 40th year, ICCR is a coalition of 300 institutional investors including faith communities, asset management companies, pension funds, unions and colleges representing $100 billion of assets. Members work in coalition to promote ethical business practices across a wide variety of environmental and social justice issues. For further information visit www.iccr.org

About Church Investors Group (CIG)
The Church Investors Group (CIG) has nearly 40 members connected with the Churches of Britain and Ireland with combined assets of c£12 billion. Members believe it will serve to increase the witness and influence of the Church in society if their investment portfolios reflect the moral stance and teachings of the Christian faith. For further information visit www.churchinvestorsgroup.org.uk

About the Paris Meeting
The Church Investors Group held a strategic away day during the summer of 2009. One of the ideas that was taken forward was a greater focus on international collaboration with overseas church investors. Church investors from 4 continents and 10 countries travelled to Paris, including Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the UK and US.

About ICCR’s work on human trafficking and modern day slavery
ICCR’s work with the tourism sector has focused on the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism (www.thecode.org), an industry driven initiative in collaboration with ECPAT International, funded by UNICEF and supported by the UNWTO. For the wider May statement see: http://www.iccr.org/news/press_releases/pdf%20files/051811HTstatement.pdf

UK church investor preparation for the London Olympics in 2012
In preparation for collaborative work in the run up to the Olympics, CIG has invited Intercontinental Hotels Group (inc. Holiday Inn) and Whitbread (inc. Premier Inn) to meet members this autumn. For information about the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility’s debate about related issues in November see http://www.eccr.org.uk/dcs/ECCR_open_debate_flyer_2011.pdf