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Environment

 

 
Filed with: Alcan Aluminum, Home Depot

Implement the CERES Principles



WHEREAS:

Leaders of industry acknowledge their obligation to pursue superior environmental performance and to disclose information about the performance to their investors and other stakeholders;

We believe that the integrity, utility, and comparability of environmental disclosure depend on using a common format, credible metrics, and a set of generally accepted reporting principles. This will enable investors to assess environmental progress within and across industries;

The Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) - a fourteen year partnership between large investors, environmental groups, and corporations - has established what we believe is the world's most thorough and well-respected environmental disclosure and stakeholder engagement program. CERES has also taken the lead internationally, convening major organizations together with the United Nations Environment Programme in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which has produced guidelines for standardizing environmental, social and economic (sustainability) performance worldwide that were recognized in Article 17 of the Plan of Implementation at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (August 2002);

CERES' engagement and disclosure program consists of a corporate commitment to endorse the CERES Principles, engage with stakeholders in transparent environmental management and use the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines as the consistent standard for environmental reporting;

The CERES Principles have been endorsed by leading firms in various industries: Arizona Public Service, Bank of America, Baxter International, Coca-Cola USA, Con Edison, FleetBoston Financial, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Interface, ITT Industries, Nike, Northeast Utilities, Pennsylvania Power and Light, and Sunoco;

Recent studies show that the integration of environmental commitment into business operations provides competitive advantage and improves long-term financial performance for companies. In addition, we believe that the depth of a firm's environmental commitment and the quality with which it manages its environmental performance are indicators of prudent foresight exercised by management.

Alcan Inc. has made a fundamental commitment to sustainability and sustainability reporting.Given this commitment, given investors' needs for credible information about a firm's environmental performance, and given the number of companies that have already endorsed the CERES Principles and its reporting requirements, it is a rational and prudent next step for Alcan Inc. to endorse these Principles if it wishes to demonstrate its seriousness about superior environmental performance.

We believe endorsing the CERES Principles commits a company to the prudent oversight of its financial and physical resources through: 1) protection of the biosphere; 2) sustainable use of natural resources; 3) waste reduction; 4) energy conservation; 5) risk reduction; 6) safe products/services; 7) environmental restoration; 8) informing the public; 9) management commitment; 10) audits and reports. (For the text of the CERES Principles see www.ceres.org or contact CERES, 99 Chauncy Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, (617) 247-0700. The GRI Guidelines are available at www.globalreporting.org).

RESOLVED:

That shareholders request that Alcan Inc. endorse the CERES Principles as a reasonable and beneficial component of their corporate commitment to be publicly accountable for environmental performance.


 


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