Environmental Leader

The FTSE Group and its partners, the nonprofit Carbon Disclosure Project and benchmarking specialist ENDS Carbon, have launched four carbon-related indexes designed to help investors reduce the long-term investment risks associated with climate change.

The four indexes, of which two are based in Australia, and one each in Japan and the Europe-wide market, are part of the FTSE CDP Carbon Strategy Index Series, and join two existing UK-based FTSE carbon indexes.

The indexes’ full names are as follows:

• FTSE CDP Carbon Strategy Australia 200 Index
• FTSE CDP Carbon Strategy Australia 300 Index
• FTSE CDP Carbon Strategy Europe Index
• FTSE CDP Carbon Strategy Japan Index

Last week, the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai, India, launched that country’s first carbon-efficient live index. The BSE-Greenex lists 20 stocks based on a minimum carbon footprint, market capitalization and turnover, the BSE said. The NASDAQ added its first sustainability index in June 2009.

In other green investment news, shareholder advocates have filed a slightly smaller number of shareholder resolutions relating to social and environmental issues in 2012 than in 2011, according to a report from corporate accountability organization As You Sow.

Environmental issues and requests for broad sustainability reports make up over a third of those resolutions, according to the Proxy Preview 2012 report.
Slightly under a third relate to political spending proposals, the report says. Last year around a quarter related to political spending.

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