Agency uses clout to address AIDS, global warming
Agency uses clout to address AIDS, global warming April 19, 2004 A UMNS Report By Amy Green* Encouraging
more responsibility in the business world for AIDS and global warming
is a focus this year for the United Methodist Board of Pension and
Health Benefits.
The board is also urging businesses to
invest more in community development, especially in poor countries. And
it is emphasizing water conservation.
With more than $11
billion in assets, the board manages the largest pension fund of any
Protestant denomination. Using the United Methodist Church’s Social
Principles and other policies as guides, the board relies on its clout
as an institutional investor to promote socially responsible business
practices. Much of that work occurs in the spring, when most publicly
traded U.S. corporations have annual shareholder meetings.
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Vidette Bullock Mixon
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“We like to think of ourselves as being in ministry to actually
implement the Social Principles of the church through our investments —
investing money to get a favorable financial return for our pension plan
participants but also using our pension fund influence to encourage
corporations to be better corporate citizens,” said Vidette Bullock
Mixon, the board’s director of corporate relations in Evanston, Ill.
Already
this year, the board persuaded Reebok to give an online report about
plans to address greenhouse gas emissions. The company in the past had
been receptive to the board’s stance on human rights and labor practices
but appeared to be lacking on this issue, Mixon said. Through talks
with the company, board staff learned Reebok already was environmentally
minded but had not reported much of its work publicly.
The
board also joined with others to call on ExxonMobil, one of South
Africa’s largest employers, to share with shareholders how the company
plans to address AIDS. Representatives from the company met with the
board, agreeing on a plan to educate employees and work with community
centers to spread awareness and offer testing.
For the
first time this year, the board is targeting global warming among
smaller oil and gas companies. Often larger companies are resistant to
environmentally minded policies because of cost concerns, and they worry
about losing their competitive edge, Mixon said. This strategy aims to
eliminate that problem.
The board accomplishes much of its
work by filing shareholder resolutions that promote accountability by
urging businesses to report publicly on their progress on various
issues. Businesses post these reports on their Web sites and in
financial filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or
distribute them among shareholders. Often the board’s resolutions are
withdrawn if the business agrees to work with the board on an issue.
“As
a shareholder we’re entitled to have a voice in the companies in which
we invest,” Mixon said. “We’re trying to bring the same level of
reporting to concerns of social importance as the financial reporting
that’s currently mandated.”
The board increases its clout
by joining with other religious investors as a member of the Interfaith
Center on Corporate Responsibility, a coalition of 275 religious
investors. Among these investors, the board is a leader on worker rights
with companies such as Wal-Mart, Nike and Disney, said the Rev. David
Schilling, a United Methodist and the coalition’s director of global
corporate accountability.
These investors have brought
change, he said. For example, the board was among those that nudged
General Motors into building 6,000 new homes for employees in Mexico
through Habitat for Humanity and a government program, after years of
pushing for worker rights.
“The work the United Methodist board has really advanced is to get companies to really take responsibility,” Schilling said.
The
board is continuing to push for worker rights and food safety. It is
promoting corporate governance and diversity among companies such as
Tyson and Bed, Bath & Beyond. The agency also filed its first water
conservation resolution with Intel Corp., a company reportedly using
hazardous chemicals in its manufacturing plants.
The board
manages pension benefits for more than 66,000 active and retired
employees of the United Methodist Church and their dependents. It avoids
investing in companies that derive revenue from pornography, alcohol,
tobacco, gambling and armaments.
The United Methodist
Church is the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United
States, with 8.3 million members. It has another 1.5 million members in
Africa, Asia and Europe. *Green
is a freelance journalist based in Nashville, Tenn. News media can
contact Tim Tanton at (615)742-5470 Nashville, Tenn or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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