Looking at Sudan

Walden actively tracks companies held in client portfolios to ensure that they are not complicit in Sudan’s government-sponsored campaign of genocide in the Darfur region. Any business link to Sudan is examined to determine whether it falls withinWalden’s divestment criteria; that is, whether it provides revenue to the government, does not benefit the disadvantaged regions in Sudan, or has no significant corporate policy governing its operations to help combat genocide and other human rights abuses. 

Walden first purchased shares of ABB in 2007, after the company had been removed fromthe Sudan Divestment Task Force (SDTF) list of Highest Offenders based on ABB’s announcement of plans to halt activities there. However, in early June we learned ABB remained involved in Sudan’s Merowe Dam project. We have contacted ABB seeking details of its involvement, the extent of its ongoing contractual obligations, its actions taken to combat egregious violations of human rights, and its commitment to public disclosure and accountability with respect to operations in Sudan. The company has been responsive to our questions thus far and we are working with SDTF to determine next steps. 

Walden, Pax World Management and other investors contacted Nokia seeking to understand the company’s involvement in Sudan through a joint venture with Siemens to provide infrastructure equipment and services to two telecommunications service providers. Nokia employs approximately 50 people in Sudan. As such, we are asking that Nokia develop a human rights policy that addresses governments with known human rights abuses, and that it publicly disclose details on its current operations in Sudan, including how it does, or might, contribute positively to mitigating the crisis in Sudan. Nokia’s involvement in Sudan is not considered to meet the divestment criteria detailed earlier. 

Joint Actions on Global Issues

Walden, in coordination with the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), has written to Ross Stores and Timberland seeking to understand the companies’ purchasing practices and monitoring programs as they relate to Uzbekistan, which is the world’s third largest exporter of cotton.  The extensive use of forced and child labor in Uzbekistan’s cotton harvests has been well documented.  Investors are writing to more than 80 companies that sell cotton products, asking that they actively consider tracing the source of this material to avoid purchasing Uzbek cotton. 

Walden joined in a meeting with ConocoPhillips, organized by Boston Common Asset Management, to discuss its policies and practices as they relate to indigenous peoples’ rights. The conversation focused on ways in which ConocoPhillips might adopt the principle of free, prior, and informed consent in its consultation process; how the company is approaching situations where it is the minority partner, including its partnership with Repsol YPF in Block 39 in Peru; and how it is addressing additional concerns with its operations in the U.S. Southwest.

Moving Forward

After years of discussion, encouragement, and shareholder resolutions, Chubb Corporation published a corporate responsibility report detailing the company’s policies on topics such as environmental stewardship, corporate governance, diversity, and stakeholder engagement. Of particular note is what the company had to say about climate change: “As experts on risk, insurers can play an important role in encouraging policymakers to proactively deal with climate change at the local, state, national, and global level.”This statement illustrates the belief that was the impetus forWalden’s initial outreach to the insurance industry over five years ago, when few insurers had yet considered the potential risks or opportunities of global warming.

Walden also continues to advocate for more inclusive employment policies at Fortune 500 companies. Walden spearheaded an investor sign-on letter and outreach initiative to build greater corporate awareness of the need to explicitly protect employees from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression. Through this initiative, more than 40 companies have been contacted and asked to state these protections explicitly in their equal employment opportunity policies.