The Ethical Funds Company has released its 2008 Focus List on corporate engagement, pursuing climate change as the most important issue for corporate dialogue and shareholder action.

On Jan. 22, The Ethical Funds Company issues its annual Focus List.  According to the report, more than 50 companies will be targeted for engagement and shareholder on climate change, biodiversity, sweatshop conditions, human rights and corporate governance.  This is the largest number of companies it has ever engaged during one calendar year.

"For 2008, climate change tops our list of environmental concerns, "said Robert Walker, Vice-President of Sustainability.  "Following last year's successful dialogues with Canada's big banks on climate risk and lending policy, we'll be focusing this year on engaging Canada's oil and gas companies trying to get this entire sector to reduce absolute carbon emissions."

As of Feb. 6, according to the shareholder resolution database (http://www.share.ca/en/shareholderdb) maintained by the Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE), The Ethical Funds Company has filed climate change resolutions with six companies to date for 2008: the Bank of Montreal and the Bank of Nova Scotia (disclosure of lending procedures on climate risk); Encana Corp. (incorporate the cost of carbon into business strategy): and Canadian Utilities Ltd., Finning International Ltd., and Russell Metals Inc. (report on climate change risks and disclosure).

The Ethical Funds Company also said their 2008 Focus List also has a concentration on human rights.  Under this theme, The Ethical Funds Company will continue to work with resource extraction companies to ensure that human rights are observed and the benefits of development activities flow to impacted communities.  Sweatshop conditions-including labour standards, child labour and factory conditions-will also get an increased focus.

The 2008 Focus List is available HERE

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