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IPSCO shareholder proposal receives record level of support
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A shareholder proposal calling upon steel manufacturer IPSCO Inc. to disclose toxic and greenhouse gas emissions received 49 per cent support, one of the highest levels of support for a social or environmental shareholder proposal ever recorded in North America. The resolution, filed by Ethical Funds Inc., called on the company to make use of existing toxic and greenhouse gas reporting and disclosure systems sponsored by the federal government. Upon announcing the vote results, IPSCO stated that the Board of Directors will give full consideration to adoption of the proposal at its next meeting. IPSCO deserves credit for its leadership in scrap steel recycling, environmental management system certification, and for using environmentally-positive production technology. In the area of public disclosure, however, IPSCO is the only large industrial emitter of toxic and hazardous substances that does not allow Environment Canada’s National Pollutant Release Inventory to disclose facility and company-specific emissions to the public. IPSCO Inc. is based in Regina, Saskatchewan and has 12 steel plants located across Canada and the United States. The National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) provides detailed public data on types, location, and amounts of individual substances released by industrial plants. It is similar to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) operated by the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States. For its U.S. facilities, IPSCO voluntarily discloses emissions data under the TRI regime. But in Canada, IPSCO has refused to allow the NPRI to disclose its plant and company-specific emissions to the public and is involved in a legal challenge to the NPRI arguing that the federal government does not have jurisdiction in this area. IPSCO also does not participate in the Voluntary Challenge and Registry (VCR), a greenhouse gas emissions disclosure program started by Natural Resources Canada in 1995. The vast majority of companies operating in vulnerable industrial sectors, including IPSCO’s competitors in the steel industry, participate in the VCR. “What gets measured gets managed,” said Walker. “What gets disclosed gets reduced. Reducing emissions reduces potential risks and liabilities. Ethical Funds believes that the adoption of a policy of disclosing emissions data would be in the best interests of IPSCO, in the best interests of IPSCO shareholders, in the best interests of IPSCO employees, in the best interests of the communities where IPSCO locates its plants, and in the best interests of future generations. We’re gratified that nearly a majority of IPSCO shareholders agree.” For more information, visit www.ethicalfunds.com.
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