Pensions, Retirement and Old Age

Age Canada Old Pension Many of the world's largest companies are doing a poor job of preparing for the business impact of global warming, a report issued yesterday by investor, environmental and public interest groups said.

Gordon Brown has renamed the DTI the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) to reflect its focus on the reduction of red tape and a commitment to entrepreneurship. 2006 Older employees plan to keep on working Older employees are increasingly willing to work on past the traditional retirement age, according to a new survey. called 'baby boomers' have told Heydey, profit organisation set up by Age Concern, they want to work past the state pension age.

Funds Pension Most of the 20 corporate giants discussed, including leaders in the oil, auto and utility industries, are also failing to disclose to investors enough about the financial risks they face from climate change, according to the report, which was prepared by the Investor Responsibility Research Center in Washington.

British energy companies have come out in force in support of the Stern report released yesterday, emphasising the importance of promoting energy efficiency now to prevent undue climate change.

Hancock John Pension None of the companies have produced dollar estimates of the potential costs or benefits of climate change, like more extreme weather, or of the financial impact of changing regulations on carbon emissions, the report said. And eight companies, including General Electric, General Motors and Exxon Mobil, made no mention of climate change in filings last year with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Employees of the life insurance company Standard Life are said to be reluctant to agree on new proposals that could reduce the size of the pension that they can enjoy. Apparently, over 7, 000 staff at the insurance company is in on the negotiations. Standard Life wants their employees to take a pension scheme that is based on their average salary as opposed to their salary at retirement . Previously, the proposals have been greeted with strong criticism.

Pension Widow "We are not talking about issues that are 50 years out," said Mindy Luber, executive director of the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies, which commissioned the study. "We are seeing inadequate board reviews in many, many companies."

"Requiring compulsory contributions from businesses will hit small firms disproportionately and will be seen as another tax on them." Lord Turner led a commission on pensions for the government which published its findings last November, calling for the retirement age to be raised from 65 to 69. The report also called for the establishment of a national pensions savings scheme, a proposal which the FTSE Group today claimed could produce "massive distortions" in the FTSE 100 index.

Fund Pension The study rated the companies in 14 categories covering the oversight of climate-change issues by corporate boards and progress in setting performance goals as well as disclosure. Two foreign oil companies, BP and Royal Dutch/Shell, were the only ones credited with activity in all 14 categories. The worst performers, including Exxon, G.E. and TXU, an energy services concern, have reported just four of the practices the report identified as prudent.

In a special supplement published at the start of the new year, the 'Financial Times' reported the findings of a global study on pensions which showed that, in the last year alone, an estimated $1, 400 billion (that's one thousand, four hundred billion dollars) had been wiped off the value of retirement funds. In the UK, pensions fund assets plunged to $ -equivalent to about 66 percent of gross domestic product. In 1999, the same assets were worth $1, 400 billion, nearer to 100 percent of GDP.

Investment Pension The companies discussed were allowed to review the parts of the report describing them before publication, but did not necessarily accept the conclusions. Exxon Mobil, for example, said yesterday that it was "adequately addressing the potential risks of climate change" and that its shareholders showed their satisfaction by voting down a resolution at this year's annual meeting requesting a board report on the subject.

Canadian Pension Plan Dan Cogan, deputy director for social issues at the investor responsibility center, said, "We gave credit for minimal action, so the relative rankings are more important than the actual scores." The center advises pension funds and others on corporate governance and social issues affecting companies.

Department Pension Work With a few notable exceptions, like Alcoa and DuPont, Mr. Cogan said, American companies seem to be discounting the threat of climate change to their businesses more than their overseas competitors.

Ibm Pension While better disclosure will help investors, especially those like pension funds with longtime horizons, it could also stimulate companies to move much faster to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change, Mr. Cogan said. Emissions of toxic substances plummeted when companies had to start reporting them publicly to the Environmental Protection Agency, he noted. The report is available at www.ceres.org and www.irrc.org.

Benefit Corporation Guaranty By Barnaby J. Feder
New York Times - 7/10/2003

Topic: Climate Change

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