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ESG News Review 9-15 November 2013

Chevron Corp. was among the most criticized companies last week as the US oil giant was ordered to pay $9.51 billion by an Ecuadorian court as compensation for decades of damages caused to the Amazon rainforest by its sister company, Texaco. Chevron refused to apologize for the oil extraction that polluted the land with toxins and waste. Consequently, Texaco no longer operates in the Republic of Ecuador. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd is in the middle of an intellectual property battle with its adversary Apple Inc. Two sides have been involved in continuing settlement negotiations to establish a fair royalty. G4S plc faces forgery and contempt charges after a staff was reported to be involved in falsifying documentation case. According to a Brazilian media, Alstom was suspected of price-rigging bidding scheme of Sao Paulo’s metro rail system. In a statement released by The Swiss Bankers Association, it is confirmed the accounts used by Alstom and German Siemens for alleged bribery bids is “frozen.” Bankia, SA. has been condemned by a Spanish court to reimburse a client after providing “misleading and inadequate” information.

Toyota Motor Corp. was among the most acclaimed companies last week as it revealed its production of long-awaited fuel cell Sedan. The new model is revolutionary in its hydrogen to electricity conversion with only heat and water as its byproducts. It is claimed to be the ultimate zero-emission vehicle. In environmental news, Toyota was listed as the Best Global Green Brand for the third year in a row, as well as given the Gold Level for its Sustainability award. In social news, Toyota also received rave reviews for its canned food donations for local communities, financial support to those affected by the typhoon in Philippines, as well as its collaboration with the STEM initiative. Iberdrola SA also received favorable reviews for its commitment to become more environmentally conscious. Since last year, Iberdrola SA reduced 12% of its CO2 emissions. On that topic, BMW Group also reduced its carbon footprint by 30-50% this year by using recycled/renewable raw materials and producing in an energy efficient manner. Yum! Brands Inc. also directed $1.5 million from its World Hunger Relief campaign to those affected by the typhoon in the Philippines. Domestically, Yum! Brands Inc. continues to feed hungry children and families by providing $60 million prepared food every year to soup kitchens and homeless shelters through its Yum! Harvest program. United Parcel Service Inc.’s new software called ORION is institutionalizing process that optimizes delivery routes. This innovative software has saved 1.5 million gallons of fuel this year alone by planning deliveries that avoid rush hour, and limits the number of left-turns.

The most praised companies last week were: Toyota Motor Corp., Iberdrola SA, BMW Group, Yum! Brands Inc., and United Parcel Service Inc.

And the most criticized were: Chevron Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Alstom, Bankia, SA., G4S plc.

The tag cloud below shows words found in news about these companies.

ESG News Review 9-15 November 2013

Words found in news about most praised and most criticized companies last week

This weekly review has been produced using the EthicalQuote reputation index run by Covalence, which tracks 2800 companies worldwide. It gives a summary of positive and negative news published last week about Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), ethics and sustainability.

The EthicalQuote reputation index integrates thousands of news pieces gathered online and classified according to 50 ESG criteria inspired by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and to their positive or negative sentiment.

The next heatmap represents the sentiment calculated for each of the 50 criteria last week. The 50 criteria are embedded into 7 dimensions, following the structure of the GRI. The color indicates the ratio of positive news / total news.

ESG News Review 9-15 November 2013

Ratio of positive news / total news for 50 criteria last week 0 % countryofactionBAR130610_70 100 %

The map below represents countries where action described in the news takes place, the color reflecting the ratio of positive news / total news for each active country using last week’s data.

ESG News Review 9-15 November 2013

Ratio of positive news / total news 0 % countryofactionBAR130610_70 100 %

In terms of volume of information USA, Spain, Philipines, Ecuador, UK, Canada, France, China, Mexico, and Germany.

Last week statistics

Positives 705 Companies 291 Countries 59
Negatives 571 Mostly praised 174 Sources 320
Total 1276 Mostly criticized 106
Positives / Total 55%

These figures show the activity in Covalence EthicalQuote database during the week of 9-15 November 2013.

Historical statistics

ESG News Review 9-15 November 2013
Positives 346698
Negatives 201593
Total 548291
Sources 36501
Start 01.01.2002
End 15.11.2013

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