Australian Sustainability Awards to Be Announced
29 November 2007 at 2:17 pm
The 7th Annual Australian Sustainability Awards have attracted 45 nominations, with the winners to be announced at a luncheon hosted by Ethical Investor in Melbourne on November 30.
The awards recognise companies for outstanding achievement in a range of areas of corporate sustainability in 2007. The awards this year include Sustainable Company of the Year, Sustainable Small Company of the Year plus three special awards for achievement in Environment, Community/Social/Labour Relations and Corporate Governance.
Nominations of 29 eligible ASX-listed companies were received from 8 specialist sustainability research groups and investors: Centre for Australian Ethical Research, Monash Sustainability Enterprises, Corporate Monitor, AMP Capital Investors, Innovest Strategic Research, University of Newcastle, Sustainable Investment Research Institute and VicSuper.
The companies nominated for an award in 2007 are:
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Limited
Australis Aquaculture Limited
Boral Limited
Brambles Limited
Carnegie Corporation Ltd
Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited
Corporate Express Australia Limited
CSL Limited
David Jones Limited
Dyesol Ltd
Energy Developments Limited
Flight Centre Limited
GPT Group
Insurance Australia Group Limited
Kingsgate Consolidated Limited
Life Therapeutics Limited
Mirvac Group
National Australia Bank Limited
Origin Energy Limited
Oxiana Limited
Rex Express Holdings
Stockland Corporation
Style Limited
Tasmanian Perpetual Trustees Ltd
Tassal Group
Toll Holdings Limited
Transpacific Industries Group Ltd
Transurban Group
Westpac Banking Corporation
Nominees are based in every State in Australia with the exception of South Australia.
Almost half, 14 companies, were nominated for the awards for the first time.
Two new awards will also be given this year to financial services industry participants: Sustainable Super Fund of the Year and the Special Award for Sustainability Research.
The seven nominees for the super fund award are:
Hesta Super
VicSuper
UniSuper
Christian Super
Local Government Superannuation Scheme
Australian Reward Investment Alliance (ARIA)
Catholic Superannuation Fund
This award acknowledges a superannuation fund that has made a significant and integrated impact on the development of sustainability in the finance sector and broader community during 2006-07.
Finally, a total of nine nominations have been received for the new ESG research award:
Elaine Prior Citigroup Investment Research
Joanne Saleeba Investor Group on Climate Change
Alistair Barker Hastings Funds Management
Alireza Tourani-Rad Auckland University of Technology
Julie Waters Centre for Australian Ethical Research
Helen Bloustein VicSuper
Darren Lee University of Queensland
Andrew Gray Goldman Sachs JB Were
Scott Donald Russell Investment Group
This new award aims to recognise an investment analyst, academic or sustainability specialist for their efforts in assisting ESG integration in Australia – that is, the development of methodologies and metrics which recognise how ESG factors have (or are likely) to affect the performance and pricing of securities.
