D068 Criteria and Procedures for Deciding to Engage with or Establish a No Buy List of Companies
The Church has monitored its investments for social performance at least since 1971 when the Church presented a shareholder resolution to General Motors asking GM to withdraw from South Africa and its racist system of apartheid. Over the years the Church as investor has addressed with numerous companies a variety of issues in both the domestic and global spheres, including, for example, racism, human and civil rights, workers’ rights, human trafficking, gun safety, and climate change and the environment. Sometimes the Church has engaged with the companies and sometimes the Church has divested from the companies. Circumstances may change. New issues may arise. Moreover, the Church’s understanding of its faith and mission, and its ethical teaching, may change over time as the Church grows in discernment. This resolution would help the Church determine whether to engage with companies in which it may invest or not invest through creation of a No Buy list, by calling for the development of criteria and procedures for such determinations.
Explanation
The Church has monitored its investments for social performance at least since 1971 when the Church presented a shareholder resolution to General Motors asking GM to withdraw from South Africa and its racist system of apartheid. Over the years the Church as investor has addressed with numerous companies a variety of issues in both the domestic and global spheres, including, for example, racism, human and civil rights, workers’ rights, human trafficking, gun safety, and climate change and the environment. Sometimes the Church has engaged with the companies and sometimes the Church has divested from the companies. Circumstances may change. New issues may arise. Moreover, the Church’s understanding of its faith and mission, and its ethical teaching, may change over time as the Church grows in discernment. This resolution would help the Church determine whether to engage with companies in which it may invest or not invest through creation of a No Buy list, by calling for the development of criteria and procedures for such determinations.