𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝘂𝗺 𝗘𝗦𝗚 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁 𝗡𝗲𝗵𝗮 𝗞𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘄𝗮𝗹.

A brief summary of major ESG controversies corporations faced this month - focussing on human rights, consumer protection and regulatory compliance:

Tyson Foods [TSN:NYSE] - Allegations of Greenwashing 🍔

The environmental law firm that filed the lawsuit alleged that the company has made misleading claims regarding its ‘climate-smart beef’, does not have a real climate action roadmap and is falling far behind on its net-zero commitment.

Tyson Foods saw a spike in their negative sentiment owing to news of the company facing a greenwashing lawsuit.

On the Integrum ESG Platform, we can see that Tyson receives an awareness score of 4 on the GHG emissions metric which translates to excellent policies and management of the issue. There is a significant gap between the company's values and its actions.

Despite receiving a top awareness score for GHG emissions - representing excellent policies and reporting on the issue - Tyson Foods' carbon emissions place them in the bottom quartile compared to sector peers.

Volkswagen AG [VOW.DE] - Recalls and Failed Audits 🚙

Volkswagen has faced a challenging month, with its former CEO's "dieselgate" trial unfolding in court and the potential closure of a factory in its home country on the horizon. To top it off, the company found itself at the center of not one, but two controversial news stories this month.

Earlier this month, nearly 99,000 Volkswagen ID.4 electric crossover SUVs were recalled because the door handles may unexpectedly open while driving.

More recently, reports of the company’s audit of its’ Xinjiang manufacturing plant which failed to meet key aspects of the SA8000 standard have surfaced. This independent audit was prompted by investor demand last year, given concerns about the working conditions for their employees in China.

Nike, Inc. [NKE:NYSE] - Workers' Rights Action 👟

Lastly, our sentiment tracker also picked up a story about Nike, where one of its top investors (Norway’s sovereign wealth fund) decided to support a proposal at the AGM held earlier this month, urging the company to review binding labor agreements to address human rights concerns in high-risk countries.

While rival sports brands Adidas and Puma have signed the Pakistan Accord, a legally binding agreement between brands and trade unions, Nike has shied away from it so far.

This action followed pressure from over 60 investors calling on Nike to pay the $2.2 million reportedly owed to more than 4,000 garment workers in Cambodia and Thailand, who lost wages due to factory closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

All of the underlying data supporting the above can be found on the Integrum ESG Platform.

Enabling our investor clients to quickly identify ESG indicators and risk factors, with page references and excerpts to show exactly where in the report this information was found.

Other ESG data and rating companies will take up to 3 months to get you data like this - our industry-leading AI technology and team of ESG experts enable us to provide our clients the information they need rapidly and give them unrestricted access to all of the underlying data used to make our ESG assessments.

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