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Benefit Corporations and Their Relation to Agenda 21- Sustainable Development Presented by Wynne Coleman Slide 2 What is a Benefit Corporation? A Benefit Corporation is a new type of corporation that diverts profits from shareholders to pursue environmental and social missions. Some states are introducing and passing boilerplate legislation to legalize Benefit Corporations. Slide 3 Benefit Corporations commit to the ideals of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the Triple Bottom Line (TBL or 3BL) Slide 4 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) A companys sense of responsibility toward the community (both ecological and social. from Business Dictionary.com Slide 5 Slide 6 Slide 7 Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Known as People, Planet, Profit or the three pillars Replaces the traditional, Single Bottom Line, where the corporations sole mission is to provide profits for shareholders. Environmental and social performance is just as important as financial performance. Responsible, not only to shareholders, but to stakeholders (employees, customers, community, almost anyone who is not a shareholder.) Slide 8 Slide 9 Question: How do Benefit Corporations relate to Agenda 21- Sustainable Development? Slide 10 Presented by FreedomAdvocates.org UN Agenda 21: Global to Local Slide 11 Slide 12 Definition of Sustainable Development Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Precautionary Principle Taking action without scientific certainty to save future generations from scarcity of resources and environmental threats to the earth. Examples: - man-made global warming - water and food shortages - endangered species - human over-population Slide 13 Agenda 21- Sustainable Development has three interdependent objectives called the 3Es. The 3 Es of Sustainable Development are Environment, Economy and Equity (or Social Equity). Slide 14 Slide 15 Presented by FreedomAdvocates.org The 3 of Es of Sustainable Development Environment Nature before man Equity Using the law to reengineer humanity Economy International redistribution of Americas wealth Replacement of free enterprise with government/business partnerships Slide 16 Slide 17 Slide 18 Slide 19 Slide 20 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA SESSION 2011 S 3 SENATE BILL 26 Judiciary I Committee Substitute Adopted 3/21/11 House Committee Substitute Favorable 5/24/12 Short Title: North Carolina Benefit Corporation Act. Slide 21 Under definitions, page 2: ( 5) General public benefit. A material positive impact on society and the environment, taken as a whole, as measured by a third party standard, from the business and operations of a benefit corporation. Slide 22 ( 7) Specific public benefit purpose. A corporate purpose conferring any particular benefit on society or the environment, including, but not limited to, any of the following: a. Providing low income or underserved individuals or communities with beneficial products or services. b. Promoting economic opportunity for individuals or communities beyond the creation of jobs in the normal course of business. c. Preserving or improving the environment. d. Improving human health. e. Promoting the arts, sciences, or advancement of knowledge. f. Increasing the flow of capital to entities with a public benefit purpose. Slide 23 (5) General public benefit. A material positive impact on society and the environment, taken as a whole, as measured by a third party standard, from the business and operations of a benefit corporation. Under Definitions: (9) Third party standard. A standard for defining, reporting, and assessing overall corporate social and environmental performance that meets all of the following requirements: a. The standard assesses the effect of the business and its operations upon the interests listed in subdivisions (2) through (5) of G.S. 55 18 40(a). b. The standard is developed by an entity that is independent of the benefit corporation and satisfies the following: Slide 24 Question: Who is this Third Party Standard that defines, reports, and assess corporate social and environmental performance? Slide 25 B Lab Address: 8 Walnut Ave, Berwyn, PA 19312 Slide 26 Slide 27 Slide 28 Slide 29 Question: What powerful Agenda 21-Sustainable Development founders and institutions are supporting B Lab and the concept of Benefit Corporations? Slide 30 Slide 31 Slide 32 "For more than a century ideological extremists at either end of the political spectrum have seized upon well-publicized incidents such as my encounter with Castro to attack the Rockefeller family for the inordinate influence they claim we wield over American political and economic institutions. Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States, characterizing my family and me as 'internationalists' and of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure -- one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it." - David Rockefeller, "Memoirs" autobiography (2002, Random House publishers), page 405 Slide 33 Slide 34 Slide 35 Rockefellers partnership is about more than just funding, said [Jay] Coen Gilbert. They have already introduced us to several important collaborators through their Rockefeller Impact Investing Collaborative. The UK-based Social Stock Exchange, with which we are working to create the BX, a public stock exchange for B Corporations, is just one example. Slide 36 GIIRS DRIVING CAPITAL TO IMPACT GIIRS (which stands for the Global Impact Investing Ratings System) is a comprehensive and transparent system for assessing the social and environmental impact of companies and funds with a ratings and analytics approach analogous to Morningstar investment rankings and Capital IQ financial analytics. It seeks to spark the impact investment movement by providing a tool that is intended to change investor behavior and unlock the potential of this new asset class Slide 37 Slide 38 Slide 39 Henry Crown Fellows of Aspen Institute ----------- B Lab co-founders: Andrew Kassoy 2001 Jay Coen Gilbert 2004 Bart Houlahan 2011 Slide 40 Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies (1950- 1989) Secular Humanism There is no God. Cosmic Humanism Man is God. Slide 41 The Aspen Institutes ideology: Total support for the United Nations Sustainable Development must be implemented through global governance National sovereignty should be forsaken for global holistic interdependence Slide 42 Interdependence = mutually or concurrently dependent. This means that all members of a group need each other. This can be applied to ecology (the balance of nature) and to commercial activities between regions or countries. It is used to indicate that, in most cases, no one is truly self sufficient. (slide courtesy of Karen Bracken of Agenda 21 Today) Slide 43 Slide 44 Slide 45 Maurice Strong* stated: "Current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class, involving high meat intake, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and work air conditioning, and suburban housing are not sustainable." *Secretary General of the UNs Rio Earth Summit in 1992 Slide 46 Slide 47 Slide 48 Over the past few decades, the boundaries between the public (government), private (business), and social (non-profit/ non- governmental) sectors have been blurring, while a Fourth Sector of organization has been emerging. Fourth Sector Network at http://www.fourthsector.net/ Slide 49 Slide 50 Our U.S Constitutional system is built on the principle of checks and balances: Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches. Federal, State, County, City jurisdictions. Public and private business sectors should be separate. Slide 51 Slide 52 Slide 53 Slide 54 Slide 55 Slide 56 Slide 57 Slide 58 Slide 59