Welcome toThe Business & Finance Division’s

Investors Services Breakfast

Sustainability Reporting And

The Global Reporting Initiative

Speaker: Dr. Mark A. Cohen,Associate Dean and Justin Potter Professor of American Competitive Business, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, and a member of the Global Reporting Initiative’s Stakeholder Council

Moderator: Rita Ormsby, The William & Anita Newman Library, Baruch College, The City University of New York

June 9, 2004 SLA International Conference Nashville, Tennessee

A portal for sustainability reports

Analysis of sustainability reports is available

Information from ExxonMobil’s Corporate Citizen Report

• From the 2003 Annual report:

• Throughout CONSOL Energy’s operations, employees apply their scientific and technical knowledge in pollution control and conservation activities. This environmental stewardship earned recognition from federal and state governmental agencies during 2002.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency named CONSOL Energy a winner of its 2002 Climate Protection Awards for reducing methane emissions to the atmosphere. CONSOL Energy was one of the first coal companies to capture methane from its

mines to produce commercial quality gas for sale while enhancing mine safety.

A paragraph from Consol Energy’s 10-K filing made Dec. 31, 2003

• Regulations

• The coal mining and gas industries are subject to regulation by federal, state and local authorities on matters such as employee health and safety, permitting and licensing requirements, air quality standards, water pollution, plant and wildlife protection, the reclamation and restoration of properties after mining or gas operations are completed, the discharge of materials into the environment, surface subsidence from underground mining and the effects of mining and gas operations on groundwater quality and availability. In addition,

the utility industry is subject to extensive regulation regarding the environmental impact of its power generation activities, which could affect demand for CONSOL Energy's coal. The possibility exists that new legislation or regulations may be adopted which would have a significant impact on CONSOL Energy's mining or gas operations or its customers' ability to use coal or gas and may require CONSOL Energy or its customers to change their operations significantly or incur substantial costs.

Examples of Sustainability Reports using the Global

Reporting Initiative Guidelines follow

Excerpt from Weyerhaeuser’s response to a shareholder proposal

contained in their April, 2004 proxy statement

The Company takes environmental stewardship seriously and is proud of its long history of environmentally responsive practice… The Company’s goals are to:

• Practice sustainable forestry  • Reduce pollution  •  Conserve natural resources through recycling and waste reduction.  

• Information about the Company’s environmental practices and positions on environmental issues is available on the Company’s web site and in its periodic reports. In 2003, we further expanded this information in our “Roadmap for Sustainability – 2002 Citizenship and Environment Report.” This new annual report provides more information, primarily in areas recommended by the Global Reporting Initiative (“GRI”).

• We believe the Company’s current practices make adoption of the shareholder’s proposal unnecessary and that the proposal unwisely seeks to divert the Company from its established strategies and approaches.

 

Excerpt: PepsiCo’s chairman Steven Reinemund and a shareholder at May 5, 2004 annual meeting

From FD (Fair Disclosure Wire)

• You may have seen this issued in our first social responsibility report that was part of the annual report, where we started to report on this issue. The GRI includes a specific section devoted to HIV AIDS with a thorough framework for addressing this subject.

• So rather than create a separate report as the proponents have requested, we feel using the GRI is the right way to go at this in a comprehensive and global and uniform way of reporting it….

• And in closing, let me repeat that we are very committed to our role in

helping fight this pandemic. And to keeping our shareholders, and the communities that we serve, well informed on what we're doing.

• To that last point, we'll have a complete policy on HIV and AIDS by year end, which we will share publicly. And as I mentioned we'll be reporting out fully on an HIV AIDS program on our GRI report next year.

• MARK REGIER: Thank you Mr. Chairman. And just a note of clarification, we are very supportive of the GRI. And we would find this approach that you're taking to be very appropriate.