Top companies under pressure on environment
10 Apr 2001

Public companies will come under increased pressure to focus on their impact on the environment following the announcement of a new policy by a leading UK fund manager.

Morley Fund Management, which manages £100bn (161.20bn) of assets including the equivalent of 2.5% of the UK stock market, will in future vote against the annual accounts of the top 100 companies unless they include an environmental report.

Morley, owned by CGNU, the biggest UK insurer, says it will expect to see a comprehensive environmental report from all FTSE 100 companies. For companies in the FTSE 250 that were in high-risk sectors and did not publish a report, it would abstain.

Its high-risk sectors cover most of industry, including oil and gas, electricity, chemicals, automobiles, construction, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

Morleys' move on its own will not be enough to stop accounts being passed, nor are companies obliged to add environmental reports.