Group presses Southern Co, SunTrust on climate change (Atlanta)

An environmentally aligned group of investors — including churches, endowments and institutional money — is pushing two of Georgia’s largest companies to be more forthcoming about their plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The Georgia companies targeted include regional financial giant SunTrust Banks Inc. and electricity giant Southern Co.

Groups tied to the Investor Network on Climate Risk filed nearly 100 climate-change-focused proxy resolutions in early March for U.S. companies. The network is billed as an alliance of 80-plus institutional investors representing religious groups, foundations and labor organizations holding assets of more than $8 trillion. Among them is CalSTRS, the California State Teachers Retirement System.

SunTrust and Southern Co. say they are among the leaders in their respective industries in environmental awareness.

But the INCR groups want more.

Read the full story in the Atlanta Business Chronicle.