Just Investing

G20 Leaders strengthen their commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement… in defiance of Donald Trump. But it's a different story at the COP 30 UN Climate Change Conference, which wraps up without a strong result. Then Timothy Smith, Senior Policy Advisor at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), joins us to talk about his 50-plus-year fight to hold corporations accountable in their treatment of workers, society and the planet.

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Environmental issues take center stage this month, as Exxon sues California over climate disclosure laws, young people sue Canada's largest pension fund over climate-related financial risk, and France penalizes a major oil company over alleged greenwashing. Then Tejal Patel, Executive Director of the SOC Investment Group, joins us to discuss the fight against excessive executive pay at companies like Tesla. Visit www.ucfunds.org Read SOC Investment Group's letter urging Tesla shareholders to vote against directors and compensation packages here. Read SOC Investment Group's engagement with Starbucks's Board here.

India joins the list of carbon credit countries, a hopeful development in the fight to reduce global emissions. Meanwhile, Exxon automates its proxy voting; could other big companies follow suit? Then, the Rev. Dr. Courtney Stange-Tregear from the UCC Cornerstone Fund explains how "God math" can transform churches and communities for the better.

For more information, visit www.ucfunds.org

In the Season 2 premiere, Adam and Matthew discuss some good news from the International Energy Association and some not-so-good news regarding the Net-Zero Banking Alliance – and how these developments will impact global net-zero goals. Then, Sam Jones from the Heartland Initiative explains how investors can continue advancing human rights in an increasingly turbulent world.

Learn about UCF's notable wins in the 2025 proxy season here.

In our Season 1 finale, Adam and Matthew discuss why shareholders keep voting for CEO-to-worker pay ratios of 200-1, the EIRIS Foundation's new Social Lobby Map and a tribute to corporate governance pioneer Bob Monks. Then, Susi Snyder of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICANW) explains how institutional and private investors can screen their portfolios of these weapons of mass destruction... and work to rid the Earth of them once and for all.

Check out EIRIS's Social Lobby Map here.

Read the tribute to Bob Monks here.

For more information about United Church Funds, visit us at www.ucfunds.org

Matthew Illian travels to Washington, D.C. to speak with Members of Congress about the importance of faith-based investing – and to attend the U.S. Sustainable Investing Forum Conference. He gives us an on-the-scene report from our nation's capital. Then the Rev. Penny Lowes, UCF's outgoing Board Chair, explains how her faith informs her passion for responsible investing... and her hopes for the future.

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So-called "Green Funds" in Europe are revealed to hold billions in oil and gas companies, and more anti-DEI shareholder resolutions fail spectacularly at major U.S. corporations. Then, Sister Susan Francois of the Congregations of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace explains why her Catholic faith compels her and others in her order to advocate for the rights of native peoples and other disenfranchised groups in the corporate space.

Learn more here about an agreement that United Church Funds reached with J.P. Morgan to uphold indigenous rights.

Anti-DEI shareholder resolutions meet with shocking results in the first quarter of 2025, and Matthew sounds off on ESG. Then, Marita Canedo of the Vermont-based group Migrant Justice joins Adam and Matthew to discuss the terrible conditions that migrant dairy workers face in that state – and how her group is working to change them.

Read a detailed and thoughtful defense of shareholder proposals, published by the Shareholder Rights Group, in conjunction with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and US SIF, here. Visit www.ucfunds.org

In spite of federal pushback against responsible investing, a surprising number of ICCR member resolutions lead to agreement. But not all the news is rosy, as the Trump administration shutters Environmental Justice offices across the country. Rewired corporate responsibility executive Connie Lindsey joins Adam and Matthew to explain why there's cause for hope, even in these troubling times. View the 2025 ICCR Proxy Resolutions and Voting Guide here: https://www.iccr.org/now-out-the-2025-iccr-proxy-resolutions-and-voting-guide/

And check out Connie Lindey's podcast, Joy in the Breakthrough, here: https://www.joyitbpod.com/

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State Attorneys General jump into the fight over DEI, and big changes at the SEC shift power from the federal government to the Board Rooms. Then William Burckart of the Investment Integration Project (TIIP) joins Adam and Matthew to shed light on the cutting-edge field of systems-level investing. Visit www.ucfunds.org.