Royal Awards for Responsible Investment
- Award Winners

During 2003 the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the Copenhagen-based Royal Awards for Sustainability Foundation collaborated to launch the " Royal Awards for Responsible Investment." The award process was framed to encourage any financial institution worldwide, with investment activities as one of its core business areas, to highlight and detail their approaches, philosophy and track record in the field of sustainability-oriented, responsible investment.

A total of 28 companies from around the world submitted award entries by the entry deadline. On 8 October, 2003, the Royal Awards Selection Jury (named below) convened a meeting to select award winners. Three companies were selected in the first tier Royal Award for Responsible Investment category - it should be noted that these awards are given on the basis of equality with no differentiation between the winning submissions. One company was selected in the second tier Special Recognition category. The awards will be presented on 21 October, 2003, during a special ceremony at the UNEP FI 2003 Global Roundtable in Tokyo (See www.unepfi.net ). The Jury's winning selections, and points highlighting the Jury's reasoning and choices, are described below. The winning selections were made on the basis of consensus across the Selection Jury.

Royal Awards Selection Jury Members:

The Royal Awards selection jury was made up of the following six individuals:

• Lord Holme of Cheltenham
• Carlos Joly, Co-Chair UNEP Finance Initiatives
• Linda Nielsen, Chair of Oresund University & Rector at University of Copenhagen
• Brian Pearce, Forum for the Future
• Tessa Tennant, ASrIA
• Takejiro Sueyoshi, UNEP FI Advisor for Asia-Pacific

Category 1 - Royal Awards for Responsible Investment Winners:

Calvert, PSS-CSS/BT Financial Group and Rabobank were selected as the winners of the Royal Awards for Responsible Investment 2003. The following points for each company highlight why the Selection Jury chose them as award winners.

Calvert (United States)

• Has a long-term proven record in the responsible investment community;
• Has taken the concept of socially responsible and sustainability-oriented investment practices to a geographically diversified clientele;
• Has a wide product range with a number of highly rated funds including 4/5 star rated on investment performance;
• Has been a consistently strong advocate for SRI in the United States and has demonstrated innovation in its investment practises and product development;
• Has created high social impact investment vehicles and advocated the need for such approaches;
• Has a strong and proven record in creating and maintaining partnerships with advocacy and civil society groups;
• Consistent engagement and industry leadership on responsible investment from the highest levels of management within the company.

PSS-CSS/BT Financial Group ( Australia)

• Has taken an innovative leadership position with respect to pension fund involvement in sustainability issues;
• In a short period of time has developed an impressive approach to and coverage of target companies from an engagement perspective;
• Has issued four position papers on critical sustainability issues with a further two papers expected for release in September 2003;
• Has created a strong symbol for the broader pensions community;
• Has adopted a leadership position amongst the pensions and investment community in Australasia;

Rabobank Group (Netherlands)

• A large diversified bank with a broad range of sustainability oriented products.
• As a mainstream institution, with an AAA rating, has taken a leadership position on sustainability over a number of years and has demonstrated serious commitment;
• Offers private equity and fund of fund investment vehicles to serve sustainability needs;
• Provides sustainability-oriented mechanisms related to project finance as well as leasing products and research;
• Recently acquired a significant stake in the Swiss Bank Sarasin which itself has demonstrated a strong sustainability performance in the financial services sector;

Category 2 - Special Recognition Award:

The Selection Jury agreed to award CDC Capital Partners a special recognition award in light of its work to provide "fresh" capital in developing countries.

CDC Capital Partners (United Kingdom)

• Notable for its provision of risk capital in low income countries;
• A provider of "fresh capital" where it is most needed from a sustainability standpoint. The risk capital CDC provides is often dedicated to the infrastructure and industries that make up the essential building blocks for sustainable economic development;
• Has entered an innovative joint venture with Norfund to create a private equity fund, named Aureos
  (www.aureos.com ), which is dedicated to developing country needs;

UNEP FI will publish a summary brochure describing the entire range of qualified entries in the Royal Award process.