Campaigning organisations (including NGOs and trade unions) play a critical role in exploring and raising awareness of environmental, social and economic issues. Some also have significant expertise which SRI-CONNECT recognises may be of benefit to users of the site, particularly those seeking to integrate sustainability factors into their investment decision-making process.
SRI-CONNECT actively wishes to help such organisations channel their expertise towards SRI analysts and investors. In return, it is hoped that they will gain from the site an understanding of the investment context within which the issues that they are campaigning on are viewed.
Nonetheless, we also recognise that there is a fine line between awareness-raising and advocacy; that the process of campaigning can involve presentation of partial and partisan information and also that investor interest in an issue can be used as a lobbying tool in other fora.
Other users of the site may therefore be apprehensive about using a site where material they post is accessible to campaigning organisations.
Therefore we:
- have instructed our registration team to exercise particular diligence when vetting the registration requests of campaigning organisations and their employees
- remind all users employed by campaigning organisations that:
- the site is a research tool not a campaigning mechanism
- the site operates under the Chatham House rules (see above) and that independent permission must be sought before attributing any views presented on the site
- notify all campaigners of our ‘one strike’ rule whereby an entire organisation can be barred from the site for a single breach by one individual
- remind all users that we will ban and, if deemed necessary, seek further redress from any campaigning organisations that breach the spirit of trust necessary for the effective operation of the site
