"With BP's reputation as a leading sustainable company destroyed, investors weigh alternatives of divestment or increased engagement. SocialFunds.com -- The implications of the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are many. As the stock price of BP, the oil and gas company responsible for the disaster, plummets-as of this writing, it has lost more than a third of its value since the explosion that killed 11 workers- and its very survival as a company seems threatened, one such implication is the materiality of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues. On Wednesday, FairPensions, the UK-based organization whose mission is to promote sustainability investment in the pensions and investment industry, issued a press release which stated, "The need for responsible ownership has been underlined by the financial crisis and by the latest in a list of avoidable BP crises." However, FairPensions continued, "recognition of the financial risks of 'extra-financial issues' is usually not matched by practice on the part of pension funds and their fund managers." Safety violations by BP have become almost a commonplace in recent years, even before the Gulf disaster. In 2005, an explosion at the company's Texas City Refinery in Texas killed 15 workers and injured more than 170. In 2009, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) imposed a fine of $87.4 million, the largest ever by the agency, on the company for failing to correct safety hazards in Texas City. In 2006, 200,000 gallons of oil spilled at Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope in Alaska, leading to payment by the company of $20 million in fines and restitution. Yet somehow, despite its record of safety violations, BP was considered a leading sustainable company, at least until the Gulf oil spill. In 2008, Fortu ne magazine ranked BP among the top ten most accountable big companies, citing the company's investments in renewable energy and its creation,