A profound political disruption has raised the stakes for clean money. It\’s a watershed moment for progressive business and investing, and a major bump in the pathway from the old economy to a new one. We must double down to ensure a just, resilient future civilization.
Every year the Canadian-headquartered firm Corporate Knights (publishing, research) ranks “the world’s most sustainable companies,” from a universe of 4,000 global enterprises with market cap of at least US$2 billion each. The research team applies 14 metrics in its analysis of “corporate sustainability” to evaluate the management and governance of the sustainability journey.
The World Economic Forum’s 2016 global risk report ranked water crises as one of the top societal risks to the global economy ahead of fiscal crises, cyber attacks and even food crises [1]. Megatrends are converging to create this vortex: a growing middle class with greater demand for water; a changing climate altering the availability of water; and global declines in water quality, reducing the supply of clean water, increasing the treatment cost and putting people’s health and communities at risk.
More than 35 CEOs and civil society leaders of the Business & Sustainable Development Commission (the Commission) recently reveal that sustainable business models could open economic opportunities worth up to US$12 trillion and increase employment by up to 380 million jobs by 2030. Putting the Sustainable Development Goals, or Global Goals, at the heart of the world’s economic strategy could unleash a step-change in growth and productivity, with an investment boom in sustainable infrastructure as a critical driver. However, this will not happen without radical change in the business and investment community. Real leadership is needed for the private sector to become a trusted partner in working with government and civil society to fix the economy.
The State of Green Business 2017 by Richard Mattison, Chief Executive Officer, Trucost Top Sustainable Business Trends of 2017 by Joel Makower, Chairman and Executive Editor, GreenBiz Sustainable Business Trend: Unlimited Water Becomes a Goal by Libby Bernick, Global Head of Corporate Business, Trucost The Clean Money Revolution: Billionaires of Love by Joel Solomon, author
A new report examining 28 of the world’s largest banks on their management of climate-related risks concludes they are failing to align their business practices with targets to keep global temperature rises below two degrees [1]. The investor assessment comes despite praising banks for introducing measures such as climate stress testing, carbon footprinting and governance for climate risk.
Sustainalytics, a leading global provider of ESG and corporate governance research, ratings and analytics, recently released a new thematic research report titled, 10 for 2017: Investment Themes in a Changing World. The report looks at the key drivers of 10 ESG investment themes that are expected to create new risks and opportunities for investors in 2017. In addition, the report profiles 10 companies, spanning seven countries and eight industries, that are poised to take advantage of these trends.
Interview with Jon Bishop and Laura Dreese
For the past decade, for-profit microfinance company Envest Microfinance has been striving to bridge the gap between microfinance and financial markets to make access to financial services universally available. It has tapped into support from individual and institutional investors to provide sustainable financing to the world’s economically marginalized and geographically isolated populations.
Are you a millennial? I have bad news and good news for you. The bad news is that climate change and gender equality — two key issues you care about — will cost our generation over $30 trillion*; that is the equivalent of the American, Chinese and Japanese economies combined. The good news is that, while scary, we can use our voices and investable assets to create real change, quickly!
This year may ring the bell on a fundamental rethink for investors. Underlying all the major trends we identified for 2017 is a strategic decision point – do we change the way we think about investing, or is this business as usual in a new order?
