Featured Articles
Navigating the Canals of Water Investing
From the March 2022 Archive – Water is elemental. Crucial for life as we know it. Finite in supply, particularly fresh water, and is degraded over time by countless contaminants. Add it all up and it seems like the perfect combination of inelastic demand and diminishing supply. We need more, and better access to, safe, fresh water. It seems very straightforward to invest in freshwater solutions, but is it?
We Can’t Afford Polluted Water
For far too long, protections for clean water and other environmental regulations have been framed as an impediment to a strong economy. When in reality, the opposite is true. Water is the foundation of a stable and growing economy and thriving communities. Protecting everyone’s right to clean water is a moral obligation. And it’s also a financial necessity. We simply can’t afford polluted water and here’s why…
The Role Investors Play in Addressing Global Water Challenges
Companies that are leaders in water efficiency and reuse practices as well as those offering innovative solutions to global water challenges may be in position to outperform their competition over the long term. Investors can allocate capital to companies equipped to meet these challenges – driving capital to responsible companies in the water industry will drive more investment in solutions to global water challenges.
Investing in Water Stewardship
Fresh water is a unique resource. It is essential to life, prosperity, and environmental sustainability. It is also a limited, scarce resource. It is renewable through nature’s hydrologic cycle or through the expenditure of real resources on recycling through treatment and purification. To achieve a fair, efficient, and sustainable allocation of fresh water, it must be priced in all its uses to reflect its opportunity cost and scarcity value, including any negative environmental externalities.
Additional Articles
WAVE Fills Gap in Evaluating Water Risk
Water risk hasn’t received the same attention as carbon emissions in sustainable and ESG investing, but if you’re not paying attention to water, you’re already behind. Droughts, floods, deteriorating infrastructure, poor water quality and more are materially impacting companies’ direct operations and supply chains across the globe. The changing climate will only accelerate the manifestation of these water risks.
Top Sustainable Business Trends of 2022
The worlds we collectively inhabit—corporate sustainability, sustainable finance, the circular economy, climate tech—are all reaching inflection points, growing and changing faster than many could have imagined. Along the way, they’re roiling industries, companies, jobs and career paths—mostly for the better but also in a be-careful-what-you-wish-for kind of way. Here are the top sustainable business trends we see.
Clean200 Companies Continue to Outperform MSCI ACWI Global Index
“The Clean200 has demonstrated consistently since 2016 that the clean energy future is the clean energy present. This year, the scale and global diversity of leading companies continue to expand and redefine the term cleantech to be any company that has products and services that will reduce demand for fossil fuels and water.” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow.
Community Capital Mgmt. Releases Ninth Annual Impact Report
“We have seen significant growth in the demand for our impact and ESG investment strategies over the last decade from a variety of investors, including endowments, foundations, faith-based organizations, high net worth investors, non-profits, and healthcare organizations. We are proud of our team members and are excited to share the new video and impact report.” said Alyssa Greenspan, president and COO of CCM.
The Year Ahead: Three Water Trends
The three trends, I outline in this article, are fueled by increasing investor interest, and will continue to challenge and disrupt the water sector status quo. They are: traditionally slow pace of innovation and scaling of new technologies and business models is giving way to faster adoption in response to the harsh reality of the impacts of climate change; also democratized access to data and actionable information; and failing aging infrastructure and outdated public policies.
Investors Use Climate Playbook to Scale Action on Water
(From the 2020 Archives) The sheer scope of the global water crisis means that the entire financial system has to get onboard—and act boldly to significantly reduce water impacts. Creating this shift will depend on bringing together a broad group of investors and companies that recognize the market, and the financial and reputational risks of water use and management and act to mitigate these risks.
