The newest SEC staff interpretation relating to shareholder proposals is poised to make it easier for ESG issues to get onto the ballot at company annual meetings. While terms like \”diversity,\” \”inclusion,\” and \”gender lens investing\” are becoming part of corporate and investing vocabulary, implementation of the values for which those concepts stand is far from complete.
(From the Archives) While it has taken far too long for financial professionals to see us women as key decision-makers, with women set to control more wealth in the coming years, at last that seems to be changing. So, what to do with this newfound power when it comes to climate? Start a conversation with your money manager on how to begin aligning your investments with a safe climate for all.
Women are looking to sustainable investing to help them express their care for the climate, for low-income communities, and for global health, knowing that all of these things are interconnected. They understand that gender diversity starts at the top. As companies hire more women and include more diversity in their upper management and on their boards, the organizations realize both better balance and better financial results.
Most central banks align their asset purchasing programs with supporting risk mitigation – like investing in green bonds, for example. However, as modeling by the NGFS, an association of more than 90 central banks, has shown, shifting portfolio emissions requires more than green bond purchases; fossil fuel exposures must also be severely limited.
Sustainability-linked bonds could help finance the transition of carbon-heavy companies, but only if the issuers are serious about climate. The green bond market is on fire, channeling record funds into climate-friendly projects around the globe promising synergy between investors chasing ESG products and the need for climate finance, especially in developing countries.
In the first half of 2021, the total value of new green bonds issued reached almost $250 billion, more than the value of all bonds issued in all of 2020. Green bonds have proven to be an effective way to mobilize private capital as they have the same fundamental risk and return characteristics as conventional bonds.
With the EU beginning to issue green bonds and predictions that have annual green bond issuance hitting $1 trillion by 2023, many have been left wondering: “What exactly is a green bond?” Green bonds allow investors to buy bonds that make a specific impact on the environment, especially climate. And now there’s social, sustainability, and positive impact bonds.
The green bond market has played an increasingly important role in financing assets needed for the transition to a low-carbon future. In 2021 labelled green bond issuance as a percentage of the total has grown to 20% in Europe and 3% in the US.
Innovative fundraising options can meet community challenges that cut across race, gender, and geography. They include Banks (under the Community Reinvestment Act); Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs); and perhaps most promising, Fiscal Sponsor Programs.
Investing in low-income communities struggling at the margins of the economy has been a pillar of SRI for more than half a century – the movement has broadened to include “sustainable” and “impact investing.” While faith-based and other investors have also launched corporate dialogues, screened investments and proactively invested in communities.
