If America is committed to helping everyone achieve affordable, stable housing, we must do more to help low-income families and families of color own their own housing. Affordable homeownership is not the capstone of economic well-being, it is the cornerstone. And it will also help close the racial wealth gap.
Welcome to the ongoing GreenMoney Interviews series. This issue features two Women of Color who are emerging leaders in Socially Responsible Investing and Community Investing: Kimberly Jones of Self-Help Federal Credit Union who interviews Nicole Middleton Holloway of Natural Investments. Here is their wide-ranging conversation.
Of all the types of institutions playing a role in averting catastrophic climate change, banks are perhaps unlikely protagonists. Yet by the everyday process of allocating capital and issuing loans to clients, lenders can be powerful allies or destructive antagonists in the fight for a climate-safe world. The impact of their lending has significance on the climate, our ecosystems and overall planetary stability.
The Earth is a water world covered by vast oceans and a sheltering atmosphere. All life emanates from and is sustained by this watery cradle. Every breath we take, every drop we drink, every aqueous cell that binds our physical being; reminds us that we are water creatures. The sheer immensity of our oceans has made them appear impervious to man’s presence. But they are not.
When it comes to climate change, oceans are the bellwether. For Maine, with a heritage and economy heavily tied to the sea, this is increasingly apparent in the changing behaviors of marine creatures, which is also affecting people’s lives and livelihoods. For Maine’s iconic fishing industry, known for its sustainable management of marine resources, commercial aquaculture can be a part of the solution.
ESG and sustainable investing have taken center stage in asset management. Climate and now Oceans are leaders in this elevation with a proliferation of products, firms, and frameworks increasingly on investors’ radar screens. The oceans are becoming broadly investable, with market-based opportunities across all sectors of the Blue Economy. (Sept. 2021)
The plastic waste problem gets plenty of attention, and for good reason: If we continue mismanaging this material as usual, there could be 7.7 gigatons of the stuff cluttering landfills, waterways and oceans, or being incinerated by 2040. Just as stunning: Plastic isn\’t the fastest growing waste stream the world needs to deal with – that ‘honor’ actually goes to various forms of electronics waste (e-waste).
Our current way of living will change fundamentally in the future. Exactly how that happens is a societal decision. The materials we use to create our new world will depend on technology and science. Leading us to a hyper-efficient, innovation-driven circular economy that is equipped to address the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and inequality, while bringing countless benefits.
A circular economy moves beyond our take-make-waste industrial model and works toward designing products to eliminate waste and pollution and to regenerate natural systems. It’s a tall order for our complex global economy and demands a fundamental change within and across industries and stakeholders. The Circularity Gap Report from Amsterdam-based, Circle Economy is a useful and informative guide.
Aligning human consumption with nature’s activities, the circular economy keeps resources in use and cycling around as long as possible, reducing the strain on the Earth’s finite cradle of resources and impacts on the environment. Recycling, reduction, and reuse are elements of a circular economy. It keeps responsibility for products and their impacts with the companies that produce them.
