The future of food and farming may not be dependent solely on breakthroughs in science – celebrity investors may play a role in changing the way society thinks about food from farm to table. And as improvements in agriculture technology become more well-known, more investors look at agriculture through new eyes – and choose to invest in something that will benefit the world.
Organic farming is both good for the environment and can generate attractive returns. Our first fund had a 69 percent financial gain in net asset value over seven years. Also, our largest CA farm showed we generated a 46 percent net gain for the ecosystem, including: carbon sequestered in the soil, harmful ag practices avoided, enhanced biodiversity, healthy pollinator habitats, and reduced use of water for crops.
Regenerative agriculture involves practices that equitably use land to address climate change, biodiversity, soil health, and the well-being of workers and local economies. In 2019, Domini launched its Forest Project, focusing on the systemic importance of forests to environmental systems, businesses, and investments. We recently drew more explicit connections between our forest work and our sustainable agriculture work.
Since the slow money movement’s first low interest loan to a local organic farm in 2010, more than $80 million has flowed to over 800 small farms and local food businesses. And now we’ve launched beetcoin.org as a platform for small donors to participate in building a grassroots source of capital as we also aim for more local 0% loan groups. Slow Money is fixing things from the ground up in ways that industrial food systems and industrial financial systems cannot.
It’s time for my first interview in 2022 and it’s with the highly energetic, award-winning climate finance campaigner Lucie Pinson, CEO of Reclaim Finance. We spoke remotely, her in Paris, me in Sydney, and the discussion ranged from her work journey to some of her incredible successes over the years in getting banks and companies to move on climate change.
“We are excited to be what we believe is the first pure-play ETF that invests in companies innovating with plants and producing animal free products. We believe that today’s investors want a more resource efficient, climate friendly, and cruelty-free food and materials supply system…and want to invest their dollars in the same,” said Elysabeth Alfano, CEO and CMO of VegTech Invest
ImpactAssets has released its eleventh annual IA 50 List, a free database for impact investors, family offices, corporate and family foundations and institutional investors that features a diversified listing of private capital fund managers delivering social and environmental impact as well as financial returns.This year’s list includes Emerging Impact Managers and Emeritus Impact Managers.
Many times, in life progress stems from the connections we make — between our money, our values, and an array of social, environmental and governance (ESG) issues. In 2021, assets in the five Domini Funds reached over $3 billion. For Domini, this growth has gone hand-in-hand with new efforts to understand critical global challenges and look closely at how companies are responding to them.
When adults encourage young girls to dream about their future careers, they often mention becoming teachers, nurses, or childcare workers. Young boys get to imagine themselves in suits and ties while handling business transactions or leading meetings. It’s one reason why men have long dominated the financial world – but women are changing the game and the future with ESG investing.
If you are interested in the interdisciplinary topics of environmental, social, and governance and how they influence businesses, you might consider a career in ESG Investing. If you have hard time reconciling the person you need to be for your day job versus the person you are outside of work, ESG could be a good fit. There are so many opportunities today at the intersection of finance, business, and sustainability.
