ESG strategies are rapidly gaining popularity as interest in supporting companies that manage their carbon footprint, invest in their employees, and promote gender diversity surges. As more and more funds claim the ESG label, how can investors effectively decide which investments are genuine? See the practical framework in this article to help with your financial decisions.
The concept of financial wellness is often associated with managing your money the right way or having a certain net worth. But this definition leaves out something just as important as the numbers – how your finances impact your mental and physical well-being. At OneEleven Financial Wellness, we are changing that by looking at more than just the numbers and taking a holistic approach to personal finance.
Recently I had the privilege of visiting several organizations in Kenya supported through Praxis Mutual Funds’ commitment to community development investing. This was alongside a visit to my family in my birth country, after five years of being away. This article is a personal reflection on how impact investing and gender lens investing delivers real-world impacts – and how financial advisors can help their clients understand those impacts.
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of climate change; also democratized access to data and actionable information; and failing aging infrastructure and outdated public policies.
“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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
