Chris McKnett, brilliantly illustrates the ability of investment choices to create social and environmental change. He stresses that sustainable investing is less complicated than you think, better performing than you believe, and more important than you can imagine.
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives are gaining momentum, with 80% of global CEO’s identifying sustainability as the root to growth & innovation, leading to competitive advantage, and limiting future risk. ESG is not about making money and giving the profits to charities – it’s fully integrating sustainability into all business practices.
Large institutional investors have the financial firepower to create massive change… and they are:
CalPERs is the pension fund for public employees in California, with assets of $244 Billion, it is the second largest in the US, sixth largest in the world. They are moving to 100% sustainable investment, by systematically integrated ESG across the entire fund. Why? They believe it’s critical to superior long term returns. FULL STOP. In their own words ‘Long term value creation requires the effective management of three forms of capital: Financial, Human, and Physical’
Prudent investing and finance theory are not subordinate to sustainability, they are compatible.
Does your pension or retirement savings plan consider sustainability and/or ESG when making investment decisions? Do you consider not only the return on investments, but what your money is helping to grow? Make intentional investment decisions to create the world you want to see.
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You may also enjoy this Q&A interview with Impact Investor, William Doll.
This is very good news. The grassroots movements have been extremely influential but can only go so far in a globalized world dominated by corporate interests. We are approaching a tipping point where the value of operating sustainably is now becoming important enough to corporations that doing more than “greenwashing” is necessary.
It is also important for all of us to consider our investment portfolios and how sustainable they are. I have friends who have divested from oil investments they didn’t even know they had! We all have the power to make a difference.
Thanks for sharing Laura.
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Absolutely agree! Very powerful stuff.
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Well, better than BAU, however, I hope to be wrong, but looks to me still wishful thinking and usual HOT hopes, since we are not attacking the root problems of all this mess, AKA thermodynamic inefficiency of monetary efficiency (or lack thereof, of economics religion dogma,) ‘and’ trend to shorten life cycle. If we don’t reverse those faulty choices, IMVHO humanity will be seriously re-dimensioned ‘this century.’
I doubt we may make it as a species, with more wishful thinking of HOT, and with a faulty metric of accounting, AKA fractional monopoly ponzi currency, but again, I hope I’m wrong, but you young folks think extra carefully about this, I’ll be dead by then, but you most likely won’t, and will have to deal with this mess on the making, caused by hundred years of happy gilmore financial ponzi games, and complete disregard of sustainability issues.
In your shoes, (I mean age group,) I would consider seriously reproduction control, such as in china, one child policy, ‘and’ technocracy of science:
http://www.technocracy.org/
Possibly a more ‘scientific’ way of governance:
http://jayhanson.us/americaNF.htm
But is your generations choice, you can lead the camel to the water, but you can not make her drink:
http://www.jayhanson.org/problem.htm
and:
http://www.jayhanson.us/
Congratulations for your blog, thank you for following mine, I’m glad to see one more girl in engineering, I hope there may be one day when parity will mean exactly a 50% presence of each everywhere in science, (and possibly a day in which humans may have overcome all quackeries such as democracy, politics, religions, economics dogma, et cetera, ) and best luck to you and to your generation.
cheers,
daniel
😉
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Thanks for sharing all of your ideas, Daniel – and for the encouragement. I’m looking forward to checking out the additional links you provided. Always good to challenge ideas, this is where true solutions are born. Thanks again.
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Reblogged this on .
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Thank you for sharing!
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Reblogged this on Great Things from Small Things .. Nanotechnology Innovation.
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Thanks for sharing!
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Over ten years ago I took a few thousands dollars my mother left me and invested it in a Calvert Green Fund. Unlike everyone else I know who invests in petroleum, my accounts have never lost money. They grew incrementally. I haven’t checked in with my broker for awhile but I imagine this was, as he told me, wise, long term investing. It can only get better in a globally warmed, over populated future. I simply did not wish to put my money into something consumptive. Thanks for your post, and for finding mine.
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Good for you! Its wonderful to see people make this connection, and make decisions based on their personal values.
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Great comment. Very inspiring!
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Reblogged this on As I see it and commented:
This is 12 minutes long and 12 minutes I think you won’t regret. I am going to send the link to this to my financial manager today. As a small time Roth IRA investor I needed to see this and he, who decides where to invest my meager means needs to see this. Watching and listening to this gives me a hope that the world I long to live to see could actually happen.
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Thank you SO much for sharing this — I am reblogging and going to send the link to my financial manager. He needs to see this and so do all investors. Watching and listening to this gives me a hope that the world I long to live to see could actually happen.
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I’m so glad you enjoyed. Indeed, there is many reasons to be hopeful! People like you inquiring, make a large difference as well. THANK YOU.
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Good post and way to go CalPERs! Hopefully they will help lead the way. Am going to post on Facebook now.
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Agreed. Their ability to influence is incredible. Thanks for sharing!
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