Sustainable & Responsible Investing News

  LONDON/SYDNEY/BOSTON, April 18, 2016 /3BL Media/ –The Paris Agreement enters into force once 55 countries representing 55% of global emissions have deposited their instruments of accession with the UN. Investors support an early entry into force of the agreement, possibly as early as next year. Speaking in London Stephanie Pfeifer, CEO of the Institutional Investors […]

  An exchange-traded fund is a security that tracks an index, a commodity, bonds, or a basket of assets, like an index fund. ETFs trade like common stock on a stock exchange, which means they show price changes throughout a day’s trading as shares are bought and sold. With their higher daily liquidity and lower […]

April 15, 2016 Investors Challenge Food Companies on Antibiotics    by Robert Kropp The collaborative investor network Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return writes to ten of the largest restaurant chains, requesting policies addressing overuse of medically necessary antibiotics. SocialFunds.com — In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that antimicrobial resistance posed potentially dire […]

In 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission took one giant step towards acknowledging climate change as a financial risk and opportunity for markets, and not simply the major environmental threat of our time. The SEC’s formal guidance on climate risk disclosure, issued in response to an investor petition, details how material climate risks must be […]

April 11, 2016 Walden Updates Shareowner Action on Lobbying    by Robert Kropp Tim Smith of Walden Asset Management posts update on the 50 shareowner proposal addressing corporate lobbying expenditures filed this proxy season. SocialFunds.com — For more than a decade, the Center for Political Accountability (CPA) and its sustainable investor allies have advocated with […]

Corporate green bonds are a debt taken on by a company to finance environment-friendly projects. The green bond market is still in its infancy. According to Climate Bonds Initiative, the first corporate green bond was issued only in 2013. Since then, a handful of leading companies, such as Bank of America, Toyota and EDF, a […]

Ceres president Mindy Lubber praised the members of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) on the release of their “Phase 1” report today, which lays out the scope and high level objectives for the task force’s work. The TCFD, formed by the Financial Stability Board in December 2015 in response to a request […]

April 01, 2016 Investors Win Battles for Shareowner Votes on Climate at Exxon    by Robert Kropp Resolutions addressing the moral imperative of limiting climate change and the manner in which the company reports oil reserves replacement will appear on proxy ballot following SEC decision. SocialFunds.com — The science of climate change has been definitive […]

Investors focus on carbon asset risks, engagements with securities regulators, and the effects of climate risk on financial stability SOURCE: Ceres DESCRIPTION: April 1, 2016 /3BL Media/ – Ceres president Mindy Lubber praised the members of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) on the release of their “Phase 1” report today, which lays out […]

The global climate agreement adopted in Paris in December is far more than just a roadmap for tackling climate change. It’s also a blueprint for rethinking how we bring energy to 1.3 billion people who live without electricity—a significant barrier to eradicating global poverty. On both of these fronts, clean energy, not fossil fuel energy, […]

March 31, 2016 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark Launched    by Robert Kropp Members of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark complete methodology based in part on UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and plan to publish the first benchmark of corporate human rights performance in November. SocialFunds.com — After more than a year of […]

The ordinary investor is more likely to have most of his money in mutual funds than individual stocks or bonds, but until recently there have been few options to determine how sustainable these funds may be.   In March, investment research company Morningstar rolled out the first sustainability ranking for mutual funds, where companies are […]

March 21, 2016 Community Capital Management Publishes Annual Impact Report    by Robert Kropp In a webinar, Chief Impact Investment Officer David Sand emphasizes the importance the sustainable fixed income firm places on environmental and social impacts. SocialFunds.com — The third annual Impact Report of Community Capital Management (CCM), a sustainable fixed income investment advisor […]

The nonprofit sustainability advocacy organization Ceres issued the following statement today in support of the announcement by President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada on climate, energy and Arctic leadership. From Mindy Lubber, Ceres president and director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk: “Stepped up US-Canada collaboration on climate provides a welcome North American […]

March 11, 2016 As You Sow Publishes 2016 Proxy Preview    by Robert Kropp Report authors Heidi Welsh and Michael Passoff detail a total of 314 pending shareowner resolutions, the majority of which target environmental issues and corporate political activities. SocialFunds.com — Every proxy season, sustainable shareowners are gifted with two publications designed to educate […]

March 7, 2016 /3BL Media/ – On the heels of a historic global climate agreement in Paris, investors have filed a record number of shareholder resolutions this year with major U.S. energy companies asking them to disclose their strategies for competing in a global economy that is shifting towards clean energy and away from fossil […]

By Robert Kropp. The Global Impact Investing Network finds ample opportunities for increased sustainable investment in the region, but acknowledges that challenges to development persist.

“After several years of Ceres and our investor members working with individual exchanges and the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) on sustainability reporting standards, we welcome today’s commitment by seven Nasdaq stock exchanges in Europe to create sustainability reporting guidance for their listed companies in 2016. These commitments are timely and sensible given growing concerns about climate […]

An action plan for ESG integration across the U.S. financial services sector has been released in a report by the Principles for Responsible Investment. The report is made up of legal opinions on integrating ESG issues into investment decisions under the Employee Retirement Security Act (ERISAS).  It follows the decision six months ago by the […]

NEW YORK, February 29, 2016 /3BL Media/ – Fifty CEOs from the world’s largest companies convened at CECP’s 11th annual Board of Boards to discuss the theme Competing for the Long Run and how leading companies are addressing societal challenges through business. A Forbes-named top three “power player” event for CEOs, the Board of Boards is a closed-door, […]

By Robert Kropp. Members of the faith-based investor organization have filed 257 shareowner resolutions thus far this proxy season, with climate change and corporate political expenditures receiving the most attention.

Following the 2008 global financial meltdown, financial experts have increasingly highlighted the need to incorporate sustainability, ethics and human rights into the financial system for long-term stability. The financial system must support sustainable livelihoods, inclusive societies and mitigate the impact on the environment. Looking into this critical need, the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), […]

As we start off the New Year, TriLinc Global will be discussing notable trends from 2015 that we see as relevant to the development and growth of the impact investing sector in 2016 and beyond. This is the third post in a four-part series. Coinciding with the rise of entrants in the impact investing space is […]

Sustainable investing has traditionally been perceived as a niche asset class catering only to a select group of wealthy individuals and institutions that want to avoid controversial industries. However, in the last one year, actions of some of the mainstream financial companies are setting a new trend. Leading financial firms such as BlackRock and Goldman […]

Provides Innovative Approaches to Implement Climate Change and Fossil Fuel Aware Investing   NEW YORK, February 12, 2016 /3BL Media/ – Investors who are interested in proactively seeking opportunities to enhance environmental impact without sacrificing potential financial return now have access to a new framework to transform the dialogue around climate change and the fossil fuel debate […]

“We’re disappointed with the action by the Court. We believe EPA has ample legal authority to pursue the Clean Power Plan.  In addition, EPA has taken a measured and reasonable approach to pursuing GHG reductions, allowing states a great degree of flexibility in meeting the CPP targets over an extended compliance period between 2022 and […]

By Robert Kropp. Gerald Friedman, staff economist for the Center for Popular Economics, analyzes the Sanders economic platform and concludes that new revenue streams make the ambitious plan feasible.