By Kelley Hamrick On a mild, rainy day in Washington, D.C., America inaugurated its 45th president. The incoming administration represents a fundamental shift from the outgoing Obama administration. And the White House website was updated accordingly. Instead of a clean-energy future, WhiteHouse.gov now announces: “President Trump is committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies such as the […]
How to Move Sustainable Investing Into the Spotlight
I am new to the world of sustainable investments. For the last 25 years, before joining the Climate Trust, my career was centered almost exclusively on timberland investing. The corollaries between sustainable and timberland investing may not be apparent at first, but U.S. timberland investing is based almost entirely on sustainable forestry. In fact, most […]
The Quiet Progress of Green Property Funds
At the nexus between property developers and today’s socially-conscious investors stands an increasingly persuasive investment choice. Called a green property fund or impact fund, it’s an influential way for investment managers in emerging markets to match developers with those who aspire to both profits and positive change. The concept is simple: Fundraise from third-party clients […]
Stranded Assets: Preventing the Next Era of Climate Change
By Joyce Coffee I first heard the term “stranded assets” at a Bloomberg event in New York City during Climate Week 2014. For me, the term conjured up images of homeowners and their dogs waiting atop roofs to be rescued during Hurricane Katrina. Yet that didn’t seem right for the context of the discussion, and […]
Missing the Target with Conservation Finance
By Sean Penrith “Are we doing enough?” This was the question Patrick Westerlund of the Wells Foundation asked a packed room in a session titled “Missing the Target” at the 2016 Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) conference in Baltimore. He added that with just the money represented in the room, we could change the world. Based […]
Sustainability Ratings: Coming to an Investment Near You
By Ben Gruitt Last month Morningstar Inc., an investment research and management firm, announced a new sustainability rating system would be available for funds on its North American and European websites as well as in Morningstar Advisor Workstation, the company’s Web-based practice management platform for advisors. The Morningstar Sustainability Rating aids investors in evaluating funds based […]