Finance & Investment
The latest in the spheres of socially responsible investing, impact investing, and other ways investors and shareholders are asserting their desire for ethical investment options.
Impact Investing Grows, But There’s Still a Long Road to Financial Inclusion
More funds and firms are targeting financially underserved communities, but the impact investing movement and government funding need to be more accessible and intentional to address systemic inequalities and racial disparities in investing.
Visa to Digitally Enable 50M Small Businesses, to Power Equitable Global Recovery
A new range of initiatives from Visa aims to further support small business recovery from COVID, and equip them to keep up with increasing demand for e-commerce and digital payments; with $100k in grants earmarked for US-based, Black women-owned small businesses.
How to Use Nature to Make Progress Across Several ESG Goals
Investors and shareholders leading the push for greater ESG performance recognize that ESG challenges are complex, evolving and nuanced. The Family Forest Carbon Program allows companies to address a range of critical ESG issues that benefit the environment and rural communities.
Achieving Racial Equity in the US Demands We Rethink Capitalism
Fixing centuries of racism and unequal access will require big changes in how we do business if we are to truly move towards a more equitable, fair, and just economy and society.
Financial Future for Factory Farms Looks Grim, Post-COVID
Cross-Posted from Supply Chain. New ‘Pandemic Ranking’ from $20T investor network warns that, with over 70% of animal agriculture firms at ‘high risk’ of creating future pandemics, COVID-19 could be the “straw that breaks the meat industry’s back.”
‘Quality of Life’ Economists Reveal Planning Tool for Values-Driven Entrepreneurs
Cross-Posted from Product, Service & Design Innovation. Happonomy’s Leap Model is a step-by-step plan that helps startups, businesses and organizations strengthen their foundations, evaluate resources and move ideas forward while staying true to their sustainability principles.
Canada, EU Attach Sustainable Strings to Their COVID-Recovery Plans
Both Canada and the European Union have unveiled plans to rebuild their post-pandemic recovery plans that put sustainability front and center. Will other governments follow suit?
$50M Venture Fund Aims to Bolster Sustainability Innovations by Women, Minorities
US-based CapStone Holdings has launched GameAbove Capital — a $50 million private venture fund focused on minority- and women-operated businesses offering sustainability-related products and services.
The World Has Changed, But Investor Interest in ESG Remains. What’s Expected of Your Company?
As the crisis continues to unfold, ESG topics will continue to grow in importance. Companies will be judged by their ability to withstand financial shocks, but also by how they’ve treated their employees, clients and communities.
Trending: Investors Show How to Stay the Future-Proof Course in a Post-COVID World
A new toolkit provides a roadmap for addressing risks to the ‘S’ part of ESG investing; while a new case study validates the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation’s bet on a fossil-fuel-free portfolio.
Predictions About the New Normal in Sustainable Investing Post-COVID-19
Many investment firms are modifying their strategies and valuation models over the long term in the wake of the pandemic. Over the next 12 to 36 months, the following six mega-trends promise to reshape the business practices and investing.
Q&A: How Companies Can Benefit from the AFF’s Family Forest Carbon Program
Cross-Posted from Collaboration. The American Forest Foundation’s new program harnesses the collective potential of smaller US landowners to help them participate in carbon markets and carbon-credit schemes — not only benefiting them, but helping the companies that support them fuel the fight against climate change.
How to Uplevel Your Reporting for a Post-COVID-19 World
Cross-Posted from Marketing and Comms. While it’s still too early to tell how significantly COVID-19 will alter our way of life, we’ve learned to challenge many of our preconceived notions about how to best do business — and solidifying your company’s place within this new order is critical. The true test is going to be whether we are capable of dramatic positive change even when not spurred by a global pandemic.
Environmental Data in the Time of Corona: Preparing for Shocks to the System
It has been heartening to see major organisations doing the right thing when it comes to dealing with the coronavirus: Follow the science. Although the COVID and climate crises are profoundly different, the parallels are obvious — and the key to surviving both is to use data-driven strategies to improve resilience to future shocks.
Teach a Man to Fish: Why Some Travel Companies Support Microfinance
While sustainable tourism offerings are increasing along with traveler interest in giving back to the communities that they visit, most operators support local organizations through donations. But a growing wave are opting for microfinance to create larger, lasting impacts for more people.
Opening Up Thousands of New Forest Acres to Meet the Demands of Carbon Markets
The Family Forest Carbon Program is a path to reducing your carbon footprint, enhancing forest benefits and supporting rural livelihoods — all while meeting stakeholder expectations for corporate sustainability.
New Blockchain-Based System Aims to Supercharge $200B+ Climate Finance Markets
Climate Futures’ 1PLANET Marketplace will launch during Earth Month as a blockchain-enabled, decentralized app (dapp) designed to help users do their part to mitigate the climate crisis — and keep it top of mind during COVID-19 hysteria.
New Tool Shows Billions at Stake in Meat Sector Due to Climate Concerns
$20T investor network releases first-of-its-kind tool to model the financial impacts of climate change on five leading meat firms and the animal protein sector at large.
BNP Paribas, JetBlue to Close Aviation Industry’s First ESG-Linked RCF
JetBlue’s amended $550 million RCF includes a “sustainability-linked” provision, to align its strategic initiatives with its environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance goals — which the airline has been doing for years, in various ways.
Jeff Bezos Launches $10B Earth Fund to ‘Preserve and Protect the Natural World’
The Amazon CEO, historically silent on the climate change issue and his company’s role within it, announces his personal vested interest — but critics and Amazon employees want more.