Would you, or your organisation, invest in a company that:
uses child labour?
pollutes land and rivers in a developing
nation?
desecrates the value system and values
of an indigenous people or a society?
is owned by organised crime?
has associations with terrorist organisations?
For most people the answer to these provocative
questions would be a resounding "No".
Yet, how can investors be assured about
the type of investment they are making? How do we, so far
from the rest of the world, know whether the practices of
the offshore organisations we're investing in are ethical
and sustainable? What are the validated measures that we
can use to verify actions with promise? And are our on-shore
organisations performing as we think they should?
Finally, is it possible in any case
to define ethical, sustainable practices and benchmark organisations
and our investment in them, against these standards?
Like-Minded Organisations
- The Changing Climate for Ethical Investment
Around the world, there are many like-minded
organisations which have researched and advocated ethical
investment, and in some cases catalysed new markets for
ethical investment. Amongst them, the ICCR (the New York
City based Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility)
has over US$110 billion under investment for 275 faith-based
institutional investors. [ www.iccr.org
]
There is no doubt that the climate for
ethical, sustainable investment is growing. For instance:
many corporations are establishing
management systems which take into account (and report
upon) sustainable practices
legal developments in some countries
are requiring some organisations and their governors to
consider ethical practices
shareholders are demanding sustainable,
responsible management practices and investments
The Council for Socially Responsible Investment
is a charitable organisation and welcomes donations. If
you would like to become a Friend of the CSRI please e-mail
info@csri.org.nz
for further details.