Money. Often called the 'root of all evil' for its temptation that causes people to do things others condemn. Could it also become fertilizer for an accelerated learning and adoption of sustainability activities for the world? Well, yes, possibly so.
While there have been a few funds on the stock market that invest in 'green' products and services, a recent move by Norway's sovereign wealth fund stands out. The fund, worth $1 trillion, is the world's largest and invests money generated by Norway's oil and gas production in global funds including investments in over 9,000 companies and 72 countries.
With a focus on long-term goals, the fund announced it will require companies in which it invests to follow stricter guidelines on global sustainability and improved efforts to combat plastic pollution of the world's oceans. In fact, the fund sees their long-term goals as aligning well with the United Nation goals for achieving sustainable economic, social and environmental development by the year 2030.
If you want to get CEO, Board of Directors, and other Executive attention, this is the way to do it; i.e. take away potential investors and capital which subsequently drops a company stock price and ultimately reduces the executives' stock holdings value. When it hits your wallet directly, you take notice.
A lot of companies have been playing lip service to sustainability. It's a broad goal for most companies with few true actions behind them. But...it looks good on paper and in the Annual Reports since you have a corporate plan for sustainability.
It's about time, someone put their money where sustainability is....and I applaud Norway for sticking their neck out on this issue. This is the same country that leads the world in per capita electric vehicle owners. Indeed, the little country of Norway is showing the world how to be better global citizens and cleaning up after themselves. Touche' Norway !
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/norways-1-trillion-fund-beef-scrutiny-sustainability-ocean-073521211--sector.html
Note: Photo courtesy of Buildnative.com
