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Going Green: Show Me The Money!
Investing in environmentally and socially responsible companies has always been the “right” thing to do. Now, it’s also becoming a smart – and profitable – thing to do.
Wall Street is going green. Admittedly, it’s only green around the edges, but, as a growing number of companies place environmental concerns higher on the priority list, the color is beginning to cover a wider area of investing.
It helps that the United Nations recently announced six new rules for sound investing, emphasizing the importance of factoring in environmental and social costs before laying your money down. The advice was well taken: As many as 16 managers from public pension funds around the world endorsed the new rules.
One reason it’s getting easier to make Wall Street pay attention to environmental concerns is because portfolios that do are turning profits. For example, Portfolio 21, which invests in environmentally sustainable businesses such as solar cell companies in the Silicone Valley, recently posted a one-year return of 19.36 percent, nearly a full percentage higher than the index’s 18.61 percent return.
Concerns about negative consequences from global warming are also driving companies to invest in cleaner technologies that reduce carbon dioxide emissions and lower our dependence on pricey foreign oil. Insurance (and reinsurance) companies have recently produced reports warning that ignoring global warming could be costly, since it is expected to cause more frequent and intense hurricanes and other severe weather events. Venture capitalists are getting into the act, as well. In February, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers launched a $100 million fund for green technology investments.
Green has always been good; now Wall Street understands that it’s also good for the bottom line.
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To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org
