Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

“Every day in the lab, we do our part to advance the next treatment for cancer. But too many innovative medicines are out-of-reach for those suffering in the poorest parts of the world. I’m deeply moved to know that my friends in developing countries will likely have better access to our innovative medicines because of GSK’s flexible approach to patents.” (Mili, Ph.D., Investigator)

In April 2017, Whole Planet Foundation signed a contract with a new microfinance partner in greater Accra called ID Ghana. To gain insight into the bustling Makola market in Accra, it may be helpful to read this 2015 article in the New Yorker profiling Ghanaian business owners.

Already 35 exchanges and market regulators globally reference GRI’s sustainability reporting framework. In March, Nasdaq’s Nordic and Baltic stock exchanges joined this group, as they released an ESG guide for listed companies to better comply with investor demands on non-financial disclosure, referencing GRI as the best practice in sustainability reporting throughout the guide.

Today, the UN Global Compact, together with the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), calls on CEOs to ensure their corporate pension plans mirror their own sustainability values. The new report Aligning Values: Why corporate pension plans should mirror their sponsors, the outlines five actions CEOs can take to ensure their plan invests responsibly.

Changing climate and strained ecological systems in West Africa intensify pressure from population growth, urbanization, and conflict over resources, all of which pose a substantial threat to economic growth and people in the region. Communities face recurring droughts, floods, food insecurity and famine, and population displacement.

For years, children in the northern region of Mexico’s Sinaloa state had no real place to learn. Teachers would move from one house to another, or cram their young students into a tiny room measuring 6m x 4m – with no furniture, no power, no running water and no washrooms.

At the Walmart Sustainability Milestone Summit event today, Campbell Soup Company, Church & Dwight, Henkel, Nestlé Waters North America, RB, and Unilever all announced that they will be joining the How2Recycle® label program to educate consumers how to recycle packaging correctly.

Historically, most utility capital investments focused on regulated generation and transmission assets that provided the basis for customer rates structures and returns. But the growing interconnectivity within utility assets and electric distribution networks now requires a more holistic approach to planning, and many regulators are requiring utilities to invest in distribution under similar reliability mandates to those governing generation and transmission markets.

PLAINFIELD, Ind., April 19, 2017 /3BL Media/ – PaperWorks Industries has made a strategic investment of approximately $3.5 million to reduce its energy consumption at its Wabash operations. The result earned the company a $1.13 million incentive payment from Duke Energy’s Smart$aver® Custom program, which helps reduce the purchase and installation costs of high-efficiency equipment.

KeyBank has provided a $6.5 million bridge loan to Harmony Housing, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing safe, clean and comfortable affordable rental housing throughout the United States. Key has provided financing solutions to Harmony Housing since 2014, financing 25 of its last 28 transactions.