While personal habits like using energy efficient light bulbs and taking the bus instead of driving help the environment, more often than not, major companies and manufacturers have the greatest impact on our planet. But just as companies can do things that are detrimental, they also have an enormous potential to promote sustainability by adopting green practices and utilizing their power as investors.
At this week’s Clinton Global Initiative and United Nations Private Sector Forum on Sustainable Energy for All, investors proposed several initiatives that would help nations and companies do just that.
As reported by Environmental Leader, B Lab, an organization that promotes the idea of businesses working to solve social and environmental issues, created the Global Impact Investing Ratings System (GIIRS) to rate the environmental and social impact of companies, giving investors and other businesses the information they need to put hundreds of billions of dollars towards “impact” investments. B Lab also announced its goal of rating over 2,500 companies in five years.
A group of organizations led by Aviva Investors want to take this idea further by asking UN member states to mandate that companies within their borders provide information on their environmental impact. The focus of this initiative is transparency on the part of businesses while nations do their part to keep them accountable.
