Investors to Boost Responsible Investment Assets by USD 137bn
Institutional asset owners responding to the first RI
Landscape 2008 Asset Owner survey indicated that
they plan to increase their commitment to responsible
investment by USD 137bn before the end of 2010.
According to the survey, published jointly by
Responsible Investor and IPE, 47% of investors
already committed to responsible investment
strategies said their choice had made a positive
impact on returns, while 43% said it was too early to
say. Only 6% said they expected returns to suffer.
www.responsible-investor.com
French
SRI Assets Rise 30% to EUR 22bn in 2007
French investments in SRI portfolios rose from €17bn
to EUR 22bn in 2007 — a rise of 30% — according
to the latest annual report from Novethic. Growth was
particularly strong among institutional investors. SRI
assets within this segment grew by 36% and accounted
for two thirds of the overall French SRI market at the
end of 2007.
www.novethic.fr
Denmark
to Publish CSR Action Plan
The Danish government is to publish an action plan which
will outline how to meet the growing “expectations
and challenges” of corporate social responsibility
(CSR) in mid-May. The action plan entitled 'The road
to responsible growth' has been developed by seven Danish
government ministries and aims to address the issue
of how to promote the incorporation of CSR considerations
into the investment strategies of pension funds and
companies.
www.ipe.com
Mercer
and IFC to deliver 'sustainability rating' for emerging
market investments
Fund managers in emerging markets will be rated
based on their capacity to incorporate environmental,
social and governance factors into their investment
decisions as part of a new research initiative
commissioned by the International Finance
Corporation (IFC), the private sector branch of the
World Bank Group. To determine the ratings, Mercer,
who has been appointed by the IFC to conduct the
study, has commenced interviews with 50 managers
based in China, India, South Korea and Brazil. The
research will also include a survey of over 200
managers globally, who invest in emerging markets.
www.mercer.com
Carbon Disclosure Project announces findings
in supply chain carbon emissions
The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the global
investor collaboration on climate change,
announced the first findings of its Supply Chain
Leadership Collaboration. According to the results,
96% of suppliers identified greenhouse gas
regulation as a potential risk. Suppliers also foresee
extreme weather conditions adversely affecting
operations and slowing productivity.
www.cdproject.net
Global Carbon Market Grows to USD 64bn
The global carbon market grew to a whopping USD
64bn in 2007, more than doubling over 2006,
according to a new report from the World Bank
highlighting the state and trends of the global carbon
market. The European Union Emission Trading
Scheme (EU ETS) also saw a doubling of both value
and number of allowances transacted to the tune of
USD 50bn.
www.worldbank.org
US Clean-Tech Investments Increase 18% in Q1
Venture capital investments in cleantech companies
continued to show robust growth in the first quarter
of 2008, according to an Ernst & Young report based
on data from Dow Jones VentureOne. Capital
invested grew by 18% to USD 572m in Q1 2008
compared to USD 484m for the same period in
2007, while the number of deals declined by 11% to
34. This growth in cleantech investment bucks the
trend of overall US venture capital investment in
Q108, which declined by 7% to USD 6.5bn.
www.cleanedge.com
Business Leaders Urge G8 Governments to Take
Action on Water Crisis
Business leaders representing some of the world's
largest companies launched an international
campaign urging governments of the G8 countries to
address with urgency the emerging global crisis in
water and sanitation. The group called on G8
leaders to actively address the issue of water during
their upcoming Hokkaido Toyako Summit on 7-9
July in Japan.
www.unglobalcompact.org
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