Sorry, but it’s human nature, and borne out by history…

Did they circlulate this, as I requested ? It’s up om http://www.EthicalMarkets.com on our homepage , along with my “Changing the Game of Finance ” , which Steve Schueth asked me to write for SRI in the Rockies 20th anniversary.( also on our site )
May we post your report ? I’ll also ask Bill Baue for his, Thanks, Hazel

In India, there is plenty of scope for raising non edible seed oil plants on arid and semi arid lands on a large scale— for feed stock of seeds for the end product of a bio diesel. Such programs are going on in Africa.

If investors come forward, these projects can be organized for betterment of the environment, involving the services of NGOs who are working for the social cause of rural agricultural families.

Needless to say, such projects will serve as many- in- one, for meeting social, economical and environmental considerations.
B N Ramamurti
Consulting Agroeconomist ( Herbal products Industry and wasteland evelopment)
Chennai, INDIA
e-mail: bnramamurti@gmailcom

Thanks for this excellent article. As Bill Baue also cautions in his comment, the “de-listing” aspect of the UN Global Compact is pretty much non-existent. We at Investors Against Genocide learned this when we filed a formal complaint with the Global Compact against its member, PetroChina, due to its complicity in helping to fund the Darfur genocide. Together with over 80 civil society organizations, we asked the Global Compact to employ its own “Integrity Measures” to help us engage with PetroChina in the hopes that it would use its influence to help the people in Darfur. The Global Compact was unwilling to employ its Integrity Measures and stressed in its explanation that the Compact does not monitor compliance of companies to uphold the values of the compact. The only reason that a company will get de-listed is for failing to turn in their “COP” or “communication on progress.” As a result, many companies become members to spruce up their image knowing full well that they will not be held to any clear standard of behavior. I’ve included a couple of links below for further information on our complaint.

http://investorsagainstgenocide.net/2009-0107%20ungc%20and%20petrochina%20press%20release.pdf

http://globalcompactcritics.blogspot.com/2009/10/john-ruggie-global-compact-is-safe.html

Susan Morgan
Director of Communication
Investors Against Genocide

thank you very much for moderating this panel and providing us with a report. what you learned was very important to share with our audience. and, risk metrics obvious attempts at ‘consolidating’ the esg data will be fun to watch. interesting that bloomberg wasn’t prominently mentioned.

it seems strange that the u.n. convened this event without any fanfare. with 6,000 global compact companies in 135 countries, it seems reasonable that they could convene a much larger group, attract attention, give it some type of vibe and create some momentum for change. the socap conference in san francisco convened over 1,000 people and their ‘alternative stock exchange’ session was ’standing room only’. if we really want to effectuate change, we need a little more energy and action and a little less ‘closed door’ discussions.

Great to hear about this event that you moderated! Interesting to see that “de-listing” was a focus of the discussion, especially because the sponsoring organizations, Global Compact and Principles of Responsible Investment, have struggled so much with the de-listing issue themselves as they try to balance having enough “teeth” to be perceived as credible with their desire to host a big enough scope to allow ALL companies and investors “under the tent.” And it also hearkens back to the old “Wall Street walk” argument that investors should divest from companies that don’t meet their social, environmental, or economic standards. Of course these are the blunt tools of change.

I’m interested in your notion of ESG indexes and SRI funds providing the kind of leverage necessary to actually make change. Sure, ESG integration is “mainstreaming” (according to recent reports from Robeco and BSR), but pace and scale is really the question — at what point will the mainstream “tip” into factoring ESG issues at the core of investment decisions? And how much “teeth” will the ESG integration have — window dressing or fundamental change?

These are not rhetorical or academic questions, given the pace and scale of climate change, and the role of traditional business and investment models in creating and now exacerbating the “positive” feedback loops of climate change.

Finally, did the RiskMetrics dude realize he was channeling Rumsfeld with this quote?

Best,
Bill