Finance

Money in the economy should flow to sustainable activities, not unsustainable ones

The credit crunch and banking crisis exposed the weakness of our finance system. Its focus on short-term gains means too much money funds unsustainable activities, power is concentrated in a few institutions making the system vulnerable to shocks, and there is little focus on new financial models which will support the transition to a sustainable economy.

 

We want to transform the financial world. We want to incentivise long-term thinking, rewarding businesses and investors for looking beyond short-term profits. We want to innovate financial models that drive investment towards sustainable activities. And we want to inject fresh thinking, bringing in new ideas and players from outside the financial sector.

How sustainable is UK business? September...
Sustainable Business 2012 is the second independent indicator-based assessment of UK...
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A framework for a sustainable economy
LATEST NEWS: Horizons - a digital version of the Sustainable Economy...
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UK Carbon Reporting Framework
For over 20 years now leading organisations across the globe have been actively...
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More than 80% of Chief Financial Officers said that they had sacrificed opportunities for long-term value creation in favour of short-term actions to bolster their share price.

Click here to find out more about our work on finance

Blog Posts

Plan A and financial proof for sustainability
In my last post, I talked about how many firms are using quantified business cases that credibly predict positive financial returns to drive...
What we’ve learned about making finance sustainable
With the credit crunch, the global Occupy Movement, and the various banking scandals of recent years, there have been searching questions about the...
One paradox, three truths and three tips: how to manage complexity
Let’s start with the paradox. The concept of sustainability is simple – the capacity for continuance. However, the means of achieving...

greenfutures

Resource shortages are rife with opportunity, says asset manager
Ian Simm, Chief Executive of Impax Asset Management, tells Anna Simpson why solutions in energy, water, food and waste are particularly attractive...
The rise of impact investment
More investors are coming forward with 'socially responsible' funds, but their impact is equivocal. Could a new form of investment make a...
Jonathon Porritt: lessons in finance with Isaac Newton
All commodities are now on a rising cost curve, warns the Founder-Director of Forum for the Future. By any standards, Isaac Newton was a smart...