Buying Into the World Bank Written By: Casson Rosenblatt 2007-10-30 12:35:34
While the field of socially responsible investing is growing, there is still a much more limited selection of assets that classify themselves in the category: mutual funds, community development financial institutions, individual stocks, and ETFs are possibilities. Here is another: a World Bank bond.
China's San Francisco Values Written By: Casson Rosenblatt 2008-01-10 19:34:41 Photo:Arbele Egger, Creative Commons, Flickr
If you're interested in China and the environment, like me, you have been reading The New York Times'Chocking on Growth series. It is an excellent set of articles on all of the major environmental problems the Chinese people and government are facing in the coming years and decades. It is staggering, to say the least. And for as long as I can recall, the government has been pretty unsuccessful in their efforts to combat environmental degradation. Their environmental body, SEPA, has always had too few employees and too many problems to deal with, not to mention other power issues related both to central and provincial government. Essentially, it was, and generally still is, toothless.
Corporate Blogging: 21st Century Transparency? Written By: Casson Rosenblatt 2007-12-28 11:58:40
Blogs have become old hat. They have gone beyond mainstream. And yet, I am still amazed at the number of corporations that have them, often with higher-ups writing posts. Is this what transparency and corporate governance has come to?
Ecomagine That Written By: Casson Rosenblatt 2007-09-20 15:16:07 GE has really committed to its 2-year old "ecomagination" program, at least with marketing dollars. It is hard to watch TV these days without seeing a dancing animal and a light bulb. But according to the Wall Street Journal, it is more than just good PR. GE's environmentally-friendly products are selling well and are expected to grow 10% annually through 2010.
However, even with a real commitment to the environment within certain parts of the behemoth, GE has not stopped pursing contradictory income streams, such coal-fired steam turbines and investing in oil-and-gas production. While GE Chairman Jeffery Immelt backs carbon-limits and supports R&D for forward-looking products, the company still continues to support all projects, including coal-fired plants, "when the economics makes sense." As Dan Bakal, director of electric-power programs for Ceres, says in the Journal article, "GE is 'looking toward the future but they are not yet giving up all of the past.'"
GE, like may other multinationals, are attempting to change their core activities in order to be socially responsible, as well as to remain ahead of the curve on issues they predict will be major market movers in the future. We can only hope the commitment remains and these news products and programs begin to replace the old way of doing business. Otherwise we simply have more of a good thing . . . and more of a bad.
