Responsible Investor

Davos review: investor sustainability anyone?

Why was the potential role of investors virtually absent from Davos when it has been leading the way on many of the issues?

From a sustainable investment perspective, this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland was more remarkable for what was not discussed – at least in public session – than for what was. In all fairness, the WEF did coincide perfectly with three spectacular and virtually simultaneous diversionary events in the global financial world: widespread and vertiginous drops in virtually all of the developed world equity markets; the bailing out of several major global banks by sovereign wealth funds from the Gulf and Asia; and Société Générale’s spectacular $7bn loss, ostensibly at the hands of a single rogue trader. Understandably, all three events created a major distraction from the formal agenda and dominated corridor and cocktail party conversations. Not that sustainability themes were entirely absent from the WEF, however. Al Gore and Bono (covering climate change and global poverty, respectively) headlined a breakfast with the somewhat breathless title of: “A Unified Earth Theory: Combining Solutions to Extreme Poverty.” Unfortunately for readers of this magazine, however, virtually all of the emphasis was on government, regulation, and corporates, with the current and potential role of investors virtually absent.

Given the overall WEF theme of “The Power of Collaborative Innovation”, I found this particularly odd. A speech or two from representatives of the largest investor collaboration in history, the $40 trillion Carbon Disclosure Project, would not have been amiss.
Global water issues also got their fifteen minutes in the sun. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the CEO’s of Pepsi, Nestle, and Dow Chemicals all played a useful role in highlighting both the scale and strategic importance of the challenge. Most importantly, so did actor Matt Damon, whose personal foundation is contributing to some promising clean water initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa. PepsiCo gave the term “Pepsi Challenge” a new and socially productive twist by announcing an $8 grant for clean water initiatives. The grant will be shared by Columbia University’s Earth Institute and Matt Damon’s charity, H20 Africa.
My personal favorite at the WEF, however, was Bill Gates’ highly publicized speech proposing what amounts to a new world order which he called “creative capitalism.” Apparently it’s now conceivable that the private sector could possibly be engaged in helping tackle global sustainability problems – and make a profit in the

Not a member? Register here »