Environmental

Sustainable fund firms back US clean energy “victory bonds” campaign

Asset managers support plan to raise $50bn

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Sustainable investment management firms in the US are starting to get behind a campaign to introduce new ‘Clean Energy Victory Bonds’ (CEVBs) that are modelled on bonds sold to the public during the First and Second World Wars.
The bonds are proposed Treasury bonds that would finance new energy technologies. It’s argued they could raise $50bn (€38.9bn) and create 1.7m jobs, positioning the US as a world leader in clean energy.
Fund firms Calvert Investments, Clean Yield, Pax World Funds and Zevin Asset Management are all supporting the project.
Calvert manages more than $12bn in assets, while Vermont-based Clean Yield, an affiliate of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, is a social investment advisory firm. Pax World and Zevin are two of the US’s pioneering SRI firms.
A major endorser is sustainability advocacy group Ceres. Other endorsers are pressure groups 350.org, the Center for American Progress, the Presidential Climate Action Project and the American Sustainable Business Council.Other financial institutions supporting the initiative are Illinois-based GreenChoice Bank, Natural Investments, the Hawaii-based UN Principles for Responsible Investment signatory, and California-based sustainable bank New Resource Bank.
There are numerous backers from the non-profit, business and educational fields.
In August California Democrat Bob Filner and 10 cosponsors put forward the Clean Energy Victory Bonds Act of 2012 to the House of Representatives. It proposes that retail investors could participate in investing in the future of clean energy for as little as $25.
“The $50bn raised from the bonds will fund clean energy programs that support wind, solar, energy efficiency, and electric vehicles in the US,” the project says.
Meanwhile, Ceres has issued a report saying investment consultants retained by major asset owners have generally not considered environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities as they advise their investor clients on their portfolios.
Clean Energy Victory Bonds