TED talks: the business logic of sustainability – Ray Anderson
In 2009, the late, great Ray Anderson – founder of carpet manufacturers Interface – gave a TED talk about the viability and logic of sustainable commerce. Anderson had been fanatical about good business ever since reading Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce in 1994, and claimed that sustainability had saved...
How Fairtrade is going further for the world’s smallholder farmers
This Monday marked the start of Fairtrade Fortnight 2013 – the 17th in a series of annual celebrations of Fairtrade. Richard Anstead of the Fairtrade Foundation reflects on how the event looks to help drive change for farmers across the world. This year we launched with the key message...
Why I chose ethical investment: aligning my money with my values
Sally Reith is an ethical investor. She moved her money so that it chimed well with her values when she took a job as engagement officer at ethical investment co-operative Shared Interest. Since then, she hasn’t looked back, and in fact has become a staunch advocate for sustainable finance. Away...
Free markets need to be free
Capitalism is often described today as being in crisis. This overstates the case. Like democracy, it’s the worst form, except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time. The true spirit of capitalism – an individual or group identifying a genuine need or want and...
Ethical IFA of the week: Barchester Green
There are plenty of independent financial advisers (IFAs) across the country who give advice on ethical and environmental investments. Our job is to tell you about them. Barchester Green is one of the UK’s longest-serving ethical IFAs. Formed in 1985 in Salisbury, it has expanded significantly in the 28...
Why we can’t afford to lose ecosystem services
Ecosystem services are crucial to our survival; we literally can’t afford to lose them. Increasing investment in and protection of these hugely important environmental assets can only be beneficial for future generations. Ecosystem services provide us with the essentials of life. They’re what increase our happiness, health and prosperity....
No Dash for Gas protested for a clean, sustainable future. And EDF is suing them for it
Protests drive progress. From Rosa Parks on an Alabama bus to the ‘tank man’ in Tiananmen Square; these are the people that have effected real societal change. But a recent attempt to push sustainable energy to the fore has been met with a multi-million pound lawsuit. The public outcry...
Claims of oil prosperity fail to note the finite nature of fossil fuels
Oil and gas companies are celebrating a three-decade peak in North Sea investment, as well as thriving jobs and tax reliefs, but our future energy mix will one day not include fossil fuels at all. While some countries in Europe are planning to achieve an oil-free economy in a...
We can learn a lot about clean energy from Scandinavian nations
Scandinavia has managed to reduce its carbon emissions and achieve considerable economic growth. As a result, countries like Denmark and Sweden have become some of the greenest in Europe. The exploitation of finite resources is a double-edged sword. Not only is it harming the planet for future generations, but...
Juggling sustainability and mining: is Mongolia a suitable host for World Environment Day?
The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) last week chose Mongolia as host of World Environment Day 2013 – a country, it says, that has made a significant shift to a greener economy over the past three years. Mongolia has one of the harshest climates in the world, with its capital...
Responsible investment terms: what is sustainable investment?
Sustainable investment holds the key to balancing the needs of people and the planet, whilst engaging in a prosperous financial opportunity. The term ‘sustainable’ is being used ever-more frequently in everyday life. But what does it actually mean? And more importantly, why invest this way? When Blue & Green...
Me and my friends are being sued by EDF. This action should concern us all
Discovering that you’re being sued for £5m by a gigantic, state-owned, multinational corporation is a pretty overwhelming experience; particularly when you realise that this is a company that makes an annual profit of £1.7 billion by ruthlessly pursuing vulnerable customers who are struggling to pay their energy bills. But...
Four decades of Green Party progress
Forty years ago today, a small group of people gathered in Coventry for what would become the first official meeting of the Green Party. Joseph Iddison reflects on its impact during its four-decade existence, and looks to the future to see how far it can go. The Green Party...
TED talks: the global food waste scandal – Tristram Stuart
A report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) last month uncovered some shocking statistics into global food waste, claiming that between 30-50% of food produced “never reaches a human stomach”. For Tristram Stuart, British author and campaigner, this news wasn’t new. He has spent the bulk of his...
Sustainable investment needs to be ‘core to how we live our lives’
Joe Keefe, president and CEO of US firm PAX World Management, has written a piece for the Huffington Post about the importance of sustainable investment in all aspects of life. Speaking about investment in fossil fuels, Keefe says there are three general approaches: to continue to invest (A), to...
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