Sustainable Finance

Pollution is, unfortunately, a part of the modern global economy – from overflowing landfills, to improperly discarded batteries, and chemical leaks contaminating the water supply. Just in the last few weeks, the story of coal-treating chemicals leaking into the water supply caused 300,000 people to be without water to cook, clean, drink, or bathe with. A sobering reminder of how sensitive communities are to the businesses that operate within them? Yes. Also a reminder of how important the environment, and ecosystem overall, is to business and to the people who work for those businesses.

Another story that has been receiving more coverage, as it has grown more severe, is the ongoing air pollution in China. While pollution overall is a chronic problem in that country, the recent scenes of smog and air pollution blanketing cities are truly telling. Recently, it has become so severe that citizens have watched sunrises displayed on oversized billboards erected by government officials. Another effect that has drawn more attention to this issue is the creeping effect of this air pollution – links between Chinese air pollution and increased smog in California have begun to be established and discussed in the media.

A very interesting area to look into, in the face of such issues, is the idea of sustainability reporting. What this is, in a nutshell, is financial reporting that also takes into account environmental and other non-traditional items that impact the financial statements and financial reporting. One of the best places to start researching this field, if you are interested, is the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, a collection of firms around the world that adhere to standards and compliance requirements for sustainable operations and sustainability reporting.

Happy Reading!

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/20/health/pollution-china-pnas/

http://www.businessinsider.com/china-pollution-is-blanketing-americas-west-coast-2014-1

https://www.globalreporting.org/information/sustainability-reporting/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.sustainability-indices.com/index.jsp