SustainableQATAR’s 52 weekly challenges – that is one challenge per week for a whole year themed by month – are Qatar-specific and Qatar-relevant opportunities for all residents to take actions in personal life, work and within our communities.
In 2007, an increasing number of financial institutions had already begun the shift towards sustainability, investing to limit ecological degradation, and encouraging sustainable consumer practices and decision-making.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Finance Initiative published a report in 2007 titled Green Financial Products and Services: Current Trends and Future Opportunities in North America. The report evaluates the drivers for green financial products and services, assesses the demand and products on offer, and outlines the potential and opportunities for more green financial products and services. It listed green car loans, energy efficiency mortgages, alternative energy venture capital, eco-savings deposits, and “green” credit cards as some of the green financial products that were on offer at that time.
“In an age where environmental risks and opportunities abound, so too have the options for reconciling environmental matters with lending and financing arrangements.”
Green Financial Products and Services: Current Trends and Future Opportunities in North America
While many of these green financial initiatives took a back seat to other issues during the financial crisis, it is still true today that “A principal challenge for banks will be to create effective and far-reaching market-based solutions to address a range of environmental problems, including climate change, deforestation, air quality issues and biodiversity loss, while at the same time identifying and securing new business opportunities that benefit customers,” according to the UNEP.
Ignoring our planet’s peril is no longer an option. A longer term perspective is needed if we want to see our future prosper. No matter how much money we have, if we don’t have a future we won’t be able to make any use of it.
YES, we do!
Every time we shop, we vote with our wallet. By thinking about our purchases not only in terms of what you need or want, but how those purchases impact the planet, we can have a positive, sustainable impact. Shopping based on our values sends a strong message to providers of goods and services that their values and practices matter.
When you shop, pay attention to what your money is supporting. For example, choose local produce to reduce the amount of fuel needed to deliver it from the farm to your plate.
Previously unthinkable, in the 2017 annual meeting ExxonMobil shareholders demanded answers about the company’s risks from climate change and pressured the board into action to reduce the risks to the company’s assets and shareholders’ returns. Stakeholders can have a positive influence on companies’ sustainability strategies.
Inform yourself about your firm’s sustainability strategies and policies, show your support, and learn how you can contribute.
In May 2016 University of Massachusetts Amherst became the first public US university to announce that it would divest its endowment from direct holdings in fossil fuels. In 2016 Australia’s La Trobe University also committed to divest from fossil fuel companies within five years. According to the vice-chancellor, “At La Trobe, we believe economic profitability and environmental sustainability are not mutually exclusive.”
And more recently, youth activists of all ages have become increasingly vocal in demanding urgent climate action from their educational institutes, from primary school to future colleges. We are witnessing a powerful surge in individual climate action in education, from Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg’s call for #FridayForFuture school strikes to urgent wake up calls for colleges.
Encourage your school, college, or university to make sustainability an integral part of the curriculum.
New tools to quantify environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment actions are becoming available. Arabesque, referred to as the Tesla for Finance, quantifies economic efforts of sustainability with a new AI-and big-data-based tool called S-Ray™. The ambition is that S-Ray™ will be as important to the finance industry and ESG Investing as X-Ray was to the medical and health industry. The tool allows anyone to monitor the sustainability of more than 4,000 of the world’s largest corporations over 200 ESG metrics and look beneath a company’s surface by assessing its extra financial performance to help better understand its value to society. It is the first tool of its kind to rate companies on the normative principles of the United Nations Global Compact of Human Rights, Labour Rights, the Environment, and Anti-Corruption.
If you have an investment portfolio, ask your financial advisor to invest according to Environmental, Social and Governmental (ESG) principles and divest from fossil fuels.
Take a photo of your weekly action and post it on social media using hashtags #SustainableQATAR #52Challenges.
Website: http://www.sustainableqatar.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SustainableQatar/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SustainQatar
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainableqatar/
We know it takes more than a few small personal initiatives to make our planet eco-friendly. But if you can make one lifestyle change each day this coming week, it’s a start! So are you going to participate in this week's challenge? Let us know what you think about SustainableQATAR’s 52 weekly challenges! And also don’t forget to give us a like and a share – you know it keeps us going!
Also read: https://www.iloveqatar.net/news/community/sustainableqatars-weekly-challenge-24-finance-green-banking
Photo by Daniel Hjalmarsson on Unsplash
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