Greening the Global Financial Services Industry

Rainforestnapo You know "greening" is hot, hot, hot.  We are daily inundated with mainstream news media coverage of how corporations and governmental municipalities are working to become more environmentally friendly.  But if you are 30+, you know it hasn't always been this way.  "Tree huggers" were seen as a radical or simply ignorant fringe trying to undermine capitalism.

That has changed because of the long, slow, steady march of environmental activists and organizations.  "An Inconvenient Truth", for instance, makes clear that Al Gore was advancing this message way before Power Point was invented.  (If you have seen the book or magazine article that does a good job of summarizing how we get from those days to these days on environmental issues, please send recommendations.)

No better proof of this shift comes from the Rainforest Action Network's (RAN) "Global Finance Campaign" which works to promote environmentally responsible actions.  According to RAN's website (which includes PDF's of the corporate environmental policies referred to):

After years of grassroots activism and campaigning by countless volunteers, America's three largest banks, Citigroup, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase, have all adopted policies that safeguard old growth and endangered forests, curb investments in climate change, and protect the rights of indigenous peoples. These new standards are important steps forward in our work to bring about a sustainable economy, but many companies are still lagging. Our task is now three-fold: First, we must hold companies like Citigroup, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase accountable to their commitments, ensuring that their policies are fully implemented and translate into real changes. Second, we must help the rest of the financial industry move even further towards creating a world that is responsible, sustainable, and socially just. Finally, we must support the efforts of the countless individuals around the world who are creating alternative institutions that are able to reflect the diverse needs of local communities.

If you made your money in finance, or just love Mother Earth, you might want to check this and RAN's other programs out including a "12-Step Program to Break America's Oil Addiction."

Susan Herr

Posted at 4:03 AM, Oct 25, 2006 in Environment | Permalink | Comment