Mood:
brightTopic: corporates
We are detecting a concerted attempt by big financial organisations Westpac, HESTA industry super fund, and even Colonial First State Bank to promote their environmental responsibility in contrast to their competitors. We hope and trust it works too.
HESTA for instance in their latest brochure in our mail have signed up to the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI), and something called the Investor Group for Climate Change (IGCC) and Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP 5).
Westpac have a suggestive picture of upstanding Old Growth native forest as part of their full page advert recently 19 March 08 and a reference to www.westpac.com.au/corporateresponsibility
Colonial First State Bank similarly are moving on the Herald sponsored Earth Hour energy reduction exercise to train up business and society generally on “turning off” where possible. As a global education strategy it’s got resonance, and the statistics on reduced energy use seem to bear out the activity despite the initial scepticism.
It’s all good “natural capitalism” financial housekeeping against waste including energy waste, a concept pioneered by secular saint and renewable energy guru Amory Lovins who founded the Rocky Mountains Institute in the USA: There is no waste in nature.
Meanwhile ANZ are being asked to finance the dinosaur environmental vandalism of Gunns Ltd pulp mill to destroy natural forests, with a deal of pollution involved, not least CO2 equivalence from land use change.
[PDF] ANZ and Gunns
It’s a bad look Mr ANZ, very bad, and morally wrong according to recent advice of the Pope on the modern mortal sins.
List of mortal sins gets longer under Vatican overhaul - World ...
