Viewpoint: Has Impact Investing Reached a Fork in the Road?

Monday, April 29, 2019

By Amit Bouri

Slow and steady does not win all races. And this is conspicuously apparent when it comes to fueling solutions to the world’s social and environmental challenges. No sooner had the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned us that a 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer world was slipping out of reach, we had an international climate conference marred by enthusiasm for coal and reluctance from several major powers to fully endorse the 1.5 degrees Celsius report and therefore the urgency of the situation. With each step forward, it seems we take a half step back.

Now in the first months of 2019, we have burned through nearly a third of the time we have to implement the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Yet, despite progress, we are seeing record forced displacement and inequality. The UN secretary-general has called for $5 trillion to $7 trillion of investment each year to meet the goals, a sum that global philanthropy and government aid is not prepared to meet.

Simply put, we are not moving fast enough on addressing the major problems the world faces. And the results could be catastrophic.

Photo courtesy of Pablo García Saldaña.

Source: Pensions&Investments (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Investing
Tags
ESG, impact investing