Fund Balance

Major Articles

• The Road To Serfdom Is Paved With Austerity OR The Interest Rate Bubble That Isn’t Yet
  By Walter Borden Have low interest rates formed an economic bubble? They are significantly lower than their 10 year average measured against similar conditions. Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group thinks so. He and others predict the next great fortunes will arise from precise timing of its bursting. Yet, fortunes and reputations have diminished over […]
• A Clean Slate for 2013: Rejecting the Politics of Plutocracy, Singularity, and Pollution
  By Walter Borden To address the long term unemployment crisis in 2013, the U.S. must increase investment in its clean economy and infrastructure. U.S. citizens own the world’s most robust non-profit, namely the United States Government. The U.S. can act now for a reason that trumps profit: the General Welfare.  Renewable energy, infrastructure, and pollution […]
• Annie Lennox to Narrate Documentary centered around Haitian Artist Frankétienne, 2009 Nobel Prize candidate.
  ***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***  Annie Lennox to Narrate Documentary centered around Haitian Artist Frankétienne, 2009 Nobel Prize candidate. NEW YORK, N.Y.  The New York based Haitian Cultural Foundation is proud to announce that internationally celebrated recording artist and activist ANNIE LENNOX will serve as principal narrator for the powerful, moving, and […]
• Fund Balance Recommends: The Social Change Film Festival (SCFF)
  The partners at Fund Balance are delighted to recommend to our friends and subscribers the Social Change Film Festival (SCFF). SCFF is led-up by economist Cynthia Phillips and her Global Change Media initiative. The event features Robert Redford’s new movie Watershed, the new movie about climate change called Chasing Ice, the new fracking film, Dear Governor […]
• Neither The US Government, Big Oil, or Wall Street Rentiers Control The Price of Gasoline
  By Walter Borden Both the second and third US Presidential debates featured a question on many folks minds this season. What can the U.S. Presidency do about gas prices? Setting aside the twin question of should an administration do anything, neither candidate’s answer was very compelling. Recently, Exxon Mobil CEO and Chairman Rex Tillerson noted […]
• Ecological Civilization Design Will Win
  Whoever is best able to prove their capability to steward ecology and community for their citizens will emerge as the leader of the free world in this century. All financial value is a derivative of the natural world. Financial and social health are a function of the health of the natural world. The two leading […]
• Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocers IPO Shows Power of Impact Investments
  Quiet but powerful, the Vitamin Cottage IPO has shown the staying power of the LOHAS community’s business acumen, strength and vitality. In contrast to Facebook, the stock (NGVC) is up 10% over last week’s IPO debut and is resting on a 1.88 P/E ratio, earning over ten dollars a share. We may be in favor […]
• Investing in a Balanced and Beautiful World for All
  We are strategic consultants at the nexus of nature, culture, policy and finance. We design and manifest healthy and thriving planetary civilizations. We provide research, analysis, capital introduction, product design, and public relations solutions for investors, policy makers and social entrepreneurs in all asset classes. We holistically envision and desi […]
• Haiti: Culture, Sustainability & Social Enterprise – “In the Eye of the Spiral” Preview Screening June 14th
  Fund Balance is pleased to present this event as part of of our ongoing demonstration that culture, sustainability and social enterprise provide a better organizing principle than predatory debt finance and unrestricted globalization. In the Eye of the Spiral Private Preview Screening Thursday June 14, 6PM-8PM @ The Olivia, A Stonehenge Property 315 West 33r […]
• SRI Insight Tool: The Green Transition Scoreboard
  The partners at Fund Balance make frequent use of THE GREEN TRANSITION SCOREBOARD® (GTS) from Ethical Markets Media in our work.  The GTS provides guidance to our thoughtlines leading up to the Rio +20 UN Earth Summit as well. The GTS provides fresh, incisive, and thorough analysis of the intersecting and diverging trends in sustainable policy […]

Environmental Finance News

• Sustainability reporting ‘more than worth its costs’
  More than half of companies that report on sustainability issues say it gives them a competitive advantage, a survey has revealed. […]
• Tesla wins over investors in $1bn fundraising
  Electric car maker Tesla Motors has raised more than $1 billion, of which $600 million came from convertible bonds. […]
• Goldman Sachs to finance $2.9bn of Japanese renewables
  Goldman Sachs plans to inject ¥300 billion ($2.9 billion) into renewable energy projects in Japan in the next five years. […]
• Alliance Trust reveals full SRI equity holdings
  Asset manager Alliance Trust has, for the first time, disclosed the entire holdings of its sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) equity funds as part of a transparency drive. […]
• China calls for quick climate finance
  China has called for the Green Climate Fund to be up and running by the end of 2014. […]

Bloomberg Sustainability

• Property Insurers Fall Amid Tornado's Destruction
  Travelers Cos. fell the most in the Dow Jones Industrial Average as property insurers face losses from a mile-wide tornado that flattened a suburb south of Oklahoma City yesterday. […]
• 'Oklahoma Needs to Get Everything It Needs, Right Away'
  Rescue workers clawed through rubble of a collapsed elementary school looking for missing students after a mile-wide tornado flattened a suburb south of Oklahoma City. Authorities lowered the death toll to at least 24. […]
• 1982 Just Called: It Wants Credit for Predicting 2013
  1982 Just Called: It Wants Credit for Predicting 2013 […]
• Keystone Lobby Works on Dems to Win Obama
  Canadian energy producers lobbying for U.S. approval of the Keystone XL pipeline are targeting undecided Democratic lawmakers in Washington in advance of a decision on the $5.3 billion project. […]
• Bangladesh Deaths May Change U.S. Shoppers
  About 70 percent of Americans have heard of the building collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,000 people, and for some it means they’ll probably buy fewer goods made in the country. […]

Ecosystem Marketplace

• Overhead at Katoomba China: How do you define a 'beneficiary'?
  An interesting comment during the keynote address became a recurring theme during today's public meeting at Katoomba XVIII: Forests, Water, and People. Niu Chonguan, Deputy Director General of the Department of Soil and Water Conservation at the with the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources spoke about soil and water conservation incentives in China and […]
• Eco-Compensation in China: Can the Government Move from 'Buyer' to 'Enabler'?
  We're in Beijing this week at Katoomba XVIII: Forests, Water and People. We'll be bringing you live coverage of the meeting at Ecosystem Marketplace, on our blog, and on Twitter - so check back frequently! In this post, ADB Water Resources Specialist Zhang Qingfeng offers an update on new trends in Chinese eco-compensation - including early steps t […]
• A Tale of Two Markets
  We're bringing you live coverage all week from New Orleans of the 2013 National Mitigation & Ecosystem Banking Conference. Check back often! Thursday morning's Alternatives to Mitigation session found Craig Denisoff taking the podium to talk about habitat credit trading systems - a new species of mitigation program - and where they stand in rel […]
• Overheard at the National Mitigation and Ecosystem Banking Conference
  "One of the priorities of the National Mitigation Banking Association is to try to get some teeth into the [Endangered Species Act]. If all regulators had to require conservation and mitigation measures, we'd have a thriving market. The agencies that are designed to protect these species are missing these opportunities." - Craig Denisoff, […]
• "We could use a little more Silicon Valley, and a little less old-school utility."
  We're bringing you live coverage all week from New Orleans of the 2013 National Mitigation & Ecosystem Banking Conference. Check back often! March 8 President & CEO of The Conservation Fund Larry Selzer opened his keynote address at the opening session with a joke: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson went on a camping trip. After sharing a good […]

Sian Sullivan

• The aurora affect
  It’s official. We live in a magical universe. I have always known this, somewhere. In my heart, in my belly, in the places where the onslaught of modernity’s cynicism has not been able to reach. But now it is confirmed. Because last night I was privileged to watch – awed and humbled – the dance […]
• Chess or Go?
  It’s November and I am in Oslo for the Norwegian Association for Development Research conference Development for a Finite Planet: Grassroots Perspectives and Responses to Climate Change, Resource Extraction and Economic Development. The conference has collected together an array of fascinating papers on local engagements with, and contestations of, environme […]
• After the green rush? Biodiversity offsets, uranium power and the ‘calculus of casualties’ in greening growth
  Download full paper Abstract Biodiversity offsets are part of a new suite of biodiversity conservation instruments designed to mitigate the impacts of economic developments on species, habitats and ecosystems. Led by an international collaboration of representatives from companies, financial institutions, governments and NGOs, the Business and Biodiversity O […]
• Green: Going Beyond ‘the Money Shot’
  Green Green is a 2009 film depicting deforestation of Indonesian tropical forest to make way for industrial palm oil plantations, seen through the experience of a particular injured and displaced orangutan called ‘Green’. It is made by French independent film-maker Patrick Rouxel. At the biennial WildScreen film festival of 2010, the largest global gathering […]
• The making of a one-handed economist
  Read my Dad’s book, The Making of a One-handed Economist! It’s available here. I am of course biased. Nevertheless I do think that this is a super antidote to the great number of dry, academic textbooks out there on economics. Dad manages to convey complex economic theory with humour and without equations, drawing on many […]

Social Capital Markets

• Q&A with Fish 2.0: Beyond Seafood Business as Usual
  This article is one in a series of guest contributions by David Bank, co-founder of Impact IQ. ———– Converting fish waste into food. Powering fish farms in the desert. Generating value from oceans of data. I caught up with Monica Jain recently to learn what business opportunities are ... […]
• Two Worlds and Times Convene for Sustainable Systemic Change
  This article is one in a series of guest contributions by Alloysius Attah, co-founder of Farmerline. —– According to legend, the ancient Olympic Games were founded by Heracles, a son of Zeus (Greek god). The first Olympic Games for which were held in 776 BCE (though it is ... […]
• Pipeline Fellowship: Changing the Face of Angel Investing
           Join Zealyst Co-Founders Martina Welke & Britta Jacobs for breakfast at Tilth on Friday, June 7, 2013! The event is based in Seattle, WA.–spread the word to your networks if you can’t personally make it! Pipeline Fellowship Founder & CEO Natalia Oberti Noguera will discuss how her organization’s changing the face of angel investing and she . […]
• SOCAP Open: What We’re Seeing in Week 1
  In case you missed it, this year SOCAP is opening up. In a new experiment of collective community intelligence and democratization, we’re asking our community to publicly submit session ideas for SOCAP13, and/or vote up the ideas you want to see happen at Fort Mason this Fall.  Our question to ... […]
• HUB Member Alex Bernadotte at TEDxAshokaU: Find Your Place in the Universe
  We’re thrilled to share that HUB member Alex Bernadotte, Founder and CEO of Beyond 12, recently delivered a TEDx talk  about finding your place in the universe. You can watch the recording below, or visit the YouTube page here.   “It was an amazing experience and opportunity ... […]

Sustainable Financial Markets

• Replay now available of our webinar with Sharan Burrow
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC8i00cfYjg&feature=youtu.be […]
• The Problem with Passive Investing – Robert AG Monks
  SFM Participant Robert AG Monks writes on Drone Companies and other problems with the State of Ownership (see our recent SFM paper) in his new Citizens Disunited —– available here and elsewhere (Bob would welcome further reviews & comments at this Amazon link) http://www.amazon.com/Citizens-DisUnited-Investors-Corporate-American/dp/1939282101/ref=la_B001 […]
• SFM Executive Director Cary Krosinsky’s 3rd book on Sustainable Investing now available
  The Short Guide to Sustainable Investing by relatively new ePublisher DoSustainability (print version also available). http://www.dosustainability.com/shop/the-short-guide-to-sustainable-investing-p-24.html Designed to be a quick read for new practitioners to the field looking for an overview on why sustainability has become a critically important area for a […]
• SFM Co-Hosting Green Sukuk Webinar on May 23
  Join us next week for this webinar on Green Sukuk – why, what, how Financing renewable energy in the Islamic World From the Green Sukuk Working Group: Gulf Bond & Sukuk Council / Climate Bonds Initiative / Clean Energy Business Council MENA Hosted by The Sustainable Investment Professional Certification (SIPC) @Concordia University in Montreal, and […]
• Registration Now Open for SFM Webinar with Sharan Burrow on May 9 – Pushing the Reset Button for Pension Fund Investment
  Sustainable Financial Markets (SFM) & The Sustainable Investment Professional Certification (SIPC) present a discussion with Sharan Burrow and Keith L. Johnson on: “Pushing the Reset Button for Pension Fund Investment“   Sharan Burrow is the General Secretary of the The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). She is the first female leader of the […]

Environmental Finance Features

• Is company reporting coming of age?
  Major changes in non-financial reporting are on their way this year. Dave Knight and Louise Ayling look at the implications for business and the key issues of materiality, value chain and governance […]
• Beware governments bearing subsidies
  A slew of bankruptcies was triggered when the German government cut subsidies to its solar sector. Annerose Tashiro reflects on the lessons that the industry must learn […]
• Geothermal fights back
  The geothermal sector suffered a big fall in financing last year, but a host of initiatives spearheaded by development banks are aiming to open investors' eyes to the technology's potential, especially in emerging markets. Gloria Gonzalez reports […]
• Taking the pulse of the voluntary market
  Mark Nicholls reports on the results of Environmental Finance’s latest Voluntary Carbon Market Rankings – and finds growth and innovation, but some anxiety about oversupply […]
• REC markets: the case for standardisation
  Renewable energy certificate markets cover two-thirds of the US power grid – but, with dozens of different instruments traded, are hobbled by a lack of contract standardisation, says Christian Hofer […]
• Fixed on ESG
  ESG factors have traditionally mainly been applied to equities, but they should also play a strong role in fixed income, argues Peter Coffin […]
• The changing face of low-carbon finance
  Government-backed initiatives are trying to kick-start low-carbon investment in the UK. But what are their limitations, and how is the private sector responding, asks Nathan Goode […]
• Microsoft costs its carbon
  Rather than wait for carbon pricing legislation, the technology giant has introduced an internal cost of carbon to drive emissions reductions and fund investments. Felicity Carus reports […]
• Dealing with the data deluge
  The rapid growth of online activity is sparking a similar rise in energy use. But which IT companies are making the biggest strides to reduce their energy efficiency and gain an advantage over their rivals? Mike Appleby investigates […]
• Connecticut’s green bank shows the way
  A radical approach to attracting private capital for clean energy projects via a ‘green bank’ has been pioneered in Connecticut. As Gloria Gonzalez reports, it is attracting plaudits from far beyond the state line […]

Sustainable Industries

• The responsible enterprise
  Historically many companies have treated ESG (environmental, social and governance) issues as important but tangential to the core business. More often than not, these issues were managed as secondary activities with an indirect connection to the core business and bottom line.The market is undergoing a significant shift, with companies increasingly expected […]
• Don't sell the farm
  My in-laws were raised in the South where they had access to fresh produce that they grew alongside their parents. They knew what good, wholesome food was and they established healthy eating habits for their kids – my husband and his brother – even in Brooklyn, N.Y., where they resided for 46 years.My husband's family is likely the exception. For many k […]
• Betting on the future
  Maggie Layden, Facility Support Technician, American Family Insurance It doesn’t take 20 years of experience to have an impact on a company’s sustainability efforts. Maggie Layden is proof of that. Six months after graduating, Maggie is changing the world one vegetable peel at a time. She’s the project leader for the American Family Insurance initiative, “Ou […]
• More than money
  Growing business commitment to the triple bottom line and resulting business sustainability risk has provided business leaders with an evolved context from which they are now reassessing their core business functions. Addressing this, there is a refocus on sustainable supply chain as a top line growth opportunity that can be accessed through sustainable supp […]
• Changing weather patterns
  Dane Wigington Weather modification has been going on for decades, without the knowledge, not to mention consent of the global population. In this info-intense exchange, Dane Wigington of GeoEngineeringWatch.org conveys the shocking reality of constant worldwide toxification of the biosphere and manipulation of weather patterns via chemtrails (1000 planes fl […]

Acumen Fund

Green VC

• Echoing Green Announces Fellowship Finalists
  A brief note -- Echoing Green has recently announced finalists for the Echoing Green Fellowship and Black Male Achievement Fellowship. You can view all 53 finalists (selected from more than 3,000 applications) here. You can also view pitches from 2012... […]
• Imagine H2O Announces 2012 Prize Finalists
  Imagine H2O, a nonprofit that supports entrepreneurs takling challenges into opportunities, recently announced nine finalist in its fourth annual business plan competition. The theme of this year's competition is Consumer Innovations. The finalists, who were selected from more than 70... […]
• SolarCity IPO Rescheduled for December 13 with Updated Pricing
  An update to this prior article on the SolarCity IPO. Today (December 12), SolarCity filed an updated S-1 with the SEC. This S-1 indicates that SolarCity will now sell approximately 11.5 million shares at an expected price of $8 per... […]
• Mosaic to Hold Solar Investing Celebration Today at Noon in Oakland
  Mosaic, a company offering a clean energy crowdinvesting platform, will hold a celebration today (December 11) at noon in Oakland. Below is information on the event, which is free: We started Mosaic two years ago with a simple idea: to... […]
• SolarCity IPO Scheduled for December 12
  NOTE: There is an update to this post here. SolarCity, a San Mateo, California-based company that installs and sells solar power systems to homeowners, businesses, and government institutions, is currently scheduled to price shares in its initial public offering (IPO)... […]

Green Chip Stocks

• Has Toyota Created the Car of the Future?
  Toyota may have redefined sustainability with its latest concept, the ME.WE. […]
• Is Basic Sanitation a Privilege, Right or Opportunity?
  In 2013, more than $2 billion people have no access to basic sanitation infrastructure. […]
• Has Tesla Just Destroyed Electric Car Naysayers?
  Despite a long uphill battle, Tesla is about to reach profitability. […]
• Is it Possible to Reverse Climate Change?
  Greening the desert and reversing climate change. […]
• Is Renewable Energy Pressuring the Utilites?
  With renewable energy growing rapidly, utilities change business model to adapt. […]

Social Funds

• Chevron Continues to Misrepresent Ecuador Judgment, Updated Report Says
  By Robert Kropp. Attorney Graham Erion updates his 2012 report on misrepresentations made by Chevron to investors regarding the $19 billion judgment against it for environmental destruction in Ecuador. […]
• Investors Call on Corporations to Ensure Worker Safety in Bangladesh
  By Robert Kropp. Two coalitions of investors pressure clothing retailers to join the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, whose 40 signatories include only two companies headquartered in the US. […]
• First Carbon Bubble Resolution Wins Strong Support at CONSOL Energy
  By Robert Kropp. Twenty percent of shareowners support an As You Sow request that the company report on the financial risks associated with having to leave most of its coal reserves in the ground. […]
• Shareowners Re-file Governance Resolutions at News Corp
  By Robert Kropp. Christian Brothers Investment Services and the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation request separation of positions of board chair and CEO, while the Nathan Cummings Foundation calls for elimination of the media company's dual-class share structure. […]
• Emerging Markets to be Focus of Socially Responsible Investing 3.0
  By Robert Kropp. A new report argues that evolving climate finance mechanisms will be among the drivers to increase the practice of sustainable investment in emerging market nations. […]

Indigenous Climate Perspectives

• Facebook | Heather Milton Lightening: Detroit Indigenous Community Historical Overview
  Facebook Heather Milton Lightening: Detroit Indigenous Community Historical Overview: "etroit, is Richard White’s The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650" […]
• Mary Williams, Lillooet Tribe, Canada from talks re: Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
  Speakers include Dr. Rudolph C. Ryser, Chair of the Center for World Indigenous Studies; Mary Williams, Lillooet Tribe - Canada; Sherwin Broadhead, former Superintendent of the Colville Confederated Tribes; John Williams, Lillooet Tribe - Canada […]
• Talk - Russell Jim - Nuclear Attack on the Yakama Culture
  […]
• North American Indigenous Peoples Demand More in Copenhagen
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 16, 2009Contact: The Indigenous Environmental Network Media TeamMobile Number: +45 526 85596E-mail: indigenous.environmental.network@gmail.comWebsites: http://indigenousenvironmentalnetwork.blogspot.com/North American Indigenous Peoples Demand More in CopenhagenCopenhagen, Denmark - As the United Nations Framework Convention o […]
• Indigenous Peoples Strategize Next Steps to Ensure Just Climate Policy
  WHEN: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 6:00 - 6:30pmWHERE: Asger Jorn Room, located in Hall H of the Bella CenterAs the climate negotiations wind down, indigenous peoples are still fighting for the recognition of their rights in the final outcomes of COP15. Over the past two weeks, indigenous peoples have been working to ensure all potential climate policies […]

Ecotricity Zero Carbonista

• A Trojan Horse with your fries
  Nobody could have missed the recent and ongoing food scandal of horsemeat being found in all sorts of places where it’s not meant to be. As a vegan, the story is a little bemusing. And I don’t mean to sound smug, but I have the comfort of being distant from the action, there’s no possibility […]
• Monopoly Money
  Here’s a question… What industry sector enjoys an average pre tax profit margin of over 30% Pays tax at an average rate of less than 20% Operates a Monopoly It’s the Energy sector, funnily enough… But it’s not the usual suspects. It’s not the Big Six energy supply companies. It’s the companies that own the […]
• Guest Post: Dave and the Nemesis
  Here’s a guest post for you from Ecotricity staffer Dave. He was recently asked to put the Nemesis to the test as a commuter vehicle! Here’s his thoughts: A few weeks ago I was asked if I would mind driving the Nemisis for a few weeks. We apparently needed to get a few miles on […]
• Fuel Crisis, What Fuel Crisis?
  I’ve been without a car for the last two years or so – I don’t count the Nemesis since I rarely seem to drive it lately, it’s always out at a show or away being tweaked – my daily transport has been my Motorbike. Until about three weeks ago, when I got myself a Nissan […]
• What the Papers Won’t Say
  I’m not given to paranoia – I should say that first. But in the past few months there have been a succession of ‘think tank’ reports, press articles and TV programs – all with the same theme – wind energy costs too much and it doesn’t work very well. The picture being painted – is […]

Adbusters

• Ubuntu: I Am Because You Are
  Emotional Utopia of the Abstracted SelfFrom Adbusters #107: The Epic Story of Humanity: Part 1, SpringMalick Sidibé/Jack Shainman Gallery, New YorkSince Descartes, Western philosophy has grappled in metaphysical agony with the notion of reunifying the object and the self. Cartesian dualism, as it has become known — the separation of spirit from body, reason […]
• How Cool Is This?
  The world once dreamt American dreams.From Adbusters #107: The Epic Story of Humanity: Part 1, SpringChris Hollo/Getty ImagesIt used to be common for even the most bitter and vehement ideological foes of America to nonetheless admit that America’s consumer culture was compelling, entrancing, often interesting, but above all else, cool. We were critics of the […]
• Crisis in the Classroom
  Whence the path of reverence and wonder?From Adbusters #107: The Epic Story of Humanity: Part 1, SpringRuth SkinnerI recently undertook an experiment. It involved enrolling in a university course — in this case an economics/business degree at the bachelor level — in order to see what it may be possible to learn. For several hundred dollars I purchased the “r […]
• East vs. West
  Intuition or Intellect? From Adbusters #107: The Epic Story of Humanity: Part 1, SpringZHAO JI / CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICHBecause in our culture we overvalue the intellect, we imagine that to become enlightened demands extraordinary intelligence. In fact, many kinds of cleverness are just further obscurations. There is a Tibetan saying: “If you are too clever, […]
• Farewell and Good Luck, Zuck!
  Will his latest moves mark the beginning of the end of Facebook?When Aaron Sorkin, screenwriter for The Social Network (a movie based on Mark Zuckerberg and the founding years of Facebook), won for Best Screenplay at the Golden Globes, he stated: “I wanted to say to Mark Zuckerberg tonight, if you're watching, Rooney Mara's character makes a predic […]