News Archives » Faith Responsible Investing
Faith-Based Investors Urging Bold Action with Companies on Climate Change July 26th, 2013
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) recently released a white paper on engagement with the energy sector to address the serious risks posed by rapidly rising levels of CO² in the atmosphere. The paper is, in large part, a response to the fossil fuel divestment campaign coordinated by 350.org, and serves to lay out a range of responses open to concerned investors in response to the looming climate crisis.
Read: Insights for Investors Working for Bolder Intervention on Climate Change
Water Pollution in Bangladesh Threatens Human Health and Agriculture July 16th, 2013
Rivers and canals in Bangladesh are becoming increasingly polluted from industrial wastewater dumped by factories, many of them in the textile industry, The New York Times has reported. Leather tanneries are also a significant source of toxic pollutants to the air and water. The water pollution threatens food production and is raising both environmental and human health concerns.
Human Rights Watch issued a report late last year on the human health effects of unchecked pollution from the leather industry. The report, Toxic Tanneries, documents an occupational health and safety crisis among tannery workers, both men and women, including skin diseases and respiratory illnesses caused by exposure to tanning chemicals, and limb amputations caused by accidents in dangerous tannery machinery. Residents of the area where the tanneries are located are also seriously affected. The government has consistently failed to enforce labor and environmental laws in Hazaribagh, a suburb of Dhaka, and has ignored High Court orders to clean up or move the tanneries.
Make Wall Street Accountable to Main Street July 15th, 2013
Tell New York Senators Gillibrand and Schumer that derivatives regulation should not be delayed!!
Five years ago, unchecked derivatives trading in the U.S. threatened the entire global financial system. Countless citizens lost their jobs, homes and pensions, as risky lending fueled by unregulated derivatives fomented the mortgage crisis.
Join the Missionary Oblates and other members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) in demanding derivatives reform now.
Sign on (as an individual) to the petition available at change.org: http://chn.ge/11GhghC
Please post to your Facebook site and Tweet to spread the word.
Investors Alarmed by Senate Interference with Dodd-Frank Rules on Derivatives July 11th, 2013
Thirty-eight faith-based and socially responsible institutional investors sent a letter to Senators who recently asked Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew to delay the implementation of important Dodd-Frank derivatives regulations. The Rev. Seamus Finn, OMI (Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and Board Director, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility) organized the letter, which expressed dismay and disappointment at the Senators’ action.
Read the letter (download PDF)…
It is vital that the over-the-counter derivatives market be regulated, and soon. Derivatives are complex financial instruments used to hedge risk, and were largely responsible for the 2008 financial crisis.
In the lead up to 2008, large financial institutions bought and sold trillions of dollars worth of over-the-counter derivative instruments linked to subprime mortgage securities, which instruments would trigger a payout in the event of default. “This particular type of OTC derivative, known as a credit default swap (CDS), fomented the mortgage crisis and subsequent credit and economic crisis by offering purported “insurance” to people investing in subprime securities. This insurance fueled excessive risk-taking, demand, and expansion of the subprime market.” (Ref.: The Role of Derivatives in the Financial Crisis, Univ. of MD website)
Bangladesh Collapse: The Workers who Survived July 10th, 2013
Used under Creative Commons license; photo courtesy of rijans on flickr
Listen to this compelling NPR audio broadcast on the reality facing survivors of the Bangladesh factory collapse in April at Rana Plaza. Over one thousand people were killed and many more maimed for life, with little compensation.
