News Archives » Faith Responsible Investing
US State Department Trafficking in Persons Report for 2013 Now Available June 28th, 2013
The State Department has recently released the 2013 Trafficking in Persons Report. The report and the ceremony releasing it are available on the State Department website (click here).
Religious Leaders Press JP Morgan Chase to Reinvest in Virginia County Hit Hard by Foreclosures June 20th, 2013
Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI calls for investment in mortgage-devastated communities from JP Morgan Chase
Northern Virginia Religious leaders marched this morning to JP Morgan’s DC offices after the Bank refused to invest adequately in Prince William County, VA. The county was hard hit in the mortgage crisis, and the investment is needed to re-build the blighted communities.
Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI and the Oblates, as investors in the major banks, have been supportive of the community effort to deal with the mortgage crisis, through VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement). Fr. Finn spoke at the rally, calling on the JP Morgan Chase to make a meaningful investment in the community. Watch a video of the speech on YouTube.
VOICE leaders plan to meet with Federal Regulators in the next month to ask them to sanction the bank for predatory lending practices, and to investigate credit card robo-signings in Northern Virginia.
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Four energy policies can keep the 2 °C climate goal alive June 17th, 2013
An International Energy Association report shows how to stop growth in energy-related emissions by 2020 at no net economic cost. The Missionary Oblates engage oil and gas companies on the need for emissions reductions, and this report is a useful tool in that work.Warning that the world is not on track to limit the global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius, the International Energy Agency (IEA)* has urged governments swiftly to enact four energy policies that would keep climate goals alive without harming economic growth.
“Climate change has quite frankly slipped to the back burner of policy priorities. But the problem is not going away – quite the opposite,” according to IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven. The IEA’s World Energy Outlook Special Report, Redrawing the Energy-Climate Map, highlights the need for intensive action before 2020.
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Holy See Speaks out on the Need for Greater Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility June 17th, 2013
23rd HRC Session Report of the General Debate on Transnational Corporations and Human Rights, 31 May 2013
A recent Statement on Business and Human Rights at the UNHRC in Geneva by the Holy See Ambassadorial highlighted the importance of increased corporate social and environmental responsibility, particularly in light of the tragic factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 1,100 people. The Holy See emphasized the need for “a more complete and deliberate consensus about the role and responsibility of corporations in society.” Continuing, the Ambassador suggested that “While a great number of people and corporate leaders have successfully moved beyond the view that the maximization of profit is the sole reason and purpose for corporations, the support and adoption of the legal framework that can serve as a foundation for this new vision is still in its infancy. The search for a consensus that will provide the desirable balance between the role and responsibility of governments and the public sector, and at the same time the space for private corporations to make their valuable contributions to the common good, continues.”
Major US Cities Vulnerable to Drought June 14th, 2013
Major US cities, including Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, and San Diego are likely to face water scarcity as climate change increases the potential for drought, according to a study released by the Columbia University Water Center in May.
Along with the potentially 40 million Americans affected in these cities, several “breadbasket region” states such as Nebraska, Illinois, and Minnesota were also considered to be vulnerable areas.
The report, America’s Water Risk: Water Stress and Climate Variability, examines how climate could affect “vulnerability to short and long term droughts,”
The study also notes that population growth and increased demand for water in the future will further decrease water availability, if precipitation and water use patterns remain largely unchanged.
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