Australia seems to have lost its understanding of what sustainability
and socially responsible investment mean, ethical investors were told
in a recent speech by Tessa Tennant, chair of the Association for
Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia.
Tennant, addressing the Ethical Investment Association in Sydney, was
warning Australians against allowing complacency to blunt their SRI
initiatives.
She suggested one way of staying focused was to confront contentious
issues. She recalled that the UK Social Investment Forum helped SRI
investors to influence standards in the UK water industry when it was
privatized in the 1990s, and believed the Ethical Investment
Association could perform a similar role in Australia. For example, the
association could stimulate the debate on investing in nuclear power
and integrated energy solutions.
Another way of encouraging SRI policies was to invest in industries of
the future rather than emphasizing best-of-sector strategies and
engagement. Tennant said companies concentrating on best-of-sector and
engagement policies needed to have a challenging agenda and be more
open to collaborative action with socially responsible investors.
However, she noticed that SRI enthusiasts were often at loggerheads
with companies, rather than leading the way on collaboration. She said:
‘Other groups such as the Global Corporate Governance Network are
showing what can be done. Surely we can do better.’
Tennant pointed out that ASrIA was established because Asia, with its
scale and pace of change, could determine the planet’s fate. She said:
‘If everyone in the world is to have the same standard of living as
people in OECD [Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development]
countries do, under current systems of production and consumption, then
we need at least three, possibly five, planets’ worth of resources.’
Sustainable investment would be vital if this came about. Tennant asked
her Australian audience: ‘Are you going to let Europe stitch up the
clean-tech business in your doorstep markets of Asia or are you going
to be dominant players?’
