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Centered on Sustainability: The Future of Global Business

Despite the constant stream of negative news, with stories of uncertainty and anxiety broadcasted every single day, the world is arguably in a much better position than it has ever been before. Billions of people around the world have been lifted from extreme poverty and enjoy better access to healthcare, technology and professional opportunities. Global progress and innovation has become a daily occurrence, and yet some people are still being left behind.

While wealth and prosperity have increased across nations, groups are becoming divided within nations. Rising income inequality has become a major driver of social unrest and technological innovation is making matters worse by displacing more jobs.…

The Desperate Need to Prevent Antimicrobial Resistance

On August 25, 2016, the Washoe County Health District in Reno, Nevada, was notified of a patient at an acute care hospital with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) that was resistant to all (26) available antimicrobial drugs. The patient was a female Washoe County resident in her 70s who had recently arrived back to the United States after an extended visit to India. The patient developed septic shock and died in early September.

One of the greatest threats to global health today, antimicrobial resistance causes 700,000 deaths per year by comprising the effective prevention and treatment of an ever increasing range of infections.…

Welcoming the Age of Renewable Energy

.“It is clear [that] the transition to a clean energy future is inevitable, beneficial and well underway, and that investors have a key role to play.”

Ban Ki-moon, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations

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Over $300 billion was spent on renewable energy initiatives in 2016 alone. This is a profound indication that global leaders and businesses are recognizing the dangerous impact fossil fuel energy production has on our environment, while also appreciating the great financial opportunity that exists in clean and renewable alternatives.

Every 24 hours, the burning of fossil fuels for 85% of the energy that powers the Earth spews 90 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into our atmosphere.…

Protecting Bees for Financial Prosperity

Ecosystems consist of complex, interconnected systems wherein any change in environmental health will be expressed across a variety of vulnerable species. Honey bees and other pollinators are one example. These creatures offer valuable services to our environment and even to our global economy. An estimated ¾ of global crop species, ranging from apples to onions, rely on pollination by bees and other beneficial insects, contributing $18 billion to agriculture in the United States alone.

Bees are one of many animals, including birds, bats and butterflies, which transfer pollen and seeds from one flower to another, fertilizing plants so they can grow and produce food.…

A Global Financial Landscape Ideal for Alternative Assets

The world’s social and economic challenges are well known, ranging from rising populations, massive resource consumption, unprecedented debt levels as well as slowing global economic growth. Only now are they starting to have an impact on the economy as the conditions that led to the three decades of impressive returns are beginning to show signs of weakness. This is why organizations that deal with sustainable solutions to these problems offer long-term investors welcome relief.

The environment of low interest rates and excess capital brought on by $12 trillion in quantitative easing programs over the past eight years has fueled the appetite for risk when hunting for investment returns.…

Rising Demand, Limited Supply and the Need to Feed the World

Every single day 230,000 people are added to our global population. That’s an extra 83 million people every year and over one billion added every 12 years. Sustaining the needs of a global population that has tripled in the last century alone is one of the major challenges of mankind.

The United Nations continues to revise its population forecasts upwards; the latest revision suggests that by 2050 the world’s population will reach up to 10 billion. This increase in demand will require a 70% expansion in global food production at a time when the availability of farmland is shrinking worldwide and crop yield growth is in decline.…

An Investment Strategy Based on Risk, Return and Impact

For the first time in history, social responsibility and sustainability initiatives are being demanded from the people rather than their politicians. The appetite for sustainable solutions is higher than it has ever been before. Society is no longer prepared to allow the damaging and unsustainable practices that degrade our earth. They are instead opting for strategies that maximize all forms of capital, including social, environmental and financial, in order to ensure a safe and lucrative future for all of mankind.

Socially responsible investing is the practice of considering both financial return and social good in investment decisions by relying on the power of the investor to influence the market through choosing projects that have a positive global impact.…