What do you think of green and social bonds?
There has been a boom in ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) investing, specifically green and social bonds as well as sustainability-linked bonds.
The Swiss government announced it will be launching a green bond this year and several Swiss companies including Novartis and Holcim have launched sustainability-linked bonds tied to targets.
Some people see these as a way to funnel more money to address climate change and other societal challenges. Critics argue that it’s too difficult to measure and there’s a risk of “greenwashing”. What do you think? Do you think this is the future of investing? Do you consider social and environmental issues in the way you invest?
From the article Can Novartis’s sustainability-linked bond make good on its promises?
From the article ESG bonds and their use cases explained
Investors invest money to get a decent profit. Anything else is, in my humble opinion, just marketing.
Social and green issues are best dealt by the government. They exists exactly for that reason, to tackle issues that affect our entire society but that no private person can hope to effectively face alone.
Better small than nothing at all.
More external governance should be implemented to audit the books and results.
Most investors put money aside to feel secure in the future. If the act of 'putting money aside' itself is harming the existence of that future, there is clearly a flaw in the plan.
It's easy to be cynical. If you don't believe in ESG, it's possible to actively take part through organisations like shareaction.org or follow-this.org.
They say that 'green' is the colour of hope...Frankly, I am extremely skeptical - too many broken promisses for the sake of financial gains.
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