| COLUMN
In January this year, Robeco started a $ 200 million
sustainable private equity fund of funds. This is a major milestone
in creating more capital for a sustainable economy. Personally,
I believe this is the first of a great deal of new funds and funds
of funds devoted to sustainable private equity.
Many drivers are pushing this development. The quality of the projects
has improved. The management offering these investments is better.
The demand for innovation and investments in energy, water, transportation,
food, health, and waste management is vast. One of the most important
aspects is related to money flows. I think that the pressure on
pension funds to achieve returns will be substantial in the next
5-10 years, due to the aging population and people reaching retirement
age. This will result in less money available for public equity
investment, which will force pension funds to find higher yields.
Private equity has historically outperformed public equity.
This could be a boom for private equity and particularly
those growth industries of energy, water, food, health, transportation,
and waste management which have been taking a more sustainable focus,
lately.
What a great way to start the year.
Robert Rubinstein
Brooklyn Bridge
"Believe. No pessimist ever discovered the secrets
of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened
a new heaven to the human spirit."
-- Helen Keller
NEWS
Global
Warming Insurance Claims Grew to $60 Billion in 2003
Industry
Coalition Launches National Fuel-Cell Bus Initiative
Reputation
Risk: Shareowner Resolution Calls Costco on Cultural Crimes
German
Government Adopts New Legislation for Renewable Energy
UK
Banks Must Stop Undermining Green Guidelines
Restatements
of Annual Filings Continue to Rise
Bank
Creates Lending System to Promote Eco-Friendly Management
CDM Credit Investment Vehicle Launched
Ukrainian
Parliament Ratifies Kyoto Protocol
Carbon
Market Worth •400 Billion In 2004
CONFERENCES
Environmental
Finance: Carbon Finance 2004
A comprehensive overview of carbon markets, credits and trading
systems. London, 24-25 February,Toronto 9-10 March.
CERES 2004 Conference:
Critical Decisions for Lasting Prosperity - April 14 & 15 2004,Boston
ANPAD,
The Brazilian Academy of Management, Business, and Administrative
Sciences
September 25-29, 2004 Curitiba, Brazil.
The deadline for submissions is April 28th, 2004.
Perspectives and Issues for Socially
Responsible Investment
Monday, 1 March 2004,Waipuna Hotel & Conference Centre, Auckland
Investors' Circle
West Coast Venture Fair
April 28th: Oakland City Hall,Oakland, CA
14th annual International
Corporate Citizenship Conference
MARGINS TO MAINSTREAM: INTEGRATING CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP INTO THE
BUSINESS CORE
March 28-30, 2004-The Palace Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Business
Action Learning Event - Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) Communications for Business Results
24 & 25 Feb. 2004, London, UK,Bankside House, London School
of Economics
Ethical Corporation
Magazine: Managing Corporate Responsibility Programmes in China
March 30 - 31 in London

Brooklyn Bridge offers a comprehensive range of strategic consulting
services to financial institutions, non-governmental organizations,
government, corporations and new business ventures interested in
developing and enhancing their triple bottom line profile. The services
that we offer include:
—Investment Product Development and Marketing
—Organizational Triple Bottom Line Assessment
—Strategic Sustainability Planning and Implementation Assistance
—Alliance Development and Networking
—Stakeholder Identification and Development
—Business Venture Fundraising
Our consulting services can be combined with the TBLI Academy,
Expert Meetings and Lectures for a complete sustainable business
and finance solution to help your organization tap into its Triple
Bottom Line potential.
Contact Robert Earhart
for more information .
|
TBLI
2004 will take place on November 11-12, 2004 in Amsterdam.
Second Call for Presentations. 40% of program has been
filled.
For those who would like to participate
in one of the TBLI 2004 Conference workshops as a trainer/presenter,
or if you have suggestions for (workshop) themes or issues, please
send your proposal robert@tbli.org
. Choices will be made according to the following criteria:
— Speaker has not presented at a prior TBLI conference;
— Proposal will provide a clear learning experience for attendees;
— Information being presented is new, relevant, and innovative;
— Presentation along with bio and photo will be sent to Brooklyn
Bridge no later than 6 weeks prior to the conference.
— The deadline for proposals is March 15, 2004. The program
will be finalized in May 2004.
Visit our web site www.tbli.org
for regular updates.
Sponsors
If you would like to be a corporate or a network
sponsor, or if you would like to reserve an exhibition booth, please
send an email to robert@tbli.org
or visit www.tbli.org for sponsorship
details.

CD-ROM
TBLI Conference 2003
If you were unable to attend TBLI 2003 or previous
events and would like to receive all the
presentations, acv's, and quick time video(s) of the event, visit
the TBLI
CD-Rom order page. The price is €119, (including VAT 19%,
and postage).
For more information please visit the TBLI
Web site. |