by Lynn Bliss
Individuals who want to purchase shares of environmentally responsible companies need to delve deeper than the average investor when evaluating their choices. Nearly every major U.S. company will claim it is interested in preserving the environment, but separating those that act on their convictions from those that pay lip service to being green requires perseverance.
Environmentalists say one key issue to consider is whether a company has clearly defined goals, such as reduction of global warming gases, and whether it reports regularly to investors on its progress in reducing them. Corporations that make vague statements about wanting to cut CO2 emissions but don’t set a target or timeline aren’t as committed as those that do. Investors should also take a hard look at the certification labels that some companies tout. Achieving environmental certification for a product from an independent, third-party organization is meaningful, but some industries have also developed their own watered-down certification labels that don't carry much weight among environmentalists.
"One of the things you can look at in terms
of true greenness is whether they have been truly
leaders
in their sectors. Have they found some innovative approaches
to the way business is conducted in their segment
of
the economy, and has that had a ripple effect on other
segments of the industry?" says Bruce Cabarle,
director of the global-forest program at the World
Wildlife
Fund. "I think that’s something that’s
true in the case of the Collins Companies. They were
one of the first companies in the U.S. to have their
forest management practices independently certified.
And at the time they did that, they were largely ridiculed
in the forest-products industry. Today, you’d
be hard pressed to find a forest-product company
not
in the process of getting certified by some standard.”
There are various Internet sites devoted to environmental
investing issues, but two of the best are the Social
Investment Forum 
www.socialinvest.org,
a national nonprofit that promotes socially responsible
investing, and SocialFunds.com www.socialfunds.com,
a personal-finance site devoted to socially responsible
investing. The GreenMoney Journal www.greenmoneyjournal.com
also covers environmentally responsible investment
issues
at its web site.
For investors who don't have the time or inclination
to research every stock that they own, there are mutual-fund
companies who will do the grunt work. Progressive Investment
Management's Portfolio 21 www.portfolio21.com
purchases only companies that are committed to environmental
sustainability. The New Alternatives Fund www.newalternativesfund.com
concentrates its investments in renewable energy and
the environment. Green Century Funds www.greencentury.com
invests in companies that it deems environmentally responsible,
and is considered a strong investor advocate, lobbying
shareholders to vote on issues at annual meetings ranging
from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
to the use of genetically modified ingredients in food.
ZooGoer 32(1) 2003.
Copyright 2003 Friends of the National Zoo.
All rights reserved.
