Sustainable investments ‘the answer’ to global downturn

Five trillion dollars that have been allocated to sustainable investing strategies could form the core of an economic recovery, two financial experts have predicted in a book released this week.

Cary Krosinsky, vice president of Trucost Plc, and Nick Robins, head of the HSBC Climate Change Centre for Excellence, estimate that sustainable investing funds - focused on helping the environment and promoting social justice - already total more than $5 trillion.

‘Sustainable Investing’, their new book, argues that this money could be key to the resurrection of a resilient global economy.

Sustainable investment funds significantly outperformed mainstream investments between 2003 and 2007, returning an average of 18.7%.

This is compared to returns on the FTSE 100 of 13.0%.

Nick Robins said: “As the world seeks to design strategies to stimulate an economic recovery, sustainable investing in environmental infrastructure, clean technologies, microfinance and social enterprise offer proven routes to generating wealth and resolving pressing problems such as climate change and global poverty.”

He added: “Investors are looking for strategies that offer real security over the long-term - and sustainable investing provides the answer.”