Cleaner Production International LLC

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See the Greatest Hits section for a full collection of the best publications on this topic,
all available on CDROM.

Finance and Cleaner Production

Major Initiatives    Resources and LInks    Important Articles    Socially Responsible Investment

The Finance sector is very important for the promotion of Cleaner Production.  Managers in industry are strongly influenced by the concerns of their bankers and investors, so helping these groups understand and promote CP is important to its widespread adoption.  CP reduces risk and increases profitability so it is valuable for bankers and investors.

Good cost management is the basis for good financial support for CP.  See the Accounting Tools page for more information on Accounting and Financial Analysis for CP.

Major Financial Sector Initiatives Related to Cleaner Production

• The UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative is the leading international initiative on sustainable development and the finance sector.   It has programs for banking and insurance with working groups on subjects such as climate change.  It also includes an environmental management guide for bankers and investment professionals.  Proceedings of the annual international conferences of the Initiative are also available.
  
  

• The UN also has a program on Financing Cleaner Production Investments.  It includes a significant package of training materials on CP accounting, project financial analysis, and CP education for bankers.  It also offers a directory on Cleaner Production:   Institutions Promoting Investment and Financing.
  
  

• The Sustainable Alternatives Network promotes investment in alternative technologies that promote sustainability.  It has resources for project planning and financing, case studies, contacts for experts and more.
  
  

• The Technology Developer's Resource Guide is an online assistance tool to help entrepreneurs develop their technologies and obtain financing.
  
  

• The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has a project on the Financial Sector led by major European financial institutions.  The WBSCD also offers a number of reports about investment and finance, including the pioneering report, Environmental Performance and Shareholder Value, and book, Financing change: the financial community, eco-efficiency and sustainable development.
  
  

• The International Finance Corporationīs Sustainable Financial Markets Facility is a strategic technical assistance program focusing on the environmental and social aspects of finance and investment in the emerging markets.
  
  

• The Environmental Finance Program at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides financial technical assistance to the regulated community and advice and recommendations to the Agency on environmental finance issues, trends, and options.  It includes a network of Environmental Finance Centers that offer their own publications and activities, and an extensive database of articles and resources on environmental finance.  EPA publishes A Guidebook of Financial Tools: Paying for Sustainable Environmental Systems which includes a chapter on pollution prevention and recycling.

Resources and Links

• The FORGE Group represents eight major UK financial institutions. They have developed "Guidelines on Environmental Management and Reporting for the Financial Services Sector”.
  
  

• The BSDGlobal site has a significant section on sustainable banking and investment with case studies, resources, trends, drivers, and sustainable lending policies.
  
  

• The Earth Summit addresses Sustainable Finance with major reports and many links to related institutions.
  
  

• One of the most important regular conferences for the financial sector and sustainability is the Triple Bottom Line Investing Conference in Rotterdam.  Proceedings are available by order.
  
  

• The Environmental Bankers Association promotes environmental awareness in banking and has articles, links and meetings.
  
  

• Environmental Finance magazine covers this topic with an emphasis on emissions trading and new markets for carbon credits, and also coverage of investment and lending.
  
  

• Sustainability in Finance is a website about the book of the same name, with reviews and links to other books on this topic.

Important Articles

The links below are to good articles about financing CP and environmental technology.  Also see the UNEP site on Financing CP.

• Pollution Prevention and Profitability:  A Primer for Lenders presents two brief case studies examining how commercial bank loan officers view the pollution prevention aspects of capital improvement projects involving debt financing.
  
  
• Small Business Lending:   Barriers and Trends assesses recent chages in lending practices that promise to increase the overall availability of credit for small businesses, and explores the implications of these changes for small firms seeking debt financing for environmentally-related purposes.
  
  
• Pollution Prevention Venture Capital:  What Investors Consider in Pollution Prevention Firms   Based on survey data, identifies the key features investors look for in seeking out prevention-oriented companies.
  
  
• Facilitating the Flow of Capital to the Pollution Prevention Industry  Based on survey data, examines the most important reasons that prevention-oriented firms fail to attract financing, and identifies roles for third parties to help companies overcome these barriers.
  
  
• Review of Environmental Risk Management at Banking Institutions and Potential Relevance of ISO 14000 served as the basis for developing an informal gathering of bankers and bank regulators to discuss the potential utility of ISO-14001-derived information to the financial community.
  
  
• Integrating Pollution Prevention with Community-Based Economic Development examines various strategies.
  

Socially Responsible Investment

Cleaner Production is one of the important criteria used in Socially Responsible Investment (SRI).  SRI is the fastest-growing sector of the financial markets.   There are now about a dozen Indexes of socially responsible companies that are used by investment companies to build portfolios.  The Dow Jones Sustainability Index is the most prominent, and their website includes the evaluation tools they use.  There are are also a number of major networks providing SRI information.

• The Social Investment Forum has information, contacts and resources on socially responsible investment in the USA.
  
  
• SocialFunds.com features over 10,000 pages of information on SRI mutual funds, community investments, corporate research, shareowner actions, and daily social investment news.
  
  
• SRI Compass is CSR Europe's online guide to socially responsible investing, featuring all the 'green' and ethical retail funds and indices in Europe.
  
  
• Sustainable Business Investor - Europe - Delivering returns on investment in sustainable businesses
  
  
• The UK Social Investment Forum has information and guides to UK resources.
  
  

• The Ethical Investor has online news and information from the USA
  
  
• Eurosif: the European Sustainable and Responsible Investment Forum is a European non-profit membership organization promoting the concept, practice and development of SRI
  
  
• The Greenmoney Journal has news and advice on sustainable investment options, published six times a year
  
  
• Goodmoney.Com has SRI information and links to lots of funds and resources.
  
  
• Sustainable Investment Research International is a coalition of 11 research organizations devoted to the global advancement of social investing