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  • From: Robyn Francis <erda@nor.com.au>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] permacultural investing
  • Date: Sun, 04 Jan 2004 08:10:41 +1100

Title: Re: [permaculture] permacultural investing
Great to see you flagging the SRI topic Michael.
In Australia we call it Ethical Investment and permaculture was pretty much responsible for getting this off the ground over here with a series of Earthbank Conferences in the mid 1980’s. I recently had an ethical investment advisor doing a PDC here, she was doing the course because she’s writing a book on Ethical Investment in Australia and was curious as to its connection with permaculture, particularly because what is now Australia’s largest EI trust was a permaculture initiative and the first EI fund to be set up in the country. The International Permaculture Journal used to have an Earthbank section with regular updates on EI, SRI and community economics and I’ve been missing this over recent years.

I thought you might be interested to know that in March 2004 there will be legislation passed in Australia requiring all companies and investment funds with a registered prospectus to declare their ethics or lack thereof, they will need to state clearly up front whether they do or do not take into account ethical considerations such as the environment and social factors in their activities or portfolios. This is a most positive move coming from the top end and will prompt more people to think a lot more seriously about whether their money is perpetuating the problems or building a better world. EI is also growing rapidly in Australia and the returns are consistently above average. My EI advisor guest said that the new phenomena is the number of people coming into EI (SRI) for economic reasons rather than warm fuzzy ones, though she declares the warm fuzzy factor soon makes it’s mark on the economic rationalists and they end up quite passionate about the feel good factor.
It’s definitely a growing concern and the bigger it grows the more impact it will have in mainstream thinking and business.
Robyn Francis

 www.earthwise.org.au
 www. Permaculture.com.au

On 4/1/04 12:54 PM, "Michael Kramer" <MKramer@hawaii.rr.com> wrote:

A lot of people ask me about the relationship between my work as a permaculture teacher trainer and my profession as a socially responsible investment (SRI) advisor. Aside from the fact the SRI is one of the topics included in the invisible structures component of the basic design course, there hasn't been a whole lot of attention within the permacultural community towards money. Of course, we do have the Permaculture Credit Union, which is an astounding accomplishment, but I see that more as a Zone 1-3 strategy, a way to circulate capital amongst like-minded folks towards more sustainable ends, such as greener car and home loans and permacultural small business enterprises. As a Zone 4-5 strategy, SRI offers the opportunity to influence the wider economy by redirecting resources away from degenerative sectors of the economy, such as polluters, oil, the military-industrial complex, and sweatshops while supporting more regenerative activities such as organic food, biodegradable products, and renewable energy. As permaculturists, I hope we see the value of participating in all the zones of influence, for money is clearly a tool we can use to hold corporations accountable. The days of protests, boycotts and lawsuits as our only recourse are over - now we can own companies and try to change them from the inside or conversely support the competition if they choose to embrace better practices and products. Little by little, we can change capitalism so it reflect more of our permacultural values. It will take time, and certainly there is plenty of compromise along the way, but the trend is encouraging: 11% of managed money in the stock market is now socially screened, so we're not talking about small potatoes or fringe people anymore; it's mainstream. There are 200 SRI mutual funds and $2.3 trillion invested in better companies and/or community development financial institutions (including the assets of the Permaculture Credit Union). These are exciting times; all the corporate scandals are giving rise to far greater ethical considerations in the rules that govern corporations, which is what's been needed for generations. So with crisis there is opportunity, and I encourage any and all permaculturists to put their money where their values are and join the movement to transform the economy.

Peace,

Michael

-----
Michael Kramer
Natural Investment Services
P.O. Box 390595
Keauhou, HI 96739
Michael@NaturalInvesting.com
www.NaturalInvesting.com <http://www.NaturalInvesting.com>
888-779-1500

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
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