What if your personal finance decisions could help animals? What if there was a place you could trust to help you find companies to invest in that treat animals ethically? What if you could make companies more accountable?
Well good news: through carefully selected financial opportunities, investors like you have the power to act through the selection of investment strategies that influence companies to improve environmental and animal welfare standards.
Interest in sustainable, responsible and impact (SRI) investing continues to rise. And it’s no wonder. While people want to watch their money grow in the market, they do not want to invest it with corporations that don’t align with their personal beliefs.
Impact investing has the unique potential to capture the enormous power of investment capital, and use it to effect change in many important global issues, such as animal welfare and environmental protections. In its most basic terms, it means investing with your ethics in mind, to find those companies that embrace the needs of our planet.
We all have the power to make a difference. As individuals, this ability to spark reform can often feel insurmountable, but collectively we really DO hold the keys to positive change. And it all starts with building a greater awareness of exactly where our power lies, and how best to harness it for maximum impact.
“Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
Albert Einstein
HOW SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTING CAN HELP
While corporations no doubt have a significant impact on animal welfare, the laws and regulations through which companies and individuals operate are equally as important. Legislation that protects the habitats and well-being of animals is critical in ensuring long term success, holding the corporate sector accountable and developing recognized standards.
Socially responsible investing provides a link between many of these issues, attempting to mesh grassroots activism, finance, regulations, and education to influence corporate behavior and prioritize companies that improve the world.
The link between investors and these laws may seem weak at first, but understanding the regulatory environment of animal welfare can help investors make smarter buying decisions and even advocate for higher standards.
Legislation on animals can be far reaching and complex, and corporations can have significant impact on it, through lobbying, membership in interest groups, and internal government affairs departments.
Investors that understand this link can allocate their money, resources, and even activist efforts in companies that are striving to improve the lives of animals through legislation.
(FEDERAL AND STATE) LAWS OF NATURE
In the United States, the two major laws that deal with animals are the Animal Welfare Act and the Endangered Species Act, both of which together impact wild, farmed, and domesticated animals, and therefore the corporations that have exposure. These laws are a great starting point in improving biodiversity and the health of animals, but more needs to be done to ensure uniformity and increased standards in general.
These national laws are underpinned by several state and local laws, some of which are stronger than the national ones. California for example, passed a voter initiative in 2008 that required nearly twice as much space for chickens kept in cages. The law, which went into effect for all eggs sold in California in 2014, has been taken one step further in recent months with a new ballot initiative to ban cages outright.
Laws like California’s represent an important step in the right direction, but standardizing these at a national level has been lagging behind in recent years. In fact, there are actually federal actions currently taking place that would roll back some of the provisions for animal welfare, particularly on farm animals.
THE POWER OF YOUR INVESTMENT
Many corporations have extensive and influential government affairs departments within them, dedicated to lobbying at all levels of government for policies that benefit them and their shareholders. These lobbying efforts often have a significant impact on policymakers, particularly when entire industries, for better or for worse, collaborate to advance their agenda.
Although this can often be seen as a detriment to sustainability efforts, there is potential for socially conscious investors to move the needle in the right direction.
Through direct engagement with companies, particularly as shareholders, coupled with advocacy and even grassroots activism where necessary, we can begin to change the conversation and have these corporations and lobbying efforts work for us. Not only can this be used to advocate for and implement laws like those in California, but it can be used to improve laws nationally, and maybe even globally.
That’s why Karner Blue Capital is one of the first investment firms to offer a socially responsible investment strategy focused on animal welfare. As a pioneer of compassionate investing, we seek to use our strategies to influence the role of corporations in society, and help you make a difference through investing.
We take a mission-based approach that combines research and advocacy to deliver a high quality investment experience. Our products are developed with you in mind – investors passionate and motivated to make a significant impact in the lives of animals in the U.S. and around the globe. Together we can help you invest your money sustainably, and alleviate the suffering of animals.
To learn more about compassionate investing to improve animal welfare, read about our mission and our Animal Welfare Strategy.
Wayne Pacelle, author of The Humane Economy: How Innovators and Enlightened Consumers Are Transforming the Lives of Animals, is president of The Center and founder of Animal Wellness Action.