Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 02/2009

Responsible investment: a force for poverty alleviation

Rory Sullivan, Helena Viñes Fiestas

November 2008

Oxfam Publishing

Abstract

The unprecedented turmoil in the world's financial markets has resulted in a significant loss of trust in the global financial system. Financial institutions and the market as a whole have been criticised for short-termism, for lacking transparency, and for not being properly accountable to regulators or to wider society. The credit crisis has also raised wider questions about the proper role of investors in society, both in terms of the specific investments that they make and the manner in which they use their influence to ensure that the positive social and environmental impacts of their investment activities are maximised, and the negative impacts minimised.