Investment Debates: What’s in the News
January 26, 2007 | No Comments
Controversy Over Ethical Investing Highlights Greengrants Grantees
In recent weeks, the Los Angeles times ran a series of articles scrutinizing the investment choices of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The authors highlight potential condradictions between the disease-fighting work of the foundation in Africa and how the foundation invests in companies that may contribute to the deterioration of environmental health quality in the region. For full text of the article that discusses the work in Africa, click here.
The second article in the LA Times series highlights domestic contradictions with investments. Click here.
Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation staff have publicly defended their investment choices, stating that the foundation should focus on grantmaking practices. Click here.
For full text of the response directly from Bill Gates, click here.
The Wallstreet Journal also recently published an article titled, “What Should Bill Gates Do?” (1/26/07). To access this article, please go directly to their website, online.wsj.com; this is a subscription-only service.
While the topic of mission-related investing has gained greater recognition in mainstream media, it is still considered controversial.
We at Global Greengrants Fund have the unique perspective of partnering with those who work in the very region that the recent articles highlight. Whatever your own perspective, we thought that readers might benefit from more stories from the field.
Greengrants has made a series of grants in the Niger Delta. For a profile on a campaign against gas flaring, click here.
For a profile on an important legal victory thanks to grassroots organizations in Cross River State, click here.
For a profile on Greengrants grantee Odigha Odigha, from Nigeria and winner of a prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, click here.
National Geographic portrays the impacts of oil and gas development in Nigeria’s Niger Delta in their February 2007 edition. Click here.
Greengrants has also made grants in South Durban, South Africa, related to environmental health issues covered in the LA Times article. For a profile on one of them, click here.
We remain committed to the voices and needs of people who are seeding hope for their futures around the developing world and we welcome heightened awareness in the mainstream media about their struggles. Please call or email anytime to discuss this topic further.