Overview

"Socially Responsible Investment Law shows how to improve the environmental behavior of corporate financiers, such as banks, pension plans, and mutual funds. Normally, we associate environmental harm with the front-line companies that extract, consume, and pollute, but not the financiers that sponsor and profit from these activities. Corporate financiers are the economy's ""unseen polluters,"" and they should adopt policies and practices to avoid environmental harm that may result from their loans and capital financing investments. Benjamin Richardson proposes governance reforms to encourage Socially Responsible Investment. These include: redefining the fiduciary responsibilities of institutional investors to include the environment (specifically the precautionary principle); enhancing the strategic role of national pension funds in sustainable finance; building new forms of international cooperation for transnational financial markets; democratizing and strengthening local financing through credit unions; and, for all financiers, providing a better mix of economic incentives and informational resources for SRI."

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9780195333459

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Reviews

Richardson's book has to be applauded. It is impressively wide ranging and the arguments are both intricate and imbued throughout with first class scholarhsip. It thus provides a much needed addition to the literature and one that should certainly be used on corporate governance and corporate social and environmental reponsibility courses * David Williamson, University of Manchester, Journal of Environmental Law, 22.1 *

Building an economic system that is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable is the central ethical imperative of the 21st century. Benjamin Richardson argues that SRI has a central role to play in achieving that objective. This is a carefully reasoned and persuasive discussion that everyone concerned with the role of financial markets in encouraging sustainable development will want to read. <br> Wesley Cragg<br> Schulich School of Business, York University<br> This book superbly combines doctrinal, empirical and practical coverage, and will be appreciated well beyond those working in the law. Its broad sweep only enhances further the author's global standing in this area. <br> Donald McGillivray, University of Kent Law School<br> Benjamin Richardson's book provides critical insights into one of the least explored drivers of environmental harm and, consequently, one of the key mechanisms for environmental improvement: investment decision making. He follows the money to examine how investment decisions enable pollution and then explores the business case for socially responsible investing and proposes important reforms, including reformulation of fiduciary duties, that support an 'ethical case' for SRI. Together these provide an essential framework for, in Professor Richardson's words, 'sustaining long-term motivation for financing sustainable development.' <br> Lee Paddock <br> The George Washington University Law School<br>

Author Information

Professor Benjamin J. Richardson specializes in environmental and financial law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Canada. His previous publications include Environmental Law for Sustainability (Hart Publishing, 2006) and Environmental Justice and Market Mechanisms (Kluwer, 1999). He is a member of the IUCN Environmental Law Commission and the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law.

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