This Week in ESG and Impact Investing

We have requested the Fed, SEC, FDIC, OCC, and CFPB initiate rulemaking to create "transparency and accountability for corporate Black Lives Matter (BLM) pledges." The picture above is from  https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb iZ8MBppWI/  The Problem with Jon Stewart. For more, see:  https://www.prlog.org/12911485-creative-investment-research-requests-federal-agencies-hold-corporations-accountable-for-blm-pledges.html  

We were incorrectly cited in an article titled "THE HEIST: How can we close our racial wealth gap? by Jamie Smith Hopkins on March 22, 2022. The article made a number of false and misleading statements, including that we are "pessimistic about the odds of closing (the Black/white wealth gap) through any means because American society has so long been structured to extract wealth from Black people, not just historically but also in more recent decades through avenues like predatory lending." We are not pessimistic. We have developed several tools and written many books that show this.  See: The JOBS Act: Crowdfunding Guide to Small Businesses and Startups 2nd Edition. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MT104U1/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_N51QKTHKS32E53HZ251V  and: Thriving as a Minority-Owned Business in Corporate America: Building a Pathway to Success for Minority Entrepreneurs 1st ed.  https://www.amazon.com/dp/1484272390/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_S19RDNY2TEC17NJZHHQ5   What we are is realis

On Monday, March 21, 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved a long discussed proposal that requires "all publicly traded companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and the risks they face from climate change." The facts are clear and unambiguous: increasingly extreme weather, including unprecedented heatwaves, droughts and flooding will continue to have a material impact on business operations. Risks are growing, not falling.   As we noted in out June, 2021 comment to the SEC on climate change disclosures, we have been objectively, independently measuring the social impact of investment activities since 1989.  2002 saw the first international adoption of our approach, when we helped develop Social Performance Indicators for Banks, ( https://www.creativeinvest.com/SocialPerformanceIndicatorsfortheFinanceIndustry.pdf ) building on our work in rating women and minority owned banks. There, we specifically included  social measures that detailed and des

Bitcoin and Blockchain Bitcoin is a digital currency that operates as a decentralized authority. This means it is not government operated as other currencies, like the US dollar. Bitcoin is kept in check by blockchain, a public “ledger” that keeps records of all transactions. Bitcoin mining in the simplest of terms is people searching through transactions, verifying them and being rewarded with bitcoin for it. Since the launch of bitcoin, it has inspired many cryptocurrencies like ethereum, dogecoin, NFTs, and even virtual real estate. Stability of Bitcoin An important detail about Bitcoin is that it is backed only by those who partake in it. As opposed to the US dollar, which is backed by the government, bitcoin is backed by nothing nor is the conversion to USD 1 to 1. Other cryptos known as “stable coins” have real monetary backings. Bitcoin is fully digital and until it can become liquid, which would go against what it is as a cryptocurrency, it will not become stable. El Salvador a

The European Union has announced that by July 16, 2022, the sale of phosphate-based soils containing more than 60 mg of cadmium per kg of P2O5 will be banned. In addition, the EU has allowed companies that sell soils with a cadmium content of less than 20 mg to place a green label advertising their environmental-friendly status on their packaging. These policies underscore the EU’s growing commitment to transition to cleaner soils, free from heavy metals. This commitment to cleaner fertilizer and more environmentally friendly practices could prove to be a catalyst for the seaweed market in the EU.  Seaweed farming has existed in Asia for centuries, but now, with increasing environmentally friendliness, has slowly been gaining traction in Europe. The stricter regulations on phosphate-based fertilizers and the ability to appeal to a growing population of environmentally-conscious consumers would be a great incentive for companies to turn to fertilizers derived from seaweed.  Eucheuma fa

WASHINGTON  -  March 11, 2022  -  PRLog  -- In light of current challenges to the business environment, we have experienced a renewed focus on minority-owned small businesses. The renewed attention has also led to the development of new public and private sector datasets concerning minority owned firms, including our data on corporate pledges to Black Lives Matter. To understand the current state of minority-owned small businesses and the challenges they face. Creative Investment is pleased to announce that we have published an update with the latest minority-owned small business data. We have also outlined data-informed policy proposals that would benefit this sector of the small business community. Some of our findings include: 1. "Lower profit margins among Black- and Hispanic-owned businesses implies less earnings available to reinvest in the firm or save for emergencies."  Policies that increase profit margins for minority firms, like tax rebates, are critical. 2. Accord

Above: Spiral graph showing monthly global temperature anomalies between the years 1880-2021  designed by climate scientist Ed Hawkins from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading. The consequences of dramatic human-driven climate change are familiar to us all and are more and more becoming a part of everyday life and everyday dialogue. My home state of Utah is known internationally as having the “greatest snow on Earth.” Over my lifetime, I have watched the Great Salt Lake and our world-famous snowpack diminish. Everyone has been touched in some way or another by drastic weather events and rising global temperatures, and yet shockingly little is being done to prevent or even mitigate them. In late 2021, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a guide for very large banks on how to manage the risks associated with climate change. These principles included consistent monitoring and reporting of information, strategic planning—overall, try