Goldman Sachs Promotes Market Approach To Sustainability

The global investment banking firm has insituted an environmental policy to guide its actions and help funds a new center to develop public policy options for establishing markets around climate change, biodiversity conversation and ecosystem services.

1 minute read

December 9, 2005, 1:00 PM PST

By Brenda Meyer


"Goldman Sachs will establish and fund a Center for Environmental Markets in partnership with academia and civil society. The center will engage in research to develop public policy options for establishing markets around climate change, biodiversity conversation and ecosystem services. Recognizing that climate change cannot successfully be addressed through voluntary action alone, the firm has also committed to promote regulatory solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions."

From the Goldman Sachs policy statement:

"We recognize that as a global company we have an impact on the environment through the goods we purchase, the manufacturing and production we finance, and the investments we make. As an institution that brings providers and users of capital Goldman Sachs Environmental Policy Framework together, we believe that capital markets can and should play an important role in creating opportunities to address today's environmental challenges. Markets are particularly efficient at allocating capital and determining the appropriate prices for goods and services we purchase. The government can help the markets in this regard by establishing a strong policy framework that creates long-term value for greenhouse gas emissions reductions and consistently supports and incentivizes the development of new technologies that lead to a less carbon-intensive economy. Working with governments, the private sector can then take the lead in further developing these markets, establishing better price transparency, creating incentives for innovation, and finding cost-effective alternatives."

Wednesday, November 23, 2005 in GreenBiz.com

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