(UCAN): Faith-based groups along with Catholic dioceses, universities, schools, and religious congregations should align their financial activities with their faith values for sustainable development, the Laudato Si’ Movement [LSM], said in a press release on March 22.
The group, named after Pope Francis’s celebrated 2015 environmental encyclical Laudato Si’, is a global network working for climate and ecological justice released four guides aiming to ensure sustainable banking, investing, divesting, and insurance, the group
The guides were prepared in collaboration with UK-based FaithInvest, a nonprofit organisation that empowers faith-based organisations to invest in line with their values
LSM’s executive director, Tomás Insua, said the guides support the “ecological conversion” that the pope has called for.
“Laudato Si’ Movement has created these financial guides to support the ecological conversion that Pope Francis calls us to in Laudato Si’. Many have wondered how to take action on ecological economics. We hope that these guides, created with input from partners around the world, will help point the way forward,” he explained.
The financial guides take a three-part “See-Discern-Act” approach, helping equip dioceses, universities, schools, and religious to analyse and take action, LSM said.
FaithInvest chief executive, Martin Palmer, said, “Research shows major faith groups run half of the world’s schools, a quarter of its colleges and universities, and a third of its hospitals.”
He pointed out, “Collectively, they own a tenth of the world’s forests and manage billions of dollars of investments. So, what they do with their assets and investments matters.”
The guides seek to educate concerned people about sustainable outcomes.
Firstly, a better understanding of why sustainable finance is vital to “correcting models of growth which have proved incapable of ensuring respect for the environment” [Laudato Si’, 6]. Secondly, a review of current financial practices to help determine if they are supporting unethical and unsustainable businesses.
Thus, these guides seek to advise on how to move forward to a more sustainable model of banking, investing, divesting, and insurance.
They recommend establishing a committee of leaders who contribute to financial and social decisions; determining the right sustainable institution that meets their goals, with a suggested checklist to create profiles for easy comparison; making a final decision based on their process of approval; and monitoring for the long term.
However, these guides are for educational purposes only, LSM said.
“The guides do not constitute or intend to constitute investment advice or any investment service and are not a substitute for professional investment advice,” the press release added.
