Financing Change

Stephan Schmidheiny, co-author of the book, "Changing Course: A Global Business Perspective on Development and the Environment", joins Federico J.L. Zorraquin and the other 123 members of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in taking a close look at whether the workings of financial markets (stocks, bonds, banks, and insurance companies) do, or should, support sustainable development. There is reason to believe that financial markets, in pursuit of short-term goals, undervalue environmental resources, discount the future, and favour accounting and reporting systems that do not reflect environmental risks and opportunities.

Companies outside the financial sector that use natural resources and cause pollution have had to grapple with environment and sustainability issues longer than those companies in the financial community. It may now be the financial sector's turn to face the threat of various types of environment-related liabilities. Largely descriptive rather that prescriptive, "Financing Change" examines questions that should become increasingly important as populations burgeon and the developing countries enter financial markets.

It examines these issues in separate chapters covering the viewpoints of the financial market participants: company directors, investors and analysts, bankers, insurers, accountants and raters.