Social, environmental and ethical issues
Charities may wish to incorporate a wide range of social, environmental and ethical issues into their investments.
This section provides a guide to some of the most common issues considered by charity investors. It will help you to understand the issues and why and how they could be incorporated into investments.
The issues that a charity considers will depend upon its values and activities. The legal issues page explains why it is important for a charity to carefully consider which issues are most relevant and appropriate.
You may be able to help charities decide on the issues that they should consider in their investments.
The following list provides a menu of issues that charities could consider. It is not an exhaustive list or a suggestion that charities include all of the following in their investment decisions.
Faith-based charities are likely to have particular issues of concern, the majority of which are covered in the list below. More information about faith-based investing can be found in What’s right for your charity.
Charities and fund managers that are approaching Responsible Investment from the perspective of social, environmental, ethical or governance risk management may wish to pay particular attention to issues such as environment, human rights or corporate ethics. They may be especially concerned about companies which have a high exposure to such areas and seek to understand how these companies will manage and mitigate the resulting risks in order to better safeguard longer term investments.
Animals
Animal testing
Fur
Intensive farming and meat saleCorporate ethics
Bribery and corruption
Codes of ethics
SEE Risk Management
Women on the boardDeveloping Countries
Commodity extraction
Debt
Breast milk substitutes
Access to medicines
Tobacco marketingEnvironment
Biodiversity
Chemicals of concern
Climate change and greenhouse gases
Environmental management, policy, reporting and performance
Mining and quarrying
Nuclear power
Pollution
Sustainable timber
Water pollutionPeople
Community Involvement
Equal Opportunities
Health and Safety
Relationships with customers and suppliers
Supply chains
Trade unions
Training and developmentPositive products and services
Other ethical issues
Alcohol
Contraception and abortion
Gambling
Pornography and adult entertainment services
Tobacco
