Ethical investing and green procurement

Concepts such as ethical investments are likely to be low on the agenda of senior management but in recent years there has been a flurry of proposals, strategies, suggestions etc. that their investments should be linked with 

In 2001 the FTSE4Good index was launched internationally with the aim of showing potential investors the most ethical companies based on a range of criteria. There have been some criticisms of the basis of the index and the presence or absence of certain companies. The criteria used to compare companies on the index include  

However limited the uptake at present, this is clearly a political initiative that is unlikely to disappear. Their Internet site is being updated regularly and extended to cover different parts of the world. 

Life Cycle Assessment and Design for Environment principles are still comparatively new concepts and can have widely variable and unpredictable outcomes. In the competitive real world, few companies can produce sufficient environmentdly-friendly products at a cost that would sell in sufficient numbers to make them profitable or sustainable. 

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