Investors Put Their Money Where Their “Green” Resides

Sustainability issues are on the minds of investors as never before, according to the results of a new survey.

Professional services firm PWC said it interviewed investors across the U.S. to see how important issues such as climate change, resource scarcity and social responsibility were in their investment strategies.

The firm found that sustainability is increasingly important to investors. For instance, around 80% of investors in the survey said they considered these concepts in one or more investment contexts over the past year.

Eighty two percent of investors surveyed considered climate change and/or resource scarcity in future investment decisions during the past 12 months. Also, 79% considered social responsibility and/or good citizenship in their investment decisions.

Among the investors surveyed, 87% expect to consider climate change and/or resource scarcity over the next three years while 84% expect to do the same for social responsibility and/or good citizenship.

And it’s not just idealistic “little guy” investors who are pushing up these numbers: PWC said that large investors – or those with assets-under-management over $100 billion –were the most likely responders in the poll to say they will incorporate sustainability issues into their investment strategy.

Most of these investors are concerned with the risk factors in considering sustainability issues. After all, issues like climate change and resource scarcity can turn profitable companies into unprofitable ones fast, if those companies do not prepare themselves for changing global conditions.

Given these numbers, it’s not an exaggeration to say that the sustainability of companies is increasingly being tied to larger issues of global sustainability.