In 1968, an economist, a tax law professor, a management consultant and banker formed a group to study how money can be managed sustainably. In 1971, they launched the Triodos Foundation to use gifts and loans to support innovative projects and companies. In 1980, Triodos registered as a bank in The Netherlands and in 1990, launched the first green fund in Europe. Today, they have assets under management of over 6.7 billion euros.
Triodos says their mission is to make money work for positive social, environmental and cultural change. They achieve this in various ways: by financing the entire organic food chain, from farm to fork; by funding renewable energy over the past 25 years, with associated annual CO2 savings of over 2 million tonnes; by putting 68 million euros into arts and culture programmes; and by supporting over 80 microfinance institutions in 40 countries around the world.
Triodos is also a founding pioneer of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV), which uses finance to deliver sustainable development for unserved people, communities and the environment. In 2009, the GABV announced a commitment to raise $250 million in new capital over three years to support the expansion of $2 billion in lending to green projects and unbanked poor communities around the world. Today, GABV represents seven million customers in 20 countries, with a combined balance sheet of over $14 billion. Their aim is to positively improve the lives of one billion people by 2020.
No comments:
Post a Comment