Invest Your Values

“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.” – Mahatma Gandhi

What is an inclusive society? An inclusive society is where everybody is treated equally, while being able to access the means to make decisions and to participate in society regardless of their race, gender, sexuality, age, and disability. Building an inclusive world is about ensuring that every man, woman, and child is entitled to be treated with respect and dignity. Diversity is not just about where a person comes from, but everything that contributes to making a person a unique individual. In this new, more inclusive world, it will be important for us to embrace diversity and build a sense of belonging for all. In so doing, we can create a happier world with thriving societies.

“All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and therefore we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean and when we go back to the sea whether it is to sail or to watch it—we are going back to whence we came.” – JFK

The ocean covers nearly three quarters of our planet. Oceans play a central role in the health of the world’s ecosystem and provide countless benefits to our planet and the earth’s creatures. Its waters assist in the regulation of global chemistry and climate, and are home to more than 2 million species of fish. Food harvested from our seas feeds more than 4 billion people. We must act today to protect our ocean and marine habitats through the safeguarding of biodiversity, maintaining ecosystem stability, and reducing negative impacts like overfishing and pollution. 

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw

“The Earth will not continue to offer its harvest, except with faithful stewardship. We cannot say we love the land and then take steps to destroy it for use by future generations.“ – John Paul II

Our one and only planet’s bio systems and human beings are becoming ever more interconnected. A growing population with ever greater demand for goods and a more comfortable life drive systemic change. The current unsustainable production and consumption patterns, if continued, strain planetary resources to the breaking point. Unless we change course, we will be less able to move people out of poverty and we’ll face growing tensions around inequality, as well as ecological impacts that will threaten our very survival.

The math of the planet is simple: as the population grows from 7 billion people to 9 billion, we are currently using the equivalent of one-and-one-half of our planets’ worth of resources each year to produce the goods and services today’s lifestyles demand” Every day we depend on biodiversity to keep us alive and healthy. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the foods we eat, and the medications we take are all by products of a healthy planet. 

“Fortunately, nature is amazingly resilient: places we have destroyed, given time and help, can once again support life, and endangered species can be given a second chance. And there is a growing number of people, especially young people, who are aware of these problems, and are fighting for the survival of our only home, Planet Earth.” – Jane Goodall

“From butterflies to bears, from turtles to Tasmanian devils; all living things deserve to live and stay wild”. – Jane Goodall

There exists a vital relationship between people and animals. A sustainable future for our planet can only be achieved if both animals and humans are a part of the solution. As human population grows from almost 8 billion to 11 billion by 2100, Earth’s ecosystems and wildlife habitats will become even more strained. The intersection between man and wildlife generated the COVID pandemic which caused the loss of millions of lives. 

By protecting animals and associated habitats, we improve biodiversity. We depend on this for our our food and water, while enabling medicines for curing illness and producing the oxygen which we breathe. Biodiversity is crucial for our health and even ability to survive.

“We need government and business to work together for the benefit of everyone. It should no longer be just about typical “corporate social responsibility” where the “responsibility” bit is usually the realm of a small team buried in the basement office – now it should be about every single person in a business taking responsibility to make a difference in everything they do, at work, and in their personal lives.” Richard Branson

Financial markets work best with healthy regulation which provides transparency, liquidity, effective price discovery, and open access. The combination of great businesses and well-functioning financial markets does more than reduce the opportunities for corruption, society is strengthened, and sustainable wealth is created for everyone.