November 22, 2005: Goldman Sachs spells out eco-friendly policy

On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs Group officially became green.

The big investment banking firm just announced a policy that details how its 24,000 employees - be they bankers, analysts or purchasing agents - should promote activities that protect forests and guard against climate change.

Goldman, which counts paper companies, refiners and car companies among its clients, stopped short of saying it would reject clients with iffy environmental practices. Instead, it said it would "encourage" clients in "environmentally sensitive" areas to use "appropriate safeguards."

It committed to investing $1 billion in projects that generate energy from sources other than oil and gas. And it strongly endorsed stringent federal regulation.

Goldman said it would establish a Center for Environmental Markets to study how the free-market system can solve environmental problems.

Henry Paulson Jr., Goldman's chairman, said that the center, which will cost $5 million to set up and will be running within six months, will help shape public policy.

"We don't have a lot more time to deal with climate change," said Paulson, an outspoken environmentalist who is also chairman of the Nature Conservancy. "We need the right balance between regulation and market-based approaches."

Goldman is not the first financial services firm to adopt an environmental policy. In response to a 2003 campaign led by the Rainforest Action Network, more than 30 commercial banks signed on to the Equator Principles, which call for them to assess environmental risk before financing any project.

This year, J.P. Morgan Chase set out strict environmental dos and don'ts for each part of its business. And Merrill Lynch now includes environmental issues in the due-diligence checklist its bankers use before underwriting stock issues.

But environmental advocates say that the Goldman policy keeps going where the others leave off.

"They are spending intellectual capital and energy on finding market-based solutions to environmental problems," said Michelle Chan-Fishel, program manager for green investments at Friends of the Earth.

Goldman, which already owns wind farms and power plants and recently contributed land for a protected forest in Chile, has also set such quantifiable goals as reducing greenhouse gases from its office buildings by 7 percent by 2012 and developing uniform green building standards for all of its properties. It has pledged to increase its activities in carbon trading, a system in which companies are granted the right to emit set quantities of carbon dioxide, and can sell the rights if they emit less than allowed. And it has committed its equity research department to do extensive environmental studies.

On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs Group officially became green.

The big investment banking firm just announced a policy that details how its 24,000 employees - be they bankers, analysts or purchasing agents - should promote activities that protect forests and guard against climate change.

Goldman, which counts paper companies, refiners and car companies among its clients, stopped short of saying it would reject clients with iffy environmental practices. Instead, it said it would "encourage" clients in "environmentally sensitive" areas to use "appropriate safeguards."

It committed to investing $1 billion in projects that generate energy from sources other than oil and gas. And it strongly endorsed stringent federal regulation.

Goldman said it would establish a Center for Environmental Markets to study how the free-market system can solve environmental problems.

Henry Paulson Jr., Goldman's chairman, said that the center, which will cost $5 million to set up and will be running within six months, will help shape public policy.

"We don't have a lot more time to deal with climate change," said Paulson, an outspoken environmentalist who is also chairman of the Nature Conservancy. "We need the right balance between regulation and market-based approaches."

Goldman is not the first financial services firm to adopt an environmental policy. In response to a 2003 campaign led by the Rainforest Action Network, more than 30 commercial banks signed on to the Equator Principles, which call for them to assess environmental risk before financing any project.

This year, J.P. Morgan Chase set out strict environmental dos and don'ts for each part of its business. And Merrill Lynch now includes environmental issues in the due-diligence checklist its bankers use before underwriting stock issues.

But environmental advocates say that the Goldman policy keeps going where the others leave off.

"They are spending intellectual capital and energy on finding market-based solutions to environmental problems," said Michelle Chan-Fishel, program manager for green investments at Friends of the Earth.

Goldman, which already owns wind farms and power plants and recently contributed land for a protected forest in Chile, has also set such quantifiable goals as reducing greenhouse gases from its office buildings by 7 percent by 2012 and developing uniform green building standards for all of its properties. It has pledged to increase its activities in carbon trading, a system in which companies are granted the right to emit set quantities of carbon dioxide, and can sell the rights if they emit less than allowed. And it has committed its equity research department to do extensive environmental studies.

On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs Group officially became green.

The big investment banking firm just announced a policy that details how its 24,000 employees - be they bankers, analysts or purchasing agents - should promote activities that protect forests and guard against climate change.

Goldman, which counts paper companies, refiners and car companies among its clients, stopped short of saying it would reject clients with iffy environmental practices. Instead, it said it would "encourage" clients in "environmentally sensitive" areas to use "appropriate safeguards."

It committed to investing $1 billion in projects that generate energy from sources other than oil and gas. And it strongly endorsed stringent federal regulation.

Goldman said it would establish a Center for Environmental Markets to study how the free-market system can solve environmental problems.

Henry Paulson Jr., Goldman's chairman, said that the center, which will cost $5 million to set up and will be running within six months, will help shape public policy.

"We don't have a lot more time to deal with climate change," said Paulson, an outspoken environmentalist who is also chairman of the Nature Conservancy. "We need the right balance between regulation and market-based approaches."

Goldman is not the first financial services firm to adopt an environmental policy. In response to a 2003 campaign led by the Rainforest Action Network, more than 30 commercial banks signed on to the Equator Principles, which call for them to assess environmental risk before financing any project.

This year, J.P. Morgan Chase set out strict environmental dos and don'ts for each part of its business. And Merrill Lynch now includes environmental issues in the due-diligence checklist its bankers use before underwriting stock issues.

But environmental advocates say that the Goldman policy keeps going where the others leave off.

"They are spending intellectual capital and energy on finding market-based solutions to environmental problems," said Michelle Chan-Fishel, program manager for green investments at Friends of the Earth.

Goldman, which already owns wind farms and power plants and recently contributed land for a protected forest in Chile, has also set such quantifiable goals as reducing greenhouse gases from its office buildings by 7 percent by 2012 and developing uniform green building standards for all of its properties. It has pledged to increase its activities in carbon trading, a system in which companies are granted the right to emit set quantities of carbon dioxide, and can sell the rights if they emit less than allowed. And it has committed its equity research department to do extensive environmental studies.

Topic(s): climate news, Energy News, Forestry News, More Enviro News, parks and wilderness news, Sustainable Business

Posted By EcoBC

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