Investing in Reserva Santa Fe is a perfect example of ESG Investing (also known as “socially responsible investing,” “impact investing,” and “sustainable investing”). It refers to investing which prioritizes optimal environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors or outcomes. ESG investing is widely seen as a way of investing “sustainably”—where investments are made with consideration of the environment and human wellbeing, as well as the economy.
It is based upon the growing assumption that the financial performance of organizations is increasingly affected by environmental and social factors.
The principles of ESG investing are nothing new. Hundreds of years ago, religious and ethical beliefs influenced investment decisions. Muslims established investments that complied with Sharia law, which included prohibitions on weapons. The first ethical unit trusts in the US and UK were developed by Quakers and Methodists.
Today, the growing prominence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social sustainability has led to increased investor awareness about ethical participation in the market. ESG investing may have officially entered mainstream investing discourse following the release of the Principles for Responsible Investments (PRI) in 2006 – a set of United Nations guidelines for the incorporation of ESG factors into business policy and strategy.
The PRI have over 2,000 signatories and are widely considered the official point of reference for all things ESG investing.
The transition to a sustainable global economy requires scaling up the financing of investments such as ours that provide environmental and social benefits. The capital market through green, social and sustainability bonds as well as sustainability-linked bonds plays an essential role in attracting capital to finance these requirements.
At Reserva Santa Fe we plan to attract capital by issuing green bonds as defined by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). The Green Bond Principles (GBP), the Social Bond Principles (SBP), the Sustainability Bond Guidelines (SBG) and the Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles (SLBP) referred to as the principles mentioned above have become the leading framework globally for the issuance of sustainable bonds.
The ICMA serves as Secretariat to the Principles providing support while advising on governance and other issues. The Principles are backed by a global market initiative bringing together all market participants and stakeholders from the private and official sectors.
To assure you our bonds actually are truly green as defined by the ICMA, we are to be audited by a Climate Bonds Initiative-approved verifier. This video gives a brief explication of what climate bonds are.