Al Gore - People power: using our pensions to put pressure on the City

Joanna Watson

26 March 2013

When I received an invitation to what on the face of it looked a rather dry subject 'Harnessing Capital Markets for a Sustainable World' I nearly passed it up. But then I noticed it was by Al Gore. That Al Gore. Ex-Vice President of the USA. And noted advocate of the need to take urgent action on climate change.  I was intrigued by how he would tackle this subject.

So I joined a packed audience of civil society, charity and business leaders on March 18 in the mediaeval Guildhall in the heart of the City of London. The talk was hosted by Share Action, the reincarnation of Fair Pensions. It was announced with all the pomp you'd expect in a hall of soaring pillars and stained glass, banners and statues.  I found it rather ironic that we had gathered to discuss the failing economic system of 21^st century in a building where once the ruling merchant class fine-tuned the laws and trading regulations that helped create London's wealth.

Vice President Gore's message was challenging but thought-provoking. Be active. Everyone has pensions so everyone acting together has the power to put pressure on asset managers to invest responsibly.  Be bold. We need a big strategic plan on the level of the Marshall Plan to change the way markets work and mainstream sustainable capitalism.

I enjoyed his beguiling mix of anecdote and analysis. He sketched the problems with democracy and capitalism - the increasing levels of inequality worldwide; volatility in the markets; magical thinking around valuation leading to the subprime mortgage fiasco and the distorted perspective of a system that prioritises growth as the grail and sees culture, arts and education as an expense not a benefit.

Many of us will remember Al Gore's persuasive film An Inconvenient Truth. He's not a charismatic speaker like his old running mate Bill Clinton, but he really came alive when he started talking about how we are using the atmosphere as an open sewer by assuming that carbon is an asset that can be burned. It can't.  And he made an informed reference to local London history when he referred to the first time the spread of cholera was identified as a water born disease.

In the 19^th century John Snow made a giant leap in public health and human welfare by mapping a cluster of cholera deaths in Broadwick Street, Soho and connecting them to a contaminated water pump. Like him we have to join up the dots and start holding executives responsible for the 'downstream consequences' of their investment decisions.

It was great to hear Al Gore say that it makes good business sense and that sustainably-managed companies perform better. I have done my bit by ensuring I invest in ethical investments and it's empowering to know that we should be thinking of ourselves as investors and asset owners. Charities can use the growing muscle of their investment portfolios to insist on reform. Even though "markets are functionally insane"   we could "unleash a new wave of positive change that really can save the future", Vice President Gore concluded.

"It is easier to demystify finance than climate science" he quipped. I shall follow his advice and look up the training materials and online tools that Share Action provides to help us all become expert enough to take positive action.

If you want to take action right now, please email your pension company and ask if they invest in livelihood destroying land grabs.