Sustainable Business Practices

Just as we advocate for the highest environmental sustainability practices within the companies we choose for Portfolio 21, we also recognize that we are a company with responsibilities to our employees, community and environment.

We hold ourselves to the same standards that we apply to the companies in which we invest and use our company evaluation criteria as our guide. We are informed by The Natural Step framework, which enables corporations to integrate environmental considerations intelligently, and profitably, into strategic decisions and daily operations.

Global warming is among our highest priorities. Carbon dioxide emissions are a major consideration when making business decisions; emissions that are unavoidable are offset through purchases of renewable energy or qualified carbon offsets. Portfolio 21 has been carbon neutral since 2001.

There are very few truly sustainable companies, but businesses of all sizes can benefit from bottom-line cost savings such as pollution prevention, resource-efficiency, energy efficiency, and waste reduction, as well as potentially increasing their top-line through innovative new products, increased market share, and pro-active risk management. Our experience has demonstrated that implementing a sustainability philosophy has led to both cost savings and a growing client base. Our journey toward sustainability continues to evolve; we are pleased to contribute to the best practices in this field by learning from others' experiences and to sharing the knowledge we've gained.