Sustainability

BP is the oil company operating the oil platform Deep Water Horizon which exploded on April 20th, 2010, killed eleven workers, and sank two days later, causing the largest oil spill in human history. Investigations for cause and responsibility of the oil spill are ongoing and when finished results will probably be messy and intransparent, given the massive lobbying efforts and the close political connections of BP to decision makers and investigators in Washington (THE INFLUENCE GAME: Can BP's connections help?, AP, May 10, 2010, sourcewatch.org). Transocean is the company building Deep Water Horizon.

I found it interesting that BP is part of the following sustainable ("socially and environmentally responsible") investment indices: DJSI STOXX, DJSI World, DJSI World 80, DJSI World ex US, DJSI World ex US 80, FTSE4GOOD Europe Index, FTSE4GOOD Global Index, FTSE4GOOD UK Index.

The following sustainable investment funds hold significant amounts of BP shares: SAM Sustainable Europe Active Fund, SGAM Fund Equities Global Environment Opportunities A, SGAM Fund Equities Europe Environment A, Parvest Europe Sustainable Development, UBS (Lux) Islamic Fund - Global Equities , SAM Sustainable Europe Fund, Pictet Funds (LUX) European Sustainable Equities - P, Dexia Sustainable Europe, Fortis L Fund Equity SRI Europe, GLG Environment Fund, MEAG Nachhaltigkeit, JPMF Global Socially Responsible Fund, LIGA-Pax-Cattolico-Union, Dexia Sustainable European Balanced High, Fortis L Fund Strategy Growth SRI Europe, Fortis L Fund Strategy Balanced SRI Europe C.

And Transocean is held by the following sustainable investment funds: terrAssisi Renten, Credit Suisse Fund (Lux) Global Responsible Equities, SUNARES - Sustainable Natural Resources. (All sources: nachhaltiges-investment.org)

These sustainable investment funds charge significant fees for making sure that only "the leading companies in terms of sustainability around the world" (Dow Jones Sustainability World Index) are invested in. I wonder if they are worth their money.