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12 - Sustainable Landscape Investment

A Framework for Governance of Institutional Investment in the Forestry Sector

from Part II - Tools to Address Wicked Problems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2020

By
David Brand ,
MaryKate Bullen  and
Radha Kuppalli
Edited by
William Nikolakis  and
John L. Innes
William Nikolakis
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
John L. Innes
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
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Summary

Institutional investment in forestry has now exceeded US$100 billion, much of this in the United States. Many large institutional investors are considered ‘universal owners’ because they own a portion of all sectors, geographies and markets of the global economy through their investment portfolios. These large investors increasingly acknowledge that negative environmental and social externalities pose material risks to their long-term investments, with many beginning to consider the alignment of their portfolios with internationally agreed objectives on climate change and sustainable development. Efforts to measure and monitor ESG (environmental, social, governance) performance of forestry investments are now well established. We propose a framework of criteria to assess landscape-scale outcomes from forestry investment activities which we call Sustainable Landscape Investment. This framework can help address wicked forestry problems and the often-competing demands of investors, local communities, governments and NGOs.

Keywords

Sustainable landscape investmentForestry investmentEnvironmentalSocial and Governance criteria (ESG)Responsible investingUniversal owners
Type
Chapter
Information
The Wicked Problem of Forest Policy
A Multidisciplinary Approach to Sustainability in Forest Landscapes
 , pp. 328 - 353
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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