This decision stems from Ofcom’s decision  that the Greens are not a major party. Surely this must be contested.

This decision was made by Ofcom following their consultation, which looked at potential General Election support based on previous election results and future potential. As far as previous general elections are concerned it can be argued that the Greens have fallen well behind the 3 traditional parties, but that, of course applies to UKIP also. Surely what is more significant is the trend over the last few years. According to the YouGov Poll the Greens now have support from 8% of the voting population compared with a 1% figure back in 2010. More importantly they have overtaken the Lib Dems in the polls. They also secured a greater return in last year’s European Elections than the Liberal Democrats.  Arguably the Greens are almost making their biggest impression with the younger generation, an audience which is critical to the future support of our political system.

So whatever his particular motives are David Cameron is right in requesting that the Greens are included. Treating our environment with the care it deserves is just as important an issue as immigration control and our position in Europe and the statistics support this. This is a view also supported by the Guardian, Telegraph and You tube as well as a number of prominent figures in the political establishment.

Whatever the outcome the reluctance to include a growing green movement on the main debating floor only raises people’s awareness of the narrow view held by the mainstream parties and the failing political system that this represents.

The Non SRI  Market starts to take note with regard tobacco stocks.

Over recent months I have seen a number articles from SRI fund managers querying the financial future of tobacco stocks indicating ,perhaps , the start of the real decline in these unwanted commercial giants.

However I still sense there is a whiff of scepticism amongst the wider investing public that somehow whatever is thrown at the industry it will survive as a good old defensive stock that will always hold up when economies get sticky.

Perhaps however the tide is finally turning. Below is an article from Stephen Bailey , analyst with the fund group Liontrust. Liontrust have no bias towards SRI, and as far as I know have never been mentioned as being remotely interested in this area.

Yet the article clearly explains why holdings in British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco were sold in November 2012. Simply put hard qualitative analysis showed that political, social and economic factors are now major challenges for these organisations. In particular these are challenges are being set in the very emerging markets where these organisations have set out their stall. There is also a recognition that the market has not fully valued in these potential long term problems.

These kind of articles are great endorsements for the SRI industry and show that many SRI analysts have been ahead of the curve on this.

Source: www.liontrust.co.uk

The event attracted like-minded individuals from organisations with an interest in the Isle of Man’s fund industry, fund products and associated services.

Listen to a recording of a radio interview from IOM radio in which Richard talks about salient points of his speech.

Event gallery

In addition to the Euro-scepticism that has resulted from the recent elections I am also detecting a strong hint of complacency with regards to Decarbonisation , and ultimately sustainability of our planet.

In a recent Guardian article (see below) it appears that Energy UK, the trade association representing many of the big energy companies, have been lobbying hard to relax decarbonisation and renewable targets. Specifically the head of the group, Angela Knight, says it is time to move away from “an emotion driven and expensive [energy] agenda”.

This in itself is an interesting statement. Certainly cost issues are still a challenge to the successful growth in decarbonisation. The article refers to an Ernst and Young survey that says attractiveness of renewables to investors and developers in the Uk has tailed off over the last 18 months. Whilst, to some extent, this is true the report seems to confirm that much of this loss of faith has resulted from the uncertainty of the market. For example it points out that infrastructure support for renewables has been affected by the uncertainty surrounding the ‘Contracts for Difference’ pricing introduced under the Energy Market Reform.

However it tempers this by stating that technology costs are still coming down and providing plenty of incentives. It also states that other parts of the world are building frameworks that are much more supportive of low carbon energy production.

Therefore I am concerned that certain language is pointing to a dangerous ease off, playing on the populist agenda. In other words it’s a quick win to ease off on our de-carbonisation targets and announce an immediate cost reduction in energy. As we have seen above however cost does not have to be a long term problem.

I am also intrigued by Angela’s reference to an emotion driven agenda. Agreed, we should not be running around like headless chickens predicting the end of the world is nigh !. At the same time however the environmental facts that are out there should lead us to be emotional to some extent. Emotional enough to say that the one cost never too great to bear is the survival of a safer, sustainable, planet.

Source: www.theguardian.com