Article and Source
This week’s article is a speech made by Pope Francis on Saturday Oct. 16 at the IV World Meeting of Popular Movements (WMPM).
An article review of the speech can be found here: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/10/18/2058767/-Pope-Francis-calls-on-powerful-institutions-to-make-structural-changes-to-better-serve-humanity
A transcript can be found here: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/pont-messages/2021/documents/20211016-videomessaggio-movimentipopolari.html
A video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqNsr9cBsXM
Summary
On Saturday, Pope Francis made speech that focused on many of the social and economic innovations that drive the world of sustainable/ESG investing. In a key part of the speech, Pope Francis puts forward nine actions that the global economy should take to move toward a better future. He addresses the following industries: pharma labs/vaccine producers, finance, extractive industries, food corporations, arm manufacturers, tech companies, telecommunications, media, and national governments. He also discusses the George Floyd protests and lauds the movement as full of social poets and collective Samaritans. Lastly, he proposes actions that be taken including UBI and shortening the workday.
Response
This article should be read in the context of leadership and system’s change. While not a direct member of the financial community, to suggest the Pope does not have economic influence would be an error. People listen to the Pope. The Pope influences behavior. There are not many more powerful forces for change than the Pope. So having the Pope arguing for a fundamental reevaluation of our economic system and priorities is a big deal.
In his speech, I was struck by the parallels between the economic changes he was arguing for and the values of ESG/sustainable investors in the finance world. The Pope primarily operates in the realm of religion and ethics, thus speaking on these economic topics brings social and economic change to the realm of religion and ethics. This is important because ESG and sustainable investing requires behavior change and behavior change often comes from religious and ethical values. Policy-making alone will not be enough to accelerate sustainable investing to the point that is necessary to fix and reverse social and environmental problems, behavior change at the individual level is also necessary.
It takes courage, leadership, and activism to bring change. ESG investing is a change in the financial system driven by new financial strategies and modern values. If read through the lens of financial ESG risks and opportunities, Pope Francis is exposing macro-economic fragilities that ESG investors should be familiar with. He argues that the root of the problems come from systemic flaws that promote growth over wellbeing. He states, “This system, with its relentless logic of profit, is escaping all human control. It is time to slow the locomotive down, an out-of-control locomotive hurtling towards the abyss. There is still time.”
Lastly, from an ESG perspective, the question is whether the Vatican’s investments and operations reflect this stance. Notoriously secretive, transparency of its assets and endowments would help validate the Pope’s argument.
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