World Evangelical Alliance becomes a founding member of FaithInvest
(Zu/Switzerland) During the “Faith in Finance” conference, Sep 17th-18th, the new platform FaithInvest was announced, which will bring together some of the largest religious investors with investible projects around the world that meet specific faith-related criteria. FaithInvest will push impact investments to a new level by redefining the meaning of a “good investment”. The platform will initially focus on investments that foster the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals – a vision of an equal, just and environmentally sustainable world without poverty in which no one is left behind.
In order to become a founding member of FaithInvest, the World Evangelical Alliance contributed “Investment Guidelines from an Evangelical Perspective” to the conference which had been developed during the Christian Economic Forum in St. Moritz in July. They were presented by Timo Plutschinski, Director of the WEA Business Coalition and Matthias Boehning, Director of the new WEA Sustainability Center in Bonn. Both WEA representatives emphasized the relevance of Christian principles like stewardship, generosity and spiritual impact of an investment.
FaithInvest will be a global platform for identifying and creating investment opportunities aligned with values held by faith groups that include fighting injustice, addressing climate change and restoring a livable world. Besides the financial return of an investment there will be further criteria for the assessment of worthwhile investments for people and the planet. Beyond its character as an investment platform, FaithInvest seeks to educate and inform a variety of stakeholders including media, parliaments, schools and universities about faith-consistent investing principles.
Finally, the new platform will help projects around the world move from being grant-funded to becoming income-generating and self-sustaining businesses. In partnership with UNDP and the Scottish government, FaithInvest seeks to strengthen investment into social entrepreneurship as a new paradigm of funding efforts for a better world.
As active members of FaithInvest, the WEA Business Coalition and the WEA Sustainability Center agreed to jointly reach out to Evangelicals around the world in order to refer Christian-led entrepreneurial projects to the platform.
Contact:
Rev. Timo Plutschinski
Director of the WEA Business Coalition
Dep. for Theological Concerns
Member of the Wider WEA Leadership
T. +49.40.18238804, M. +49 163.4523872
E timo.plutschinski@worldea.org
Matthias K. Boehning
WEA Permanent Representative to the UN in Bonn
Director of the WEA Sustainability Center
T. +49 (0) 228 – 30 42 63 59, M. +49 (0) 173 – 73 80 211,
E. mboehning@worldea.org