A System-level Approach to Investing

At Domini, we believe that everything–from the environment to healthcare to social unrest to the financial markets–is interconnected. We are therefore committed to integrating these system-level considerations into our foundational investment approach.  

By looking at investments through a holistic lens, we seek to better manage systemic risks such as climate change, biodiversity loss, income inequality, and gender equity, thereby promoting more informed decision-making. 

In 2018, we decided to deploy resources to look more deeply into one system: forests and related land use. Over the past five years, we have been assessing the implications of deforestation and agricultural land use for the companies in our portfolios and have identified several key elements to help address climate- and biodiversity-related risks and opportunities.  

The documents in our Forest Project Library provide an overview of this approach. They touch on our investment beliefs and justification for this focus, as well as how we define types of forests and land use. We consider our Forest Project to be ongoing as this area is complex and is instrumental in helping tackle one the defining issues of our time: global climate change.