A new, unreleased report eight years in the making and funded by
the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment
Initiative and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
will examine the business activities of world’s 3,000 biggest
public companies and their impact on environments. According to
The Guardian (UK), the report will argue these firms contributed
$2.2 trillion in environmental damages in 2008 alone.
Additionally, if these firms were truly held financially
responsible for the costs associated with pollution, it would
“wipe out more than one-third of their profits.” All 500
companies on the Standard & Poor index were included in the
report. The report may help highlight the growing cost of free
corporate access to a range of environmental public goods. The
Guardian says the report is integral to international efforts to
put a “price on global environmental damage,” which could help
create arguments for removing billions in subsidies for
polluting industries or inefficient business pra