Recession for nature
In the last few months the lay man has witnessed constant negative development in the economy and the advent of a financial crisis. Companies and big families are having financial woes due to this.
What has been clear to the common man that there has been a rise in the prices of products. Thus it is affecting every aspect of our life. After the Katrina hurricane there was rise in fuel prices. It affects everything.
The nature is mostly present to squeeze out every little possible advantage of a situation and then the pendulum swings all the way to the extreme other end. Let us consider this investing example: Banks and other lenders were giving away mortgages and credit lines to people without any proven income, for significantly overpriced houses, and to top it off, they didn’t ask for any down payment, any principle payment, and even substituted the remaining interest payments – all with the claim that the rising value of the property will take care of everything in 2-3 years. What happened next is known to all. The question arises that how come no one saw this coming?
If you on your own, have paid your mortgage in the traditional way, every month, with interest and principle, and based on a down payment of 10-20%, you would actually think those banks and lenders you worked with would appreciate your good behavior and see you as a great customer. But that does not happen always. But- if you would go and ask for a new mortgage or a new line of credit right now, chances are you will not get it, regardless how well you behaved the last 5 years. This is how it works. It’s all business.
It’s not about being immoral to people or mean. It’s just that banks and lenders have decided not to take any risk anymore. Now they want to know everything they never asked for in the past before they would even consider giving you any money .
What does that have to do with the environment and eco-consciousness?
Well in the past couple of years the environmentally aware citizens of the country like the Noble Award winners and organizations along with ordinary share holders demanded that lenders and banks pay attention to the impacts of projects on the environment and the policies of the companies they gave money to.
What none of us realized and didn’t bother to notice was that how it was possible that thousands upon thousands of houses were built during the real estate boom and almost none of them had a solar panel or a heat exchanger in sight. It was built fast and cheap. And that’s all that was noticed. People pounced on it.
While all this has been going on, the consumers and investors (shareholders)who are environment concerned have been demanding more environmental sensitivity by the companies they own in or finance.
From now on when companies want to finance projects in the future, I believe it is very likely that banks will not only look at the financial risks, but also at the long term impact and the opinions and demands of consumers, investors and the stock market. So the present situation will bring about positive changes in the health of our Mother Nature
