Ranking Country Sustainability for Investor Decisions
As we know, decision–makers rarely if ever look at climate risk in isolation, which is why I’m glad that Marc Klugmann brought another great article from Fast Company’s Ben Shiller to my attention. Mark is a founding strategic advisor to GAIN, and thus he is on the lookout for other indices that rank country vulnerability. RobecoSAM offers us a good one and a reminder of the importance of looking at a chromatic list of indicators when making sustainability decisions. 
The article,The 59 Countries That Are Most Prepared To Handle An Uncertain Future is particularly interesting to us at ND-Global Adaptation Index, where we are currently pouring over 2012 data in preparation for launching the 2013 index in December. Comparing their index to ND-GAIN’s 2011 data we see that there is a great deal of consistency. For instance eight out of ND-GAIN’s top-ten are in their top ten (The difference ND-GAIN includes New Zealand and Ireland in our top ten, not Canada and US).
ND-GAIN – which includes measures of governance, economics and society along with health, infrastructure,water, etc. and RobecoSAM’s sustainability data are complimentary and help corporations, governments, and charitable organizations prioritize investments in:
- New Markets, Products & Services
- Targeted Development
- Risk Mitigation
- Corporate Social Responsibility
Ultimately, indices like these help address crucial investor questions, such as:
- Are you solving a big problem, preferably one that is worth a lot of money and is recognized today?
- Is your solution differentiated, compelling and sustainable?
- Does your venture have an understandable and relevant business model given your solution and the problem it addresses?
Stay tuned for a blog post next week that digs into some of these questions from the perspective of adaptation risk.