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page 171 chapter V
Regarding performance, a research project by the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, the
University of Zurich and the Centre for European Economic
Research in Mannheim examined the “milliondollar
question” that comes up in almost every discussion
with customers: does the consideration of
ecological and social factors offer added value – or is
performance not in fact more likely to suffer as a
result? Unfortunately, the latter suspicion is very common
and reflects the expectation that people who act
honestly, meaning in value-oriented fashion, or in a
sustainable manner, somehow has to be a fool. That is
fortunately not the case. This extensive study quite
clearly documents that:
I The performance of sustainable businesses is not in
itself poorer than that of less sustainable or nonsustainable
businesses.
I A positive correlation was found between sustainability
and performance, although it is not stable in
terms of time and region.
I And now, the most exciting finding: the positive influence
appears to have grown in the course of recent
years. This suggests that certain sustainability
topics have apparently gained increasing relevance
(probably mainly energy and climate issues), or
have been “priced” more highly by the market.
In addition to performance, investors have in recent
days and weeks again become extremely aware of the
fact that the capital market also involves risks. You
may find it confusing if I now say that the financial
market crisis also has its good points in this respect.
Up to now, the availability of cheap capital lay on the