Fair trade and ethical 'social stock exchange' planned. What do you think?

[Jill]

When we had the theme on Fairtrade fortnight I got quite concerned with ethical and fairtrading issues and decided to put up some adverts on the site promoting companies with ethical policies.

But only £1 out of every £250 spent is on Fairtrade goods. Does this mean most trade is unfair? How much child labour is being used? What about sweatshop conditions involving long hours and wages lower than the cost of living? Do we expect business to maximise profits regardless of how they go about this or do we want to see more responsible and ethical organisations in business.

The article below got me thinking about these issues again. Plans to create a seperate social stock exchange for fairtrade and ethical businesses mean we accept the majority of businesses will not be fair trade or ethical. Can this be right?

Will be interested to hear your opinions in this area. Here is the article:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3603039.ece

Plan for fair trade stock exchange
Marie Woolf

Fair trade brands and ethical enterprises – such as Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen – could be listed on a new “social stock exchange” under plans being drawn up by the government.

Ministers are working on proposals for an ethical investment bank, supported by hundreds of millions of pounds lying in dormant bank accounts, and a stock exchange where social enterprises and environmental ventures raise cash.

The blueprint, being drawn up by the Cabinet Office with help from the Rockefeller Foundation, would aim to make London the international centre for ethical investors and fair trade firms.

Phil Hope, the Cabinet Office minister responsible for the voluntary and social enterprise sectors, will this week announce proposals for the ethical stock exchange.

The ethical investment bank would be funded by an estimated £250m from money in dormant bank accounts which, under a law being pushed through parliament, can be claimed by the state and reinvested in social projects. The stock exchange would allow firms that plough cash into community ventures to raise cash.

Investors could pump cash into organisations such as fair trade coffee and chocolate firms, housing cooperatives and other enterprises that make profits yet also have a social or environmental objective.

Among firms that would be able to raise capital are Fifteen, which trains disadvantaged young people to be chefs, and Terra Plana, an eco-friendly shoe brand that uses recycled car tyres and rice husks in the manufacture of its Worn Again shoes.

There are more than 55,000 social enterprises in the UK generating about £27 billion a year. One such is the Big Issue magazine which enables homeless people to earn money by selling the publication on the streets.

[Jill]

I used to go in Charity shops all the time but don't go out shopping much these days. I also did volunteer work in one for a while. There is still ebay to get cheap secondhand. There is even an Oxfam shop on ebay.Not sure what charities do with all the money they get though. As far as Creative Cafe is concerned any
donations are still going on paying for hosting the sites and promoting the
Salesrooms and not to supporting disabled people at all yet really. If we ever get
funding and better off financially I'd like to see money go towards helping
disabled people get more supported transport to help with going out and for
things like copies of Photoshop if they want to learn more about using an artwork
package. And to build a real life Creative Cafe of course! Well one in every town
at least!

I am in a raffle/lottery thing for a hospice and won £5 on it but have not cashed
the cheque. Would rather they keep the prize. And we keep ending up with a load
of washing up liquid from a blind peoples thing we do. If anyone wants some
washing up liquid I have plenty spare!

You are right Mandy. It is about doing things in a more thoughtful way. Not just
about fair trade.

I have heard that microlending on Kiva like Omshanti mentions can really do a lot of good for small business people in poor places. And because it is a loan once it is paid back you can loan again so it helps more than once.

[Azzami Bell]

Hi Rodney,
If by; 'semitic tradition' you mean the subfamily of Afro-asiatic languages that includes Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, Ethiopic, Hebrew, and Phoenician, then no, just plain ol' gutter-English I'm afraid, and a wee bit of common sense.
Supermarkets in Turkey, Tunisia and Libya have standard 'international-style' pricing and check-outs, and not only near the airports and touristy areas. Only the bazaars had some traders who would 'haggle'. The coffee shops, restaurants & bars are much as they are here in Brighton. Last year the Tunis equivalent of London's Oxford Street even displays fixed pricing on all its 'posh' versions of the tat in the bazaar! Altho', just as here and everywhere, if you make almost any trader an offer they'll always consider it.

[Rodney Yates]

Cultural mores and traditions do not necessarily follow language. We habitually credit Arabian traders with the numeral we use, but their origins lie in Ancient India. what i mean is the international european Bankers were of a tradition that aligns them with semites as distinct from the trading habit in Arab Bazaars. I am repeating myself so as to make it clearer?

[Azzami Bell]

Oh.

[Jill]

Well that told you then!

[Azzami Bell]

Probably influenced by the Arab's Nomadic lifestyle as much as anything else.

[David Kam]

Hello Jill

We are setting up North America's first social stock exchange connected to a green social network, called the Green Stock Exchange (GREENSX) at: http://greensx.com, which will be launched in the Summer of 2008 to begin trading. Although the Green Stock Exchange serves mainly the U.S. and Canadian marlet, it will be a good testing ground for the London Stock Exchange, since we will be trading 1 year ahead of London.

The Green Stock Exchange will trade shares in social businesses. A social business is a business that makes a profit, but benefits society as well. We have a triple bottom line (economic + social + environmental), which includes fair trade. You can see our guidelines at http://greensx.com/info/listing_social_guidelines.php

Since all the listed companies on the exchange are pre-screened, evaluated, and audited according to social and sustainable guidelines set by the exchange, it will make it much easier for green investors to find and support social businesses. The GREENSX provides opportunities for small green Issuers to access public equity capital efficiently, while providing early stage investors, angel investors, and venture capitalists with greater liquidity. This includes a eBAY.com trading system for carbon credits.

It is still in the beta stage testing. Check it out at: http://greensx.com.

[Jill]

Hi David Kam

When new members join Creative Cafe I usually go straight to their page with a welcome message but this time I have become so fascinated reading about your new 'Social Stock Exchange' in Canada and the US that I am here first.

I got as far as your guidelines for social and green businesses and have copied and pasted them here:

http://greensx.com/info/listing_social_guidelines.php

We support companies that practices and are committed to:

sustainability (by use of materials, waste, goods & services it provides)
carbon reduction & carbon neutrality to fight climate change
fair trade, sweat shop free, living wages and pay equity
charity, support local communities & the economically disadvantaged
produce, distribute and sell natural/organic food products
foster diversity and equality for women, race, age, religion, the disable and sexual orientation
demonstrated record of women & minorities serving on their boards/management
purchase goods / services from minorities, women owned, small businesses and local businesses
renewable and clean energy

We avoid companies which derives a substantial amount of their revenue from:

engaged in child labor and exploitation of children
military weapons, firearms and military operations
nuclear power plants and nuclear wastes
products with genetically modified organisms (GMO) and cloned organisms
tobacco products and illegal drugs
alcoholic beverages, except wine and wineries
gambling
engaged in anti-union activities
products using recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH/rbST)
dumping and disposal of hazardous and toxic wastes
mining, oil and gas
violations of environmental laws and regulations
producers of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers
industrial agricultural operations and/or confined animal feeding operations
fishing or hunting
cruelty to animals, including testing on animals
the fur trade or products made with fur, ivory, rare wood, etc.
violating occupational health and safety laws/regulations
violating affirmative action standards, practiced discriminatory labor practices based on disability, gender, age, race, religion or sexual orientation

You certainly seem to have the factors which make good social and green businesses as well as the ones which don't included in that list. What kind of checks will the companies involved be subject to before being accepted can you say? I'm just thinking that some small businesses may find it hard to spend a lot of time on filling in forms and having checks done when they are starting out and getting their businesses established. On the other hand you would have to be quite careful companies which are not really ethical latch on because they want the label of being social and green without having the policies to back this up.

Anyway it is all very fascinating to me and I will be back to read more soon. Thanks for joining up to Creative Cafe and sharing the information about your planned Green Stock Exchange ( http://greensx.com ) with us on Creative Cafe

I am really very interested in reading and learning more about all this and as you say seeing how things go in Canada and the US with your project will also provide some idea of how things will go with the planned social stock exchange in the UK.

Bye for Now
Jill

[David Kam]

In reply to your comment about "too many forms to meet our guideline". The Green Stock Exchange does not want to be a bureaucracy. We have a very simple solution:

1. The Green Stock Exchange system includes a Nominated Advisor ("like a business coach") for listed companies to avoid any problems in meeting the guidelines and to help the listed company to expand their business.

2. The Green Stock Exchange system is also connected to our green social network, called the E=MC2 Creative Friends Network. This allows millions of members and organizations to actively participate in the investment, creation, sales, manufacturing, promotion and distribution of more earth friendly and more humanity friendly products. We share a portion of our revenue with our members in the form of prizes, contests, rewards, and cash to fund creative projects ("art, music, movies"). Millions of green revoutionaries will become the listed company's consumers, while warning us of any problems, without the company doing any paperwork.

3. Our RewardBunny.com program uses Web 3.0 to seamless integrate online experiences with offline experiences. By taking a picture of a special type of Mobile 2-Dimensinal Barcode on our product labels via a cell phone,consumers can immediately receive reward points, receive product information and coupons, send in their opinions and ideas, and enter contests online. Not only can community members help develop products online, but they can also interact with us and with other community members ("example: get recommendations") while in-store ("example: while shopping in a supermarket") via their cell phone. Consumers warn us of any potential problems, without the company doing any paperwork.

Hope this answers your questions.

David Kam
Green Stock Exchange

[Mandy Lawrence]

This sounds good.

I would like to somehow contribute but at the moment I don't know how. Is it okay to join and find out about it...rather than actively participate, certainly until one knows what the heck they are doing?

:>)

[Jill]

Yeah it would be interesting to be able to join and find out more. Thing is Mandy this is in Canada and the US and we are in the UK . It may not be suitable for us to join. But some of our US and Canadian members may be interesed.

Bye for Now
Jill

[Mandy Lawrence]

Okey dokey Jill

Will maybe wait and see if something like this starts up in the UK. I am certainly in no position to start something up but in the future I might be able to contribute in some small way to this sort of trade commune. Hmmm.