Media CenterCRS Commends G8 Report on Impact Investing

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) commends Sir Ronald Cohen and the Social Impact Investment Taskforce of the G8 on the September 15, 2014 release of their report Impact Investing: The Invisible Heart of Markets.

The report makes a significant contribution to the evolving field of Impact Investment and demonstrates how the Taskforce has effectively forged a new map for collaboration among government leaders, investors and those working for solutions that will serve the world’s most marginalized, poor and vulnerable members of society.

This report, and the dialogue leading up to its release, articulates a very clear and constructive way forward, and facilitates the adoption of market-based financial tools that can help lift millions of aspiring workers out of poverty and contribute to economic development of local communities around the world.

Catholic Relief Services sees the tremendous potential for Impact Investment to increase the impact, scale and sustainability of work that we, other Catholic agencies and our partners are doing in both urban and remote locations around the globe.

As Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said, “when businesses and market economies function properly and focus on serving the common good, they contribute greatly to the material and even the spiritual well-being of society.”

We look forward to working in collaboration with members of the G8 Taskforce, governments, foundations, universities and investors to identify, refine and implement Impact Investing models around the world that improve the financial and social wellbeing of people who are poor and marginalized.

Resources:

• Download Impact Investing: The Invisible Heart of Markets.
• Read Cardinal Peter Turkson’s statement on the release of Social Impact Investment Taskforce report.
• For more about Impact Investing, visit Investing for the Poor.