I hosted a discussion on the past, present and future of SRI at my local analyst society last month. I was fortunate to be able to have Cheryl Smith from Trillium who is also the new Chair of the Social Investment Forum board as well as Peter Kinder, cofounder of KLD.

It was a freewheeling and fascinating discussion. Cheryl focused more on the evolving body of knowledge around SRI that has been developed by academics and practioners over the years while Peter focused more on the people involved and key events in the history of SRI.

For me , one of the most insightful ideas to come out of the meeting was how the growing concern over global warming and carbon creation has created a whole new class of investors interested in environmentally friendly investing. This interest presents the possibility of a synergistic effect relative to SRI investing broadly. Intuitively, this would make sense. Many of the company policies related to sustainability practices dove-tail nicely with policies to promote good governance and ethical business practices.

Will green investing dramatically accelerate interest in SRI broadly? This remains to be seen. However, it certainly provides one more driver of growth for the industry.