With COP21 concluding as a resounding global success, the Fondation de Luxembourg wished to highlight the role that philanthropists and their foundations can play in ensuring that subjects such as the transition to a sustainable economy form part of the global agenda.

"The movie Demain, selected to open COP21, begins where Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, left off. We wanted to show that solutions exist." Eric Scotto

Eric Scotto is a co-founder of the Akuo Foundation, operating under the aegis of the Fondation de Luxembourg, and CEO of Akuo Energy, the independent European leader in the generation of renewable energy. Mr Scotto made a presentation at the Cercle Munster to some thirty wealth advisers amenable to philanthropy, describing the scope of the Akuo Foundation's work to raise awareness among global decision-makers and promote the success of the climate conference. Mr Scotto presented, as an example, the movie Demain, co-directed by Mélanie Laurent and Cyril Dion at the initiative of the Akuo Foundation. The aim of the movie is to present innovative solutions to future challenges. The route that this movie has taken, from concept to production, presentation and selection by Laurent Fabius and the French government to open the COP21, has been exemplary. It has been a long-term project that has borne fruit; in barely a month over 440,000 people have seen the film in France and it is now being distributed worldwide.

The example of the Akuo Foundation demonstrates that foundations, when at the origin of such initiatives, can have a considerable impact on development and the economic, social and environmental choices made by governments. Foundations can actively participate in ensuring that major global themes are on the agenda.

Annemarie Arens, General Manager of LuxFLAG, an independent European labelling agency, then discussed the importance to foundations of applying an SRI policy as well as the added value of labelling for actors in the economic and financial world.

A key point made by Annemarie Arens illustrated the significant growth of Socially Responsible Investment from niche to mainstream markets. This is a trend that is likely to be confirmed in the coming years as a growing number of economic actors seek to ensure the SRI compliance of their investments.

Further information:

Akuo Foundation: http://www.fdlux.lu/fr/node/597

LuxFLAG: http://www.luxflag.org/pages/home.html

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• Start date : 20.01.2016 17:30
• End date : 20.01.2016 20:30