Visionstate (TSX: VIS) Emphasizes Sustainability In Its Investments with Exceed Solar, Freedom Cannabis

There is no telling what the future holds, but a global drive towards sustainability is occurring now. For businesses, the shift to eco-friendly investments is partly due to factors like climate change and green-focused initiatives. Whatever the reason, more organizations are reevaluating how their products and overall production practices are affecting the environment.

Over the past decade, sustainability has become more than just a buzzword. The issue of climate change and how to stop its impact has become a daily fixture in news headlines. In the business world, sustainability is moving up the corporate agenda.

On a smaller scale, corporations, both large and small, have grown to include changes such as making an office more environmentally friendly and its employees happier. Businesses have also expanded to include community development as a main pillar of the mission statement, implemented new strategies for social change, and began collaborating with environmental groups.

Oral care brand Colgate recently launched the first recyclable toothpaste tube, and likewise, included water conservation as part of its marketing campaign during the Superbowl, making the shift to sustainability a corporate responsibility.

"Colgate wants to make tubes a part of the circular economy by keeping this plastic productive and eliminating waste," Colgate’s Chief Executive Noel Wallace said in a press release.

Similarly, investment management corporation BlackRock Inc. announced its dropping investments with high sustainability-related risk.

In an annual letter to corporate executives, CEO Larry Fink stated: “Climate change has become a defining factor in companies’ long-term prospects. Awareness is rapidly changing, and I believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance.”

The letter outlined a number of initiatives which include a plan to launch new investment products that will screen fossil fuels. The company has been moving toward a more public stance on climate, citing that activists and non-profit groups who advocate for such environmental issues influenced the decision.

Visionstate Corp. (TSX: VIS), a growth-oriented company that invests in the research and development in the realm of the Internet of Things (IoT), big data and analytics, and sustainability, has announced the company is aiming to make a positive impact on the environment through its technology applications.

“Whether it’s by leveraging the power of analytics to use resources more efficiently, or creating technology to support greater sustainability and well-being, we at Visionstate Corp. are aiming to make business and lives better,” said CEO John Putters. “We invest in technology that has a positive global impact. Currently, we are making a positive impact in the following areas: the Internet of Things, sustainability and emerging markets.”

One of Visionstate’s portfolio companies, Exceed Solar, is conducting a project with the University of Alberta to develop cold weather greenhouses. As climate change is increasingly impacting global food supply chains, the partnership was established to study and perfect cold climate greenhouses in an effort to increase locally grown food supplies in colder climates.

The focus of the project, which includes building and installing a solar powered off-grid greenhouse at the University of Alberta Students' Union's community garden at the U of A's East Campus Village, will be on new technologies designed to improve the performance of greenhouses in the production of food.

“Our approach is to test new technologies in solar energy, performance monitoring, heating systems, and food production with the overall objective of bringing these technologies to market for a practical purpose,” explained Visionstate CEO John Putters.

Visionstate Corp. is also investing in Freedom Cannabis, a company which is using solar power to help offset their energy use. The largest solar operation in Canada, Freedom Cannabis’ rooftop solar system can be found at its Edmonton facility, and will ultimately reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

As citizens and shareholders continue to look to corporations to step in and offer solutions to social problems like the climate crisis, real change can only be acquired if there is a concerted effort from everyone. With hope, the positive steps that have been taken by these corporate players will invite others to follow suit.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.