Abstract
In this chapter, we explore the motivations of sustainability-oriented investors for directing capital towards sustainable production and consumption practices. Whereas in public communication it is often framed in financial terms, i.e. that a focus on sustainability is a way to generate long-term shareholder value, some investors may also be motivated by “doing good” and by an urge to contribute to a sustainable future. These two rationales build on different logics, and may produce different strategies on part of the investors, and have different outcomes. The financial logic has a theoretical or mind-to-world direction of fit, and it requires investors to adopt a reactive and hypothetical stance towards sustainability issues. The moral logic, on the other hand, has a practical or world-to-mind direction of fit, and it requires investors to adopt a proactive and categorical stance to sustainability issues. In this chapter we reflect on what this might entail for sustainable production and consumption.