So what options are open to the Irish investor who wants to use his money in an environmentally-friendly or ethically-sound fashion?
Sadly, for those who want to keep their money green, clean or both, the local choices are few and far between.
There is no purely "green fund" available in the Irish market, while Friends First, a company with a long history in ethical investment, remains the only financial institution to offer an ethical fund.
The company traces its roots to the Quaker movement in the 1830s and its beliefs steered it away from companies with interests in alcohol, tobacco or weapons of war. It set up the first specialist ethical unit trust in Britain in 1984.
The Friends First Stewardship Fund currently includes environmental criteria among its conditions when selecting stocks. According to Mr Gerry Mangan of Friends First, the fund excludes all companies involved in producing alcohol, such as Diageo; those involved in animal-tested cosmetics or intensive factory farming; manufacturers of military, or military-related equipment; and certain financial institutions if there is a problem identifying the ultimate destination of their loans.
But it also includes positive criteria, such as conservation, use of natural resources and avoidance of pollution, in determining which stocks to include in the fund.
The fund - which is 30 per cent invested in Irish equities - has performed well, according to Mr Mangan, outscoring international equities although it has not matched the performance of Irish shares.
Year to date, it is down 4.85 per cent, according to the latest MoneyMate figures, compared to an average decline of 6.19 per cent in general equity funds.
Meanwhile, Pioneer, the investment arm of the Italian bank Unicredito Italiano based in Dublin's International Financial Services Centre, also has an ethical offering.
Just under #20 million (£15.7 million) is currently invested in the Pioneer Global Environmental and Ethical Fund, which was set up last July.
Since then, it has been insulated by its defensive characteristics from the worst of the stock market volatility, according to Ms Anne Darling-Barker, manager of the fund.
In the period from July to March 30th, the fund fell by 3.8 per cent. Over the same period, Pioneer's euro-zone fund was down 19 per cent while its all-Europe fund fell by 16.3 per cent.
The company is concentrating on marketing the fund in continental Europe, particularly Germany, but it is available to Irish investors upon request.
None of the other financial institutions in the Republic have ethical fund offerings for retail investors, forcing investors here to look overseas.
Most cite lack of demand for the dearth of options but Mr Ray McNicholas, who runs the Ethical Financial brokerage in Blackrock, Co Dublin, says he often finds demand among ordinary people who "are interested in some aspect of the environment or the Third World".
While an ethical fund, which tends to be 100 per cent equity, may not meet all their financial needs, it can often make up part of a portfolio, he says.
He also dismisses the notion that ethical funds underperform, noting that the Friends First ethical fund has been in the top quartile of performers over the past 10 years.
