Big Business is finding religion.<\/p>\n
The CEOs of\u00a0Bank of America<\/a>,\u00a0BP<\/a>,\u00a0Johnson & Johnson<\/a>,\u00a0Salesforce<\/a>, and several other\u00a0Fortune<\/em>\u00a0500 companies are joining the\u00a0Council for Inclusive Capitalism With the Vatican<\/a>, a new business organization affiliated with the Catholic Church and operating under \u201cthe moral guidance of Pope Francis.\u201d\u00a0Fortune<\/em>\u00a0is a media partner to the council, which also includes policymakers and the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, and which launched on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cAn economic system that is fair, trustworthy, and capable of addressing the most profound challenges facing humanity and our planet is urgently needed,\u201d Pope Francis said in a press release, adding that the companies and business leaders on the council \u201chave taken up the challenge by seeking ways to make capitalism become a more inclusive instrument for integral human well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n The council, which says its goal is \u201cto build a fairer, more inclusive, and sustainable economic foundation for the world,\u201d is the latest effort by Big Business to rethink capitalism and its effects on stakeholders, not just shareholders. \u201cThe dialogue has changed dramatically around these types of things,\u201d Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, one of the council\u2019s \u201cGuardian\u201d leaders, tells\u00a0Fortune.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cCapitalism is here to do the right thing, if it\u2019s managed appropriately,\u201d he adds. \u201cWe\u2019re getting people to say, \u2018This is not only the right thing to do, it\u2019s morally the right thing to do and the human right thing to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The 28 companies and organizations that have joined the Council have made specific pledges to enact its four\u00a0guiding principles<\/a>: equality of opportunity for all people; equitable outcomes; fairness across generations; and fairness to those in society whose circumstances prevent them from full participation\u00a0in the economy. Bank of America, for example, has pledged to\u00a0disclose<\/a>\u00a0the greenhouse gas emissions it finances by 2023, and within the same time frame\u00a0to hire<\/a>\u00a0and provide skills training to 10,000 people from low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. (Those commitments predate the council\u2019s launch, but Moynihan says they are \u201cinformed by what inclusiveness means here as well as\u2026from other groups we work with.\u201d)<\/p>\n \u201cDoing this is not simply a market imperative. It\u2019s not simply chasing the ESG dollar,\u201d Lynn Forester de Rothschild, founder of the council and managing partner of Inclusive Capital Partners, told\u00a0Fortune<\/em>\u00a0in a separate interview Monday. \u201cThe capital markets are such a powerful force, that we need to remember that our actions, who we are and what we are, are based on morality and ethics. And so the Holy Father really asks us to put profits in service of planet and people.\u201d<\/p>\n The council developed out of a\u00a0global forum<\/a>\u00a0at the Vatican in 2016, organized by\u00a0Fortune<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Time,<\/em>\u00a0and a convocation of business leaders there to meet with Pope Francis.<\/p>\n