The End is Near for Dirty Energy: Fossil Fuels are Being Abandoned by Investors, Insurers and Banks

“I’m done with fossil fuels. They’re done. They’re just done. We’re starting to see divestment all over the world.” - CNBC’s Jim Cramer

The fact that investors, insurance companies and banks are abandoning the fossil fuel industry is a clear sign that coal, oil and gas are in the final stage of their energy dominance. Those who refuse to come to terms with this fundamental reality will by punished financially and in the court of public opinion.

Sustainability Reporting Attracts Investors and Improves ROI (Video)

Here is a panel discussion designed to improve returns and attract investors. This discussion offers practical insights and helps commercial property owners with reputation management, employee engagement and efficiency. It also increases access to capital. This discussion is ideal for all who own or intend to buy or sell real estate. It is also for property managers, developers, and sustainability professionals.

Moderator: Heather Gadonniex, Director of Sustainable Building and Construction, PE International

Panelists

Helen Gurfel, Executive Director, ULI Greenprint
Gary Holtzer, Senior Managing Director, Hines
Kristen Sullivan, Partner, Deloitte
Dan Winters, Director for North America, Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark



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Event - Sustainable Investing Conference: Risk Value Impact

The 5th annual Sustainable Investing: Risk, Value, Impact conference will take place May 4th–6th at the Westin Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Participants will learn about new approaches, trends and policy developments while networking with industry leaders.

This event offers a unique opportunity to network with leaders of the sustainable, responsible and impact investing community, and to learn about new approaches, trends and policy developments in the field. The conference will attract representatives of investment management and advisory firms, research firms, financial planners and advisors, broker-dealers, community development institutions and asset owners such as pension funds and foundations, along with policymakers and corporate leaders.

Unimpressive Year for Canadian Cleantech Stocks: Top Performers

It has been an unimpressive year for cleantech stock in Canada. The S&P/TSX Renewable Energy and Clean Technology Index opened at 109.26 on January 3, 2014 and it closed at 110.47 on December 24, 2014. The index has just one solitary stock single stock with a triple digit gain. 

Green Stock Outlook Post Santa Claus Rally

While markets have been generous once again this Christmas, there are some dark clouds on the horizon for green investors.

Almost ever year Wall Street enjoys a "Santa Claus Rally" and this commonly includes green stock. This year, as markets fell in December, investors where wondering whether bearish sentiments were going to deny them a Christmas rally.

White Paper - Communications Strategy for Green Investment

A 2013 white paper released by the publisher of the Global Green Economy Index™ addresses communications as a strategy for advancing green investment and growth. Research and data associated with the Global Green Economy Index™ (GGEI) suggest that strategic communications and better information exchange between consumers, businesses and policymakers is often an overlooked strategy for advancing green growth and cleantech investment.

The white paper from Dual Citizen LLC supports this finding through six cases where strategic communications and better information campaigns have a role to play in supporting investment, cleantech entrepreneurship and policy development that advances green economic growth.

Event - Investing in the UK Green Economy

Investing in the UK green economy: challenges and next steps for policy will take place on January 22, 2015, at Glaziers Hall, 9 Montague Close, in London UK. Hosted by Westminster Forum Projects (WFP), this CDP certified conference aims to provide a timely opportunity to examine the progress and next steps in the ongoing transition towards a green and low carbon UK economy - examining the remaining challenges in meeting 2020 objectives, implications for sustainable investment with ongoing negotiations for 2030 targets, and priorities for Government policy in the next Parliament.

Required Climate Investments and Impact on Growth According the IPCC Synthesis Report

Massive investment is required for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Here is a summary of needed investments and their impact on growth from the IPCC's recently released Synthesis Report.

Concern about the impact on growth is one of the primary reasons why some resist mitigation efforts. However, the Synthesis report says that the impact of climate investment on global economic growth would be negligible. Such investment would not impede growth which is expected to be between1.6 per cent to 3 percent per year until the dawn of the next century.

Event - Solar Energy Investment & Technology Forum 2014

This event will take place on November 14th 2014 in Bengalure. Solar Energy Investment & Technology will be hosted by UBM India, the organiser of Renewable Energy India Expo. The theme for this event is, "accelerating solar energy for growth of large and SME industries."

Risk Assessment Causes Swedish Pension Fund to Divest from Fossil Fuels

Based on a comprehensive risk analysis one of Sweden's largest pension funds have decided to divest from fossil fuels. On October 20, 2014, the Second AP Fund announced that it would begin divesting from fossil fuels.

This is but the latest investment fund to divest from fossil fuels in order to mitigate against risks. The Second AP Fund announced that it will divest its holdings in 12 coal and 8 oil-and-gas production companies. This represents a divestment of holdings with a total market value of about SEK 840 million (€91 million or $116 million).

Fossil Free Investment Resources

There are now a number of firms who are helping investors to move away from fossil fuels. While investing in fossil fuels and associated industries was once the bedrock of a sound investment strategy, there is a growing awareness that these investments are approaching the end of their life cycle.

Investors cannot ignore the overwhelming body of climate science that links the burning of fossil fuels to the economic catastrophe of climate change. Investors are also concerned about a large and growing number of governments, businesses, institutions and people who are demanding that we transition away from fossil fuels.

Governments around the world are also supporting emissions reductions efforts, carbon pricing schemes and support for renewable energy. The burning of fossil fuels is also a health issue which is clearly linked to asthma, coronary heart disease and respiratory disorders. That is why some healthcare professionals are at the forefront of divestment.

Investors Showing Leadership on Climate Change

The global investment community is coming to terms with the risks posed by climate change and they are taking action to reverse our perilous direction. Investors see the future and they are following the money and moving away from fossil fuels towards clean energy. In additon to divesting from fossil fuels, investors are advocating for climate pricing and reporting.

Here are three recent actions:

1. A total of 350 global institutional investors, representing more than $24 trillion in assets, called on government leaders to adopt climate pricing.

2. A group of 70 major companies and investors, have committed to report climate change in corporate reports as a matter of fiduciary duty.

3. On the eve of the Climate Summit, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund announced plans to begin divesting from fossil fuels. Starting with coal and tar sands investments, the fund plans to reduce such investments to almost zero by the end of this year. This will be followed up by further fossil fuel divestment over the next few years.

Report Highlights Investor Action on Climate Change

Investor groups have published a report detailing examples of action being taken to combat climate change. The report sites numerous examples of investments that support a low carbon, climate resilient economy.

While ambitious policy is required in order for low carbon investments to be brought to scale, these examples demonstrate that investors are already acting on climate change in a variety of ways. These activities include direct low carbon investments, the creation of low carbon funds, company engagement, and reducing exposure to fossil fuel and carbon intensive companies.

Infographic: Investors and Sustainability

Lucrative Investment Opportunities are Driving the Growth of Sustainability

Climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts are helping to fuel the growth of stock markets. Investors are increasingly seeing the wisdom of factoring sustainability into their investment equations. The S&P 500 recently surpassed the 2000 level and surveys indicate that companies on this index are mindful of climate change.

According to a 2012 report from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, almost 90 percent of S&P Global 100 Index companies identified climate change and extreme weather as current or future business risks. The growth of S&P mirrors the growth of the American stock market as a whole. One of the factors driving this growth is the increasing interest in sustainable investing.

Bill McKibben on the Triumph of Activism in the Wake of the Delay of the Keystone XL

While Bill McKibben is among those who want the President to kill the Keystone XL project, he heralds the delay as a victory for environmental activists.  Another delay means that oil is not flowing from Alberta to the Gulf Coast and that in and of itself is a great accomplishment.

"Every day we delay a decision is a day when 830,000 barrels of oil stays safely in the ground." 350.org founder McKibben explained. He also went on to say that the fight will continue. "Together we’ve kept them at bay for three years now, and will continue to until perhaps the beginning of next year it seems," McKibben said. "The climate fight can’t be delayed. We need to keep building the movement, and we need to keep putting heat on leaders like President Obama till we win not delay the decision on the Keystone XL pipeline."

White Paper - Sustainable Investing: Imperative and Opportunity

This whitepaper was produced by Morgan Stanley. As they explain on their Sustainable Investing website, they believe that private sector capital can play a key role in driving large-scale solutions to the most critical challenges to global prosperity and well-being.

Their Institute for Sustainable Investing seeks to help businesses, institutions and individuals direct capital to these challenges in scalable ways.

Cleantech Stocks are Following Technology's Downward Spiral

Declines in the Nasdaq are capturing headlines and cleantech composite indexes appear to be following suit. Despite being a top performer over the past two years, cleantech is being dragged down with the rest of the market. In 2013 the cleantech index was up 58 percent but there were plenty of stocks that doubled and even tripled.

Technology stocks have taken a big hit over the course of the last few weeks and this is directly impacted cleantech stock performance. Technology is one of the biggest drivers of sustainability. While cutting-edge green technologies have the potential to improve quality of life, reduce environmental impact and generate profits, the reverse is also true. A slowdown in cleantech can also slow technological efforts to address the environmental challenges we face.

Event - Casting a Vision for the Impact Investing Movement (Roundtable Discussion)

This roundtable discussion will take place on Thursday, April 17th, 2014, 9:30am - 11:30am EST / Streamed Panel Discussion: 7:00am - 8:30am PST / 10:00am - 11:30am EST / 16:00 - 17:30 (Paris-Brussels) meeting in New York.

The Impact Investing Movement may be in its infancy, but the baby is growing quickly! While the current size of the Impact Investing market is estimated at $36 billion, various projections predict that it could grow to anywhere from $500 billion to $1 trillion by 2020. To realize this growth, Impact Investing will need to attract mainstream capital from high net-worth investors, investment funds, sovereign wealth funds, university endowments, insurance and pension funds, foundations, and more.

Impact Investing differentiates itself from other investment approaches in that it seeks to measure both financial and social merits of an investment. Other approaches may only screen for investments with negative social impacts, prioritize financial performance over social impact, or provide only unintentional social benefits. Impact investing covers the full range of asset classes, from early-stage to mature, and many sectors, including environment, education, financial services, health, housing, and more.

SunPower Stock Price and Short History

A bit of history on SunPower (SPWRA) stock price. The company was founded in 1985, and it went public in 2006 with stock prices values at around $25.00 per share, by the end of 2007 SPWRA was valued at almost $150.00. Then it declined over the next five years to bottom out at a value of around $5.00 in 2012. In 2013 it began to climb to its current price of $31.67 (March 16, 2014).