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.

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).

Event - SRI Conference 2013: The Future of Investing

The 24th annual SRI Conference will take place on October 28-30, 2013, at The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The SRI Conference is the oldest and largest gathering of Sustainable, Responsible, Impact (SRI) investors and investment professionals in North America.

Investing in Energy Efficiency

One of the most promising investment areas for 2013 may come from the area of energy efficiency. Unlike some other investments, this compelling investment opportunity is being driven by companies seeking immediate cost savings. For the investor this can translate to a shorter payback period. According to most estimates, global power needs are expected to rise more than 50 percent in the next few decades. This growing investment arena will increase the market demand for energy efficient lighting, engines and buildings.

Climate Change as an Investment Risk or Opportunity

Climate change is a material investment risk or opportunity and it has emerged as a strategic issue for asset owners and asset managers. The vast majority of investors now incorporate climate change into their risk assessments. This is the conclusion of a report, titled the Global Investor Survey on Climate Change, conducted by Mercer and commissioned by the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR) and Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC). This report clearly illustrates that climate change is increasingly a salient part of the investment practices of asset managers and asset owners.

Based on survey responses from 44 asset owners and 46 asset managers with collective assets totaling more than $12 trillion, the report found that 87 percent of asset managers and 98 percent of asset owners now incorporate climate change risk assessments into their investment processes.

Investing in the Green Economy: Leveraging Significant Private Investment through Modest Public Finance

Wide spectrum public investment is the key to growing the green economy. This augers three important questions: How can we attract adequate amounts of private investment to unleash the full potential of the green economy? What do we invest in? How do we scale-up finance from developing economies?


Investment in clean energy has increased, with global spending on renewable energy rising six-fold since 2004. Despite ongoing economic weakness around the world, much more needs to be done.

As much as $100 trillion is required by 2030 to finance global infrastructure needs if we are to avoid an unsustainable increase in global temperatures. A total of $140 billion annually is required just to green the estimated $15 trillion investment in energy generation by 2020.

Video - Bill McKibben and NEI President Bob Massie: "Divestment And The New Economy"

"Divestment And The New Economy" Bill McKibben and NEI President Bob Massie discuss the relationship between fossil fuel divestment, the climate crisis, and the transition to a New Economy. In recent weeks, the movement to divest college and university endowments from the fossil fuel industry has spread to over 250 schools. Just last weekend, hundreds of students converged outside of Philadelphia to strategize and grow the movement. Today, those activists are back on campus meeting with their peers and planning ways to escalate their campaigns and fight for their futures.

Event - World Water-Tech Investment Summit

This event will take place on March 6th - 7th, 2013 in London, UK. The World Water-Tech Investment Summit is staged by Rethink Events Ltd. At this event 40 C-level speakers will discuss the challenges in bringing new water technologies to market with a focus on Smart Water Technologies and Industrial wastewater treatment. This event will address ways of accelerating the adoption of new solutions in the mainstream water market. The goal of the summit is to foster new business partnerships, with extensive opportunities to network with international representatives from utilities, engineering consultancies, technology developers and investors.

Alternative Energy Stocks After Obama's Election Victory

After the election of Obama, many believed that we would see a surge in alternative energy stock prices, but this did not happen. As reviewed in a Renewable Energy World article “of the approximately 250 alternative energy companies that the Roen Financial Report tracks, only 21 companies, or less than 9%, were gainers. In other words, losers beat gainers by a 10:1 ratio! On average, alternative energy companies were down 5.8%, with 35 companies showing double-digit losses for the week. Of the 21 gainers, fully half were volatile penny stocks with market caps less than $100 million, so those gains may change very quickly.”

“Of the six alternative energy industries — wind, solar, smart grid, efficiency, fuel alternatives and environmental companies — wind fared the worst. Only two wind companies posted a gain for the week, Pike Electric Corporation (PIKE) and the highly speculative Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies (QTWW). Otherwise, the average wind company lost 6.0% for the week.”

The CERINA Investment Model from IWR

The CERINA plan (CO2 Emissions and Renewable Investment Action Plan) is an investment model by means of which CO2 emissions are compensated for through investments in renewable energy technologies. Since 2009, the German Based Renewable Energy Industry (IWR) has been determining global CO2 emissions and those of individual states using the fossil fuel energy consumption data of BP. On this basis, the amount of investment in renewable technology needed to stabilise global CO2 emissions at the current level is then computed for each country.

On the basis of an objective allocation key per metric ton of CO2, the level of investment can be specified according to the source. Countries with low emissions are required to make lower investments than are countries with high emissions.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Climate Change Warning

It may already be too late to keep global temperatures within the scientifically agreed upon upper threshold of 2 degrees. This is the conclusion of a report from the global business consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Their report entitled "Too Late for Two Degrees?" suggests that even with a modest effort, global temperatures will continue to increase.

"Even doubling our current rate of decarbonization, would still lead to emissions consistent with 6 degrees of warming by the end of the century," noted Leo Johnson, a partner in PwC's Sustainability and Climate Change unit, in the report. "To give ourselves a more than 50 percent chance of avoiding 2 degrees will require a six-fold improvement in our rate of decarbonization."

Clean and Green Energy Forum: Investing for a Renewable Future (Event)

On December 3 and 4, 2012 in Orange County, CA, Opal Event’s Clean and Green Energy Forum: Investing for a Renewable Future will bring together experts to discuss the most important topics in cleantech and greentech. With rising costs of oil and natural gas, we find ourselves in a global movement focusing on a need for cleaner and more efficient energy options.

Attendees will represent many of the nation’s pension funds, endowments, foundations, family offices as well as utility companies, federal and state government agencies, and energy-equipment companies.

What is ESG and Why is it Important

According to the Financial Times lexicon, "ESG" (environmental, social and governance) is a generic term used in capital markets and used by investors to evaluate corporate behavior and to determine the future financial performance of companies.

ESG factors include sustainable, ethical and corporate governance issues such as managing a company's carbon footprint and safeguarding systems in place to ensure full accountability.

The Triple Bottom Line Investment Conference 2012 (Event)

On November 8 and 9, the Triple Bottom Line Investment (TBLI) CONFERENCE 2012, will take place in Zurich, Switzerland. The TBLI Conference is the largest and longest running conference in the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investment industry - which is devoted to mobilizing Capital for Good.

Who Will Be There

The 14th annual TBLI CONFERENCE will be attended by the most influential and wealthy asset owners, asset managers, sustainability professionals and others in the ESG and impact investing space such as BNY Mellon Asset Management, Bank Sarasin & Cie Ltd, Natixis AM, SAM (Dow Jones Sustainable Index) just to name a few.

Company Rankings from the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes 2012 - 2013

Here are the 2012 ranking of companies in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) as announced by Sustainability Asset Management (SAM). SAM is an investment boutique focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing, and S&P Dow Jones Indices. The Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) manages about $6 billion in assets through a variety of financial products.

As reviewed in a September 13 press release, almost 10 percent more companies participated this year as compared to last year, which Guido Giese, Head of Indexes, SAM interprets as “a strong signal of the increasing recognition that integrating sustainability into corporate strategies is essential to the bottom line."

Wall Street: The New Driver for a Sustainable World? (Event)

On October 9, 2012, between 4:30-7:30 EST at Bennett Jones, 1st Canadian Place, 100 King St. W., 34th Floor, Toronto, there will be a unique opportunity to learn, discuss and debate with one of the world’s foremost thinkers on sustainable investing. Is Wall Street beginning to drive transformational change? If not, what’s holding it back? What does this mean for your organization? How will this affect the strategies that are being developed?

“This event will be of special interest to investors, corporate executives and managers, and NGOs, as well as to those who advise them.”…Matthew Kiernan.

CBSR Sustainability Investment Forum (Event)

This event will take place on Monday, October 15, 2012, 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM (MDT) in Calgary, Alberta. Explore how investors assess market value and ways to gauge how CSR practices add to that value. Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR) is pleased to host world-class experts who will stretch our knowledge on sustainability investments and then lead us through some open dialogue to explore what this means for Alberta's businesses.

Sustainable Investing with Green Alpha® Advisors

You won't hear traditional investment managers say this: The Earth is warming, some formerly abundant resources are becoming scarce, populations are increasing, and the global economy is beginning to change to reflect these realities.