The world’s politicians are, at last, coming to the party.
Six years ago, in Bristol, I heard one of the major infrastructure engineering companies, chief engineer say “we have the solutions but have waited too long for the politicians to acknowledge the problem”. On that occasion the subject for discussion was energy security. Making certain the lights stay on.
Governments and conglomerates move too slowly, just like turning an oil tanker rather than a nimble little craft, the private sector is more likely to make the changes necessary to its corporate governance and supply chain.
The investment world suffers from the same issues. For years the “safe” home for investments have been utilities and major companies, for example BP, TESCO and VW!
Who knows which conglomerate will lose its reputation and its share values next!
What has this to do with climate change?
Making better investment decisions helps avoid further damage to the environment, helps protect the world’s natural capital and provides capital for research and development; research and development to find better solutions to water recovery and reduce wasting this life giving and finite natural resource. Money to provide better engineering solutions, hold the business managers to account on corporate governance and ensure that supply chains are not exploiting either their employees or the local environment.
The small investor can make a difference but it first needs a change of mind. It means taking decisions that are based on making a profit but also doing good or, at least, ensuring that the money does no harm.
We all have our part to play, recycling, not polluting or being wasteful of natural resources. Ensuring the money in our pension funds or long term savings is in the right place can be powerful, as well as profitable.