Investors should invest – A framework for investing in clean energy and sustainability

Despite its name the investment industry doesn’t do much investment; it mainly shuffles ownership rights, even in private equity. The climate challenge requires new investment on a staggering scale: new generating capacity, the electrification of everything, emissions-free fuel, carbon capture and sequestration, new supply chains and infrastructure, plus the building of negative emissions technologies. This session looked at the opportunities for new investment, the risk/return trade-off and how investors should approach the opportunities. Click here to view Arun’s slides [vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Dr%20Arun%20Majumdar%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Professor%20of%20Mechanical%20Engineering%2C%20Stanford%20University%3B%20Founding%20Director%2C%20ARPA-E%20%26%20Former%20Acting%20Undersecretary%20for%20Energy%2C%20US%20Department%20of%20Energy%20(United%20States)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22Dr.%20Arun%20Majumdar%20is%20the%20Jay%20Precourt%20Provostial%20Chair%20Professor%20at%20Stanford%20University%2C%20a%20faculty%20member%20of%20the%20departments%20of%20mechanical%20engineering%20and%20materials%20science%20and%20engineering%20(by%20courtesy)%20and%20senior%20fellow%20and%20former%20director%20of%20the%20Precourt%20Institute%20for%20Energy.%20He%20is%20also%20a%20faculty%20in%20department%20of%20photon%20science%20at%20SLAC.%5CnIn%20October%202009%2C%20Dr.%20Majumdar%20was%20nominated%20by%20President%20Obama%20and%20confirmed%20by%20the%20senate%20to%20become%20the%20founding%20director%20of%20the%20Advanced%20Research%20Projects%20Agency%20%E2%80%93%20Energy%20(ARPA-E)%2C%20where%20he%20served%20till%20June%202012%20and%20helped%20ARPA-E%20become%20a%20model%20of%20excellence%20and%20innovation%20for%20the%20government%20with%20bipartisan%20support%20from%20congress%20and%20other%20stakeholders.%20Between%20March%202011%20and%20June%202012%2C%20he%20also%20served%20as%20the%20Acting%20Under%20Secretary%20of%20Energy%2C%20enabling%20the%20portfolio%20that%20reported%20to%20him%3A%20Office%20of%20Energy%20Efficiency%20and%20Renewable%20Energy%2C%20Office%20of%20Electricity%20Delivery%20and%20Reliability%2C%20Office%20of%20Nuclear%20Energy%20and%20the%20Office%20of%20Fossil%20Energy%2C%20as%20well%20as%20multiple%20cross-cutting%20efforts%20such%20as%20Sunshot%2C%20Grid%20Tech%20Team%20and%20others%20that%20he%20had%20initiated.%20Furthermore%2C%20he%20was%20a%20senior%20advisor%20to%20the%20Secretary%20of%20Energy%2C%20Dr.%20Steven%20Chu%2C%20on%20a%20variety%20of%20matters%20related%20to%20management%2C%20personnel%2C%20budget%2C%20and%20policy.%20In%202010%2C%20he%20served%20on%20Secretary%20Chu%E2%80%99s%20science%20team%20to%20help%20stop%20the%20leak%20of%20the%20Deep%20Water%20Horizon%20(BP)%20oil%20spill.%5CnAfter%20leaving%20Washington%2C%20DC%20and%20before%20joining%20Stanford%2C%20Dr.%20Majumdar%20was%20the%20vice%20president%20for%20energy%20at%20Google%2C%20where%20he%20assembled%20a%20team%20to%20create%20technologies%20and%20businesses%20at%20the%20intersection%20of%20data%2C%20computing%20and%20electricity%20grid.%5CnDr.%20Majumdar%20is%20a%20member%20of%20the%20US%20National%20Academy%20of%20Sciences%2C%20US%20National%20Academy%20of%20Engineering%20and%20the%20American%20Academy%20of%20Arts%20and%20Sciences.%20His%20research%20in%20the%20past%20has%20involved%20the%20science%20and%20engineering%20of%20nanoscale%20materials%20and%20devices%2C%20especially%20in%20the%20areas%20of%20energy%20conversion%2C%20transport%20and%20storage%20as%20well%20as%20biomolecular%20analysis.%20His%20current%20research%20focuses%20on%20redox%20reactions%20and%20systems%20that%20are%20fundamental%20to%20a%20sustainable%20energy%20future%2C%20multidimensional%20nanoscale%20imaging%20and%20microscopy%2C%20and%20an%20effort%20to%20leverage%20modern%20AI%20techniques%20to%20develop%20and%20deliver%20energy%20and%20climate%20solutions.%5CnPrior%20to%20joining%20the%20Department%20of%20Energy%2C%20Dr.%20Majumdar%20was%20the%20Almy%20%26%20Agnes%20Maynard%20Chair%20Professor%20of%20Mechanical%20Engineering%20and%20Materials%20Science%20%26%20Engineering%20at%20University%20of%20California%E2%80%93Berkeley%20and%20the%20Associate%20Laboratory%20Director%20for%20energy%20and%20environment%20at%20Lawrence%20Berkeley%20National%20Laboratory.%20He%20also%20spent%20the%20early%20part%20of%20his%20academic%20career%20at%20Arizona%20State%20University%20and%20University%20of%20California%2C%20Santa%20Barbara.%5CnDr.%20Majumdar%20served%20as%20the%20vice%20chair%20of%20the%20advisory%20board%20of%20US%20Secretary%20of%20Energy%2C%20Dr.%20Ernest%20Moniz%2C%20and%20was%20also%20a%20science%20envoy%20for%20the%20US%20Department%20of%20State%20with%20focus%20on%20energy%20and%20technology%20innovation%20in%20the%20Baltics%20and%20Poland.%20He%20also%20serves%20on%20numerous%20advisory%20boards%20and%20boards%20of%20businesses%2C%20investment%20groups%20and%20non-profit%20organizations%5CnDr.%20Majumdar%20received%20his%20bachelor%E2%80%99s%20degree%20in%20Mechanical%20Engineering%20at%20the%20Indian%20Institute%20of%20Technology%2C%20Bombay%20in%201985%20and%20his%20Ph.D.%20from%20the%20University%20of%20California%2C%20Berkeley%20in%201989.%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2245818%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Farun-majumdar-63833157%2F%22%7D%5D” title=”Speaker” el_class=””][vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Amanda%20White%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Director%20of%20institutional%20content%2C%20Conexus%20Financial%20%20(Australia)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22White%20is%20responsible%20for%20the%20content%20across%20all%20Conexus%20Financial%E2%80%99s%20institutional%20media%20and%20events.%20She%20is%20responsible%20for%20directing%20the%20bi-annual%20Fiduciary%20Investors%20Symposium%20which%20challenges%20global%20investors%20on%20investment%20best%20practice%20and%20aims%20to%20place%20the%20responsibilities%20of%20investors%20in%20wider%20societal%2C%20and%20political%20contexts%2C%20as%20well%20as%20promote%20the%20long-term%20stability%20of%20markets%20and%20sustainable%20retirement%20incomes.%20She%20is%20the%20editor%20of%20conexust1f.flywheelstaging.com%2C%20the%20online%20news%20and%20analysis%20site%20for%20the%20world%E2%80%99s%20largest%20institutional%20investors.%20White%20has%20been%20an%20investment%20journalist%20for%20more%20than%2020%20years%20and%20has%20edited%20industry%20journals%20including%20Investment%20%26%20Technology%2C%20Investor%20Weekly%20and%20MasterFunds%20Quarterly.%20She%20was%20previously%20editorial%20director%20of%20InvestorInfo%20and%20has%20worked%20as%20a%20freelance%20journalist%20for%20the%20Australian%20Financial%20Review%2C%20CFO%2C%20Asset%20and%20Asia%20Asset%20Management.%20She%20has%20a%20Bachelor%20of%20Economics%20from%20Sydney%20University%20and%20a%20Master%20of%20Arts%20in%20Journalism%20from%20the%20University%20of%20Technology%2C%20Sydney.%20She%20was%20previously%20a%20columnist%20for%20the%20Canadian%20publication%2C%20Corporate%20Knights%2C%20which%20is%20distributed%20by%20the%20Globe%20and%20Mail%20and%20The%20Washington%20Post.%20White%20is%20currently%20a%20fellow%20in%20the%20Finance%20Leaders%20Fellowship%20at%20the%20Aspen%20Institute.%20The%20two-year%20program%20consists%20of%2022%20fellows%20and%20seeks%20to%20develop%20the%20next%20generation%20of%20responsible%2C%20community-spirited%20leaders%20in%20the%20global%20finance%20industry.%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2245819%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Famanda-white-101a7515%2F%3ForiginalSubdomain%3Dau%22%7D%5D” title=”Moderator” el_class=””][vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Sonya%20Sawtell-Rickson%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Chief%20investment%20officer%2C%20HESTA%20(Australia)%20%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2246338%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fau.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fsonya-sawtell-rickson-28497b47%22%7D%5D” title=”Investor Response” el_class=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

Editorial coverage

Editorial Content

Inflation is coming. Time to act

[vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

Related reading

Fundamentals tilt in favour of emerging markets Inflation impact on assets[vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

Key takeaways

  • xxx
  • xxx
  • xxx
  • xxx
[vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

Unanswered questions and answers

[vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

Poll results

To follow[vc_line_chart]

Sponsored Content

Leave a Comment

America’s net zero opportunity

America’s net zero opportunity

Research from Princeton University plots a Blueprint for how the US can achieve net zero emissions in the next decade showing the key is overcoming execution challenges including the infrastructure deployment and the mobilisation of capital and labour.

Sort content by

Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures

Recognizing that climate-related financial reporting is still evolving, the Task Force’s recommendations provide a foundation to improve investors’ and others’ ability to appropriately assess and price climate-related risk and opportunities.

The Secret Diary of a ‘Sustainable Investor’ – Part 1

This is the first of a three-part essay that shares how my thinking evolved from evangelizing ‘sustainable investing’ for the world’s largest investment firm to decrying it as a dangerous placebo that harms the public interest.

Measuring Portfolio Alignment

This report is an excellent critical assessment of the strengths and trade-offs of the options available to measure the alignment of investments with climate goals and is an important contribution to the debate.

Net-Zero America: Potential Pathways, Infrastructure, and Impacts

This Net Zero America study aims to inform and ground political, business, and societal conversations regarding what it would take for the U.S. to achieve an economy-wide target of net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050.

World Energy Investment 2021

This year’s edition of the World Energy Investment report presents the latest data and analysis of how energy investment flows are recovering from the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic, including full-year estimates of the outlook for 2021.

The ESG investing industry is dangerous

An opinion piece from Robert Armstrong, Financial Times: “We’ve got big global problems. I am a capitalist red in tooth and claw, but I just can’t see how financial markets have a meaningful part to play in solving these problems until citizens and governments act first and decisively.”

Previous