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”]

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