Investing In Climate Change 2009

One year ago, we published Investing in Climate Change: An Asset Management Perspective. We argued that the growing investment opportunities in climate change were driven by long-term mega-trends that would continue into the foreseeable future.

One year on, the absolute necessity to act now to mitigate and adapt to climate change is even more urgent, and the opportunities generated by the sector continue to increase. New evidence has established that carbon in the atmosphere has reached an 800,000 year high (see graph below).
The leading scientific research shows that we are careening towards the tipping point where average global temperatures are likely to rise by 2°C or more. Beyond 450 ppm CO2e, it is increasingly likely that a series of macro-climatic shifts will set up a self-sustaining cycle of rapid global warming. Without significant and immediate action, or some unforeseen miracle, this tipping point stands no more than 15 to 20 years away.