Category:Green Business

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October 26, 2021

Al Gore launches climate change asset manager

https://todayuknews.com/market/al-gore-launches-climate-change-asset-manager/

“Business as usual won’t get us to cut emissions in half in the next nine years.”

Al Gore, former US vice-president, and financier David Blood have set up a new asset manager that they say will turn the traditional investment model “on its head” by prioritising tackling climate change over short-term financial returns.

Just Climate, which launches on Wednesday with a mandate to invest in solutions that will help to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C, has already won the backing of Microsoft, Ireland’s sovereign wealth fund and a foundation linked to flat-pack retailer Ikea.

David Blood, the former head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said the new investment house would focus largely on private markets, taking a long-term approach to investing by backing projects and companies for periods of up to 15 years across energy, transport, building, agriculture and other industries.

The launch comes as the investment industry is under increasing pressure to play a bigger role in the transition to a low-carbon economy, with critics arguing the sector is not doing enough to finance climate solutions or use its power as shareholders to police fossil fuel producers.

Blood, who set up sustainable asset manager Generation Investment Management with Gore almost two decades ago, said there was a need for capital markets to change how it values investments by put putting more focus on the impact.

“By not prioritising the impact, we are not moving fast enough [to tackle climate change],” he said. “Business as usual won’t get us to cut emissions in half in the next nine years.”

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‘Capitalism is in danger of falling apart’

“Now is a crucial moment for investors, he continues. “The next five to 10 years is the most critical time to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. We think capitalism is in danger of falling apart. As a result, the business, which has been fairly reticent in the past about the mechanics of investing sustainably, is planning to increase its visibility. ‘We need to go all in. We are going to be more aggressive because we have to.'” — Blood and Gore: “Capitalism is in Danger of Falling Apart”, Financial Times, July 27, 2014

Pension Funds Announce New Investment Strategies'

From a September 8, 2015 article “David Blood and Al Gore Want to Reach the Next Generation” published by Institutional Investor

"The California State Teachers’ Retirement System [CalSTRS], the second-largest public pension fund in the U.S., with $191 billion in assets, was the first American institutional investor to invest in Generation.”

This was part of an oil/gas divestment campaign led by Ceres partner 350.org ... Jack Ehnes, CEO of CalSTRS, also serves on the board of Ceres.

In 2018, the Generation Investment fund reported progress in an April article - Al Gore: Sustainability is History's Biggest Investment Opportunity - published in the Financial Times

“Generation lists large public sector investors among its clients, such as Calstrs, the $223bn Californian teachers’ pension plan, the $192bn New York State pension plan and the UK’s Environment Agency retirement fund. It also manages money for wealthy individuals but has stopped short of opening to retail investors. Almost all its assets are run in equity mandates, yet $1bn is invested in private equity.”

... (with) two investment funds – Global Equity and Asia Equity. The Global Equity fund is currently closed – there is a multi-year waiting list that is also currently closed. The minimum investment is $1 million and you need to be super-accredited. The fund seems to be targeted at institutional investors – not individuals. The Asia Equity fund is open but the same minimum requirements apply ($1M minimum).”

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GreenPolicy360: Advocating for Diversified Business with Green Values and Goals

Every Business, Every Supply Chain

Are you thinking and acting to make your supply chain green?

Be Climate Resilient

https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/supply-chain-resilience-era-climate-change

A company is only as good — and as protected — as its suppliers.

Forward-looking companies are engaging suppliers around health, safety, and environmental issues,

The Sustainability Initiative at MIT Sloan teaches changes that improve supply chain partners’ climate resilience...

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Consider the Hannover Principles of Design

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannover_Principles

https://www.colorado.edu/AmStudies/lewis/ecology/hanover.pdf

Review McDonough's "Design, Ecology, Ethics and the Making of Things", a "Centennial Sermon" delivered in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine , NYC, February 7, 1993