The Cost of a Climate Change

A presentation from the Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing Conference.

The Cost of a Climate Change

The cost of climate change, to just address energy demand over the next 20 years, has been estimated at over $67 trillion. Non-energy costs associated with a changing climate will add dramatically to that figure. In this session, investment and environmental experts will discuss and demonstrate ways that investment capital can be directed to address this pressing need.

PRESENTERS

• Molly Betournay – Molly Betournay is the Director of Social Research and Shareholder Advocacy at Clean Yield Asset Management. She leads Clean Yield’s sustainability research and shareholder engagement efforts.
• Chris Davis – is senior director of the Ceres Investor Network on Climate Risk and Sustainability (INCR). INCR promotes leading investment practices, corporate engagement strategies and policy solutions for institutional investors.
• Emily Kreps CDP – Head of Investor Initiatives – North America at CDP – Global environmental reporting system
• Glen Yelto – Glen Yelton, ESG and Impact Research Analyst, has analytical responsibilities for the Impact strategies on the SNW Investment Team.

NOTES

• Investors are moving money towards addressing climate change
• Renewable energy funds are growing
• Motivation could be: CO2 emissions reported up significantly this year and the Trump administration´s withdrawal from the Paris accord and the dismantling of the EPA
• There are many state standards in place
• Many new initiatives
• Climate Action 100+ – http://www.climateaction100.org/ – a new five-year investor initiative to engage with the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters to curb emissions, strengthen climate-related financial disclosures and improve governance on climate change.
• WeAreStillIn – https://www.wearestillin.com/ – the broadest cross-section of the U.S. economy ever assembled in pursuit of climate action.
• RE100 – http://there100.org/ – Renewable Energy 100 The world’s most influential companies, committed to 100% renewable power.
• EP100 – https://www.theclimategroup.org/project/ep100 – EP100 is a global, collaborative initiative of influential businesses that pledge to double their energy productivity.
• EV100 – https://www.theclimategroup.org/project/ev100 – EV100 is a global initiative bringing together forward looking companies committed to accelerating the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and making electric transport the new normal by 2030.
• Rest of world moving forward on climate change
• We are entering a new age of activism – people can take action through portfolio
• Sustainability breeds innovation
• Debate about excluding fossil fuels completely and holding some and influencing the companies
• Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investments (SRI) without giving up returns. SRI have been outperforming traditional investments over the past 5 years.
• Can make an impact through investments: green bonds, shareholder activism
• Through personal decisions: weatherproof, electric vehicle, eating vegetarian
• Through being politically active: local as well as national – such as EV fleets for schools
• Climetrics: http://climetrics-rating.org/ – carbon rating of investment funds
• There are lots of new investments available but they need to get out to the broader market – such as in more 401ks
• Declining cost of renewable energy including solar and wind have made alternative energy competitive
• Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) – https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/ – disclosure is voluntary now. There is a need to have climate disclosure and building pressure to disclose. There are big problems if the reporting is false
• Climate litigation could follow what happened with tobacco companies. Causation is harder to show with climate change than with tobacco. Litigation is a risk for fossil fuel companies. However, the Trump administration judicial appointees will probably protect companies
• Citizen Carbon Lobby – https://citizensclimatelobby.org/ – By building constructive, working relationships with members of
• Congress we seek passage of Carbon Fee and Dividend, a climate change solution that bridges the partisan divide. Citizen
• Carbon Lobby could impact stocks
• Active vs index funds – evaluation is more critical for indexes because they are more permanent owners