Clean water and sanitation for all is the subject of the UN’s sixth sustainable development goal, and an increasingly relevant topic to both emerging markets and the developed world. The need for water infrastructure is great in the developing world, and in the developed world, ensuring access to clean water is an ever-present issue. All of which brings opportunities for sustainable investors.
Leading climate scientists have warned that we have to keep global warming below 1.5°C, beyond which even half a degree more will worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for millions of people. Meeting that target requires emissions not just to stabilize but decrease, requiring immediate transformation of our infrastructure, including how we generate energy and fuel our economy.
To expand municipal solar in Maine, we’ve helped community banks learn the ropes through participation in a CEI municipal solar loan. CEI takes the lead in organizing, negotiating and documenting a solar financing transaction, while the bank provides funding dollars and, learns how to replicate the model. The involvement of community banks, along with new legislation, has allowed the scale of projects to expand statewide.
Buildings consume 40% of global energy and create 30% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions; they are a big part of the climate change puzzle. The energy needs of our data has increased exponentially as our music, our movies, and more of our lives has moved into the \”cloud\”. It actually resides in buildings we call data centers, which have a large and growing carbon footprint.
The competitiveness of Renewable Energy with fossil fuels is strong, driven by innovation, and economies of scale. The transition to a low-carbon economy is happening and will continue over the coming decades. Corporate leaders have largely embraced this outlook and individual and institutional investors have turned to ESG strategies to avoid risk, capture alpha and drive this low-carbon transition.
As I sat down to write this article, a story appeared on CNN about the Whoa Nellie Farm in Acme, PA. I had no choice but to start the article with them because when, due to covid-19 supply chain disruptions, the farm’s milk processor stopped purchasing their milk, so they ramped up the bottling and pasteurization operation on the farm and put out a call to their community. Before long, there was a line of cars.
As the demand for meat continues to escalate during this pandemic, the store shelves grow bare and the food supply system shows cracks. Sustainable, smaller production models, like Niman Ranch, are succeeding and supporting the families who work the land and raise the animals. At Native American Natural Foods, we believe buffalo can positively impact the future of a more sustainable food system.
(From the Archives) As organic food sales are increasing, consumers are also drinking more organic, no sulfites added, wine. So far in 2020, in light of the global pandemic, organic wine sales are rising as people are choosing to eat and drink pure products for their health and the health of the planet, because we know that sound organic farming practices will build healthy soil today and nourish future generations tomorrow.
The food and ag sector is transitioning towards more sustainable food production and consumption. Growing environmental and resource pressures, changing consumer demands, innovation, and regulations are disrupting depletive practices and unhealthy preferences. We now see new fast-growing insurgent companies and changing business models leading to investment opportunities.
Diversity of a company’s leadership team is a highly material variable that should be assessed and factored into a prudent investment process. It’s one of many variables that should be analyzed to create a holistic picture of a company’s risk and opportunity profile. First and foremost, how and from where, does a company derive its revenue stream must be evaluated as well.
