Climate change is increasingly at the forefront of our minds, impacting every aspect of our lives. With increasing frequency, natural disasters are affecting many parts of the world and in the process, damaging the global economy.
Recent drastic measures by many governments to reduce pollution and waste as well as to increase usage of renewable energy to achieve net zero-carbon targets, will not do enough within the desired time frame to achieve over-ambitious targets, agreed by the Paris Agreement in 2015. After COP26, the 2050 target has been brought forward to 2030, by which target many Industrial nations have signed up for.
The reality is that it will never be a “lightswitch” moment but rather gradual phase-down or phase-out of fossil fuels, the main polluting natural resources that contribute to greenhouse effects and climate change.
In the meantime, with increasing urgency, each and everyone of us needs to do their part and not wait for government action, or in some case, inaction.
Impact investing can become a form of investor activism by making companies aware of unacceptable pollution practices, covered up through greenwashing and slick PR.
Making companies accountable can be a catalyst to positive change in their corporate culture and behaviour, encouraging more sustainability efforts by those who pollute the most and those of which their zero-carbon targets and commitments are insufficient.
Impact investing puts the power in our hands, the people of the world that are affected by climate change.
Together, we can make a difference.
Eleftherios Jerry Floros 