Current announced infrastructure spending plans make it the “number one” sector for global capital investment over the next ten years. Although, the infrastructure sector is intrinsically environmentally challenging in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, environmental pollution, habitat destruction and species extinction, we also believe there is an immense opportunity to promote responsible investment in this sector.
His excesses, his megalomania, and his very personal conception of governance have made Elon Musk a particularly divisive figure. However, whether you like him or not, the fact remains that the plan to decarbonise the economy presented last month by Tesla is worth looking into.
As Al Gore said at the opening of COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh in November, we cannot choose our misfortunes, but we can choose the benefits that come from them, especially when it comes to renewable energy. Indeed, we are in the early stages of a sustainability revolution that will have the scale of the industrial revolution and the speed of the digital revolution.
We have seen two major steps in the European regulation intended to promote sustainable investment and prevent greenwashing. None has been without controversy and concerns but it continues to move the industry in Europe ahead at a faster pace than elsewhere.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed in law by President Biden on 16 August 2022 after House Democrats approved the biggest-ever federal investment against climate change with a 220 to 207 vote.
During the synchronised sell-off in markets in January – mainly due to massive sector rotation in favour of “value stocks” – clean energy sector stocks suffered. And yet, the transition to clean energy keeps accelerating.
Sustainable investment continues to charge on. Indeed, according to PwC, more than half of all planned ETF launches for 2022 are expected to be ESG tilted, including 80% of those in Europe. Expectations of investors alongside corporations continue to rise, alongside growing concerns about greenwashing.
In a sign of the maturation of the sustainable investment industry greenwashing is moving up the agenda, with recent studies across developed markets highlighting this as a top risk identified by investment professionals for 2022. Yet, even if stricter regulations are now in place in Europe and if new accounting standards are planned, it is essential that the players in the industry discipline themselves to fight against this scourge. The very legitimacy of sustainable investment is at stake.
We have been informed of the fraudulent use of the identity of Quaero Capital and of its employees in order to offer investment services and financial products at high returns and in an extremely aggressive manner. The fraudsters may have e-mail addresses or domains that use the Quaero Capital name but in fact have no connection with Quaero Capital and are not authorised to act on our behalf. It should be noted that Quaero Capital never conducts banking and will not solicit investment business from the public, nor will we ever ask members of the public to open an account with us or transfer money to us.
If you receive a communication as referred to above, we recommend that you exercise extreme caution, and would encourage you to check carefully the contact details of the people offering these services. In case of unusual contacts or inappropriate requests, please contact us at the following email address info@quaerocapital.com.