What happens when you see clearly?

80% of Australians are interested in ethical investing and want investment strategies that
deliver positive impact for people and planet.

As this goes to print, we’re in the middle of COP26 at Glasgow. And one of the most heart wrenching speeches was from David Attenborough, imploring us to be motivated by hope not fear, and calling for a new industrial revolution, one powered by sustainable innovations. Hear, hear!

Looking into the innovation archives, I came across an article on the 50 greatest breakthroughs since the wheel. It reveals a lot about humanity and the nature of progress. For example, the delayed appearance of the wheelbarrow, one of the simplest labour-saving devices. It didn’t occur to anyone for thousands of years after the wheel. And while the internet obviously has brought speed and scale to communication, the real leap occurred in the mid-1800s with the invention of the telegraph. 

The addition that most caught my eye (no pun intended) was the optical lens. Coming in at number 5, the invention of optical lenses amounts to the greatest onetime IQ boost in human history, massively expanding the pool of literate people. So, what happens when you can see clearly? 

The year 2020 was a year of misery for many, but it was also the year the climate crisis became crystal clear. Twice as much land burned in California as ever before; in Siberia “zombie fires” smouldered all through the Arctic winter; in Brazil, a quarter of the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland, was incinerated and here in Australia, bushfires took the lives of 3 billion animals.

Also in 2020; the US pledged to fully decarbonise its economy within 40 years, as did hundreds of the world’s most influential businesses; investors with trillions of dollars called time on coal financing and pledged to deliver net zero emission portfolios; hydrogen fuelled and battery-operated planes took to the skies; lab grown meat hit the market; renewables set multiple new records and electric vehicles cropped up everywhere. These are strong signs climate action is becoming deeply embedded into how the world works.

At Australian Ethical, after more than 3 decades of diligently making money do good, in the past two years we have seen a seismic shift from 10% of the population being interested in ethical investing, to now being almost 80%. This tells me people’s eyes have been opened to the urgency of tackling climate change through ethical investing. They want access to strategies across asset classes designed to deliver positive impact for people and planet, as well as investment performance. 

Companies pursuing innovative climate solutions won’t succeed in a vacuum. We must work hard to develop deep ecosystems to facilitate their success. This includes activating businesses, investors, governments, universities, research institutions, and others. Each participant has an important role to play, from global policy makers at COP26 to the newest Australian Ethical member investing their superannuation for a better world.

The human being is a perplexing creature. Clever enough to have worked out in the 1800s the more CO2 there is in the atmosphere, the more the Earth’s temperature will rise. Foolish enough to continue to use coal, oil and gas despite growing evidence of flooding, heat and extreme weather events. Within the challenges we face are the most extraordinary opportunities for human ingenuity to triumph, reminding me of the African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” When it comes to climate, most people now see we must do both.