Climate Change Moves From Risk to Reward
America's biggest financial institutions make a big move to invest in a low-carbon future.
The future is green.
Photographer: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
As the effects of climate change loom ever larger, financial markets are embracing sustainability. Long a marginal concern at best, it has become a central component of any successful investment strategy.
It’s no wonder the financial industry is starting to incorporate global warming in its risk assessments and requirements for transparency: Recent natural disasters, like the fires in California or storm surges in the U.S. southeast, have caused billions of dollars in damage, a record $306 billion last year alone. The ruined crops, broken supply chains and rising insurance costs have made investors and the business community painfully aware of the danger to the bottom line and future economic growth.