Investments into the clean-energy industry could help slow climate change

With global concern for climate change growing exponentially, some people are contributing to slowing climate change by means of investing into the “green” or clean-energy industry. The companies that make up the clean-energy industry include traditional ones that generate solar and wind power, but also less obvious companies such as the makers of LED lights, electric cars, and car batteries.

According to a report from the financial services company Barclays, the renewable energy sector is predicted to be the fastest-growing energy source over the next 20 years, with the sector boosted by falling costs for wind and solar power in combination with global energy demands.

Demand for renewable energy is surging, according to the International Energy Agency, a nongovernmental organisation based in Paris. With the recent publishing of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report and the alarming realities of climate change outlined in the report, demand for green energy may well surge further.

Jon F. Hale, global head of sustainability research for Morningstar, likened an individual’s green energy bets to “voting with your money.” Investments into clean-energy companies can embolden other companies to be more environmentally friendly and push them to support other environmental investments and initiatives.

In an article in the New York Times, Pavel S. Molchanov, a senior vice president and energy analysist with financial services company Raymond James, explains the significance of this trend:

“Decarbonisation is a huge and enduring trend, and it’s being led by the private sector now, like Facebook going 100 percent renewable.”

In August of this year, Facebook announced that it was striving to be powered exclusively by renewables by 2020. Even billionaire investor Warren E. Buffet has started to shift to “going green” when he announced that MidAmerican Energy, one of the subsidiaries of his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, is aiming to obtain 100 percent of its electricity from wind power by 2020.

Climate change is escalating quickly and the side effects are being felt around the world. Investing in the clean-energy industry is one of many ways that people around the world are using their resources to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

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