Earth Day 2021: What it means to us
Did you know that today is Earth Day?
Earth Day was founded by junior US Senator Gaylord Nelson, back in 1970, when he first came up with the idea to raise awareness of environmental issues which were not yet in the public consciousness.
Having grown exponentially from its humble beginnings, today’s event will involve activity around the globe, involving a staggering one billion people worldwide in more than 190 countries. It will feature an extraordinary range of events, with everything from US President Joe Biden hosting a vital international climate summit with 40 world leaders, to something called a Hip Hop Caucus.
The theme of this year’s events – being ‘Restore Our Earth’ – focuses on not only helping the planet and its inhabitants recover from the COVID-19 pandemic but, crucially, on how we can use innovation to repair the ecological damage that has been done. More specifically, shining a light on natural processes, renewable energies and green technologies.
We need only look at the speed and skill with which a range of successful COVID-19 vaccines were developed, tested and rolled out, to see that humanity’s best weapon against a crisis is innovation – and the investment in it.
This is at the heart of everything we do at Path Financial. Not only is it the right thing to be thinking about, not to mention essential for our survival as a species, but also because it makes good financial sense. Why invest in the industries of yesterday, that come with more risks and often a worse return, when you could be aligning your money with tomorrow’s best and brightest?
For example, a recent article revealed that investors in coal have been demanding four times as high the payoff required from renewal energy projects to justify the risks of investing in fossil fuels – bringing home just how unreliable these types of investments are.
Of course, there will be those who cynically try to exploit this growing consumer appetite for all things green – desperately touting their sustainable credentials above their less reputation-friendly, more-grey-than-green practices. And, for them, Earth Day may just be a useful hashtag.
But here at Path Financial, this year’s Earth Day and all that comes with it is an important reminder that we can all play an important part in helping tackle climate change.
To me, Earth Day is an opportunity to reflect on why we believe in making a difference with our clients’ investments, and a reminder that we are custodians on this planet and should tread lightly.
In my lifetime, I want to know that I’ve done my best to make a difference and help restore what has been damaged or lost in the hope that my children will follow by example and carry on the baton.
