Sustainability/Environmentally Friendly Funds e.g. Jupiter Ecology

mither_2

spg1 said:

I listened to a very interesting podcast from Baillie Gifford the other day which looked at ESG from a different angle which I hadn't considered before. There is an argument that investing in some ESG funds could actually hinder the transition to a more sustainable world. For example, there are equipment suppliers in the mining sector (which some ESG firms wouldn't touch) which are playing a vital role in helping the industry be more sustainable, and industries such as offshore wind also rely on mining for raw materials/metals.

Taking away investment capital from such firms -  and in the case of stock market quoted companies that could see their share prices fall and them taken over by private entities without any ESG interest - may not be the best approach. If the likes of Shell/BP were bought by a private equity firm would that be better for the environment than them being a highly visible public company under a lot of public pressure to be part of the solution?

The BG podcast series is called Short Briefings on Long Term Thinking and it's Episode 20: Exploring Sustainable Growth - A New Approach To ESG. The whole series is highly recommended (I don't have any connection to BG by the way, other than investing in a couple of their funds).

I'll check it out. 
It will take along time and quite likely that they'll never move fully away from fossil fuels but both BP and Shell are now belatedly making moves into renewable energy and investing large sums. Also quite possible that they'll be amongst the lead in green hydrogen development.   

Thrugelmir

mither_2 said:

spg1 said:

I listened to a very interesting podcast from Baillie Gifford the other day which looked at ESG from a different angle which I hadn't considered before. There is an argument that investing in some ESG funds could actually hinder the transition to a more sustainable world. For example, there are equipment suppliers in the mining sector (which some ESG firms wouldn't touch) which are playing a vital role in helping the industry be more sustainable, and industries such as offshore wind also rely on mining for raw materials/metals.

Taking away investment capital from such firms -  and in the case of stock market quoted companies that could see their share prices fall and them taken over by private entities without any ESG interest - may not be the best approach. If the likes of Shell/BP were bought by a private equity firm would that be better for the environment than them being a highly visible public company under a lot of public pressure to be part of the solution?

The BG podcast series is called Short Briefings on Long Term Thinking and it's Episode 20: Exploring Sustainable Growth - A New Approach To ESG. The whole series is highly recommended (I don't have any connection to BG by the way, other than investing in a couple of their funds).

I'll check it out. 
It will take along time and quite likely that they'll never move fully away from fossil fuels but both BP and Shell are now belatedly making moves into renewable energy and investing large sums. Also quite possible that they'll be amongst the lead in green hydrogen development.   

When the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine, or ice freezes the wind turbines. Renewable power generators soon lose their investment appeal. As with INRG last year. Very easy for investors to get carried away. Transition is a long term project. That requires a huge amount of capital expenditure that has to be funded by someone or from somewhere. 

mither_2

That's true but as a long term investment successful companies in this area have the potential to do very well but fortunes will fluctuate with power prices as I suspect is the case for fossil fuel businesses where the price of oil and gas fluctuates regularly? 

JohnWinder

Your thread title and first post didn't even hint at the 'G' part of ESG, although you've picked up the 'ESG' strands that have come up as suggestions.

Is the 'G' part of your quest, or just the sustainable, environmental elements of ESG?

mither_2

JohnWinder said:

Your thread title and first post didn't even hint at the 'G' part of ESG, although you've picked up the 'ESG' strands that have come up as suggestions.

Is the 'G' part of your quest, or just the sustainable, environmental elements of ESG?

I hadn't give much though to the G part. As you can possibly tell its quite early in my research and have been more concerned with E & S. 

kuratowski

Just for clarity's sake, the 'S' in ESG stands for social.

Notepad_Phil

Thrugelmir said:
When the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine, or ice freezes the wind turbines. Renewable power generators soon lose their investment appeal.

I can see companies offering storage solutions becoming a very interesting field as the percentage of renewables keeps growing.

Thrugelmir

Notepad_Phil said:

Thrugelmir said:
When the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine, or ice freezes the wind turbines. Renewable power generators soon lose their investment appeal.

I can see companies offering storage solutions becoming a very interesting field as the percentage of renewables keeps growing.

I bought into Gore Street Energy when it floated as a £25m fund. Initially dipped below NAV , so I added to my investment. More recently has consistantly traded above NAV. A usefull diversifier in this low fixed interest rate times.