What Caught Our Eye
Developments that we found particularly interesting during the week and why.
Change can happen faster than we think
Assuming business as usual is often the easy option. But often change happens faster than we expect. And this can expose the company to material risks.
Financial risks from climate change
Rising sea levels are not just a threat to people. They also could create material financial risks, from what we call asset impairment. And given the long asset lives of most infrastructure, the risk is getting closer than you might think.
Stopping cows from burping.
Could gene editing could solve the cow methane problem? Although innovation sometimes over promises and under delivers, there are times when it's necessary. When the alternatives are unlikely to get delivered at the scale we need. And cow based methane looks like just such a case.
What the public believes about EV's matters, even if it's not true
Politicians are not brave people, they want to do something that a large minority, if not the majority, will support. Which is why what the public believes about Electric Vehicles' really matters. And why 40% saying that they don't think EV's are better for the environment is a worry.
A practical example of 'solving' the artisanal mining challenge
We know that 'solving' the artisanal mining challenges is something we need to do. We also know that it's complicated. But people have done it, or at least started it - a Mozambique case study
Using 'waste' solar to heat our water
Is there a better way to heat water for our buildings. One that also 'soaks' up the surplus (and now wasted) cheap solar electricity. It turns out there is.
Re-using existing grid connections !
One challenge in building a new electrified energy intensive production facility is getting access to the (hopefully green) electricity. Has a West Virginia project found the solution?
Is farmer insurance a green bottleneck ?
Insurance best practice can clash with sustainability. Without insurance, impacted communities would probably not continue. And it's the same for farmers.
What investors think about green steel matters
It's sometimes easy to forget that financial markets are driven by sentiment. The 'facts' that investors believe to be true matter. For green steel, apparently 80% of investors believe the risk profile for metallurgical coal will increase in the next decade. A clear market signal.
De-carbonising electricity will take time
Energy security can be an abstract concept. But sometimes it's very real. And it can clash with environmental concerns. In that case energy security seems to win, as it recently has done in India.
EV charging & industry consolidation - a pre-requisite?
The EV charging chicken and egg? We need more high quality 'public' charging to drive EV sales - which will probably require industry consolidation
Why we need to protect insect populations
A large percentage of our crops require pollination. And for that we need insects. So why, as investors, are we allowing the companies we are invested in to take actions that put pollinators at risk?