The Ultimate Climate Solution: It's Time to Move the Money??

I have some very positive news. We have the money we need to solve the climate crisis. More than 3 percent of all the money in the world is currently invested in the fossil industry by you, me, and everyone else who has pension savings, pays taxes – or simply has a bank account. If we can move that money to where it's needed, we’ll be well on our way to creating a better future.

There is a lot of amazing climate action happening out there. Renewables are being built out at record speed globally. China’s carbon emissions are expected to peak this year, much sooner than expected, and in the EU, an unprecedented collapse in the coal and gas electricity generation has led to a record drop in power sector emissions.

Unfortunately, the problems are increasing as well. We have just crossed the 1.5°C threshold for an entire year. The average global sea surface temperature reached 20.97°C in January, breaking the already alarming heat record from last year. The Gulf Stream (AMOC) is on a severe tipping course , and we have now had four consecutive years when insurance losses from natural catastrophes have topped $100 billion .

Despite all these alarming warnings, many countries with oil and gas reserves are expanding their production. And if this wasn’t bad enough, most other countries are also increasing their fossil fuel subsidies, which now amount to almost two-thirds of all the money that governments around the world spend on healthcare for their citizens.

This can’t continue. There is no way we will solve the climate crisis without focusing on the elephant in the room – Stop burning fossil fuels that represent 87% of the global CO2 emissions.

So what can we do about this?

I worked in the finance industry for 15 years until I decided to devote all my time to creating the global climate solutions platform, We Don’t Have Time , in 2017.

Drawing on these experiences, it’s obvious to me that the solution spells M.O.N.E.Y.

A lot of people say that we don't have enough money to transition to a fossil-free economy. However, the truth is that we have more than enough money for this transition, and the long-term return on investment will be significantly higher if we reallocate our financial resources.

Take a look at these numbers:

• Over 6,500 pension funds and other institutional investors hold bonds and shares in coal, oil, and gas companies to an amount of $ 3.05 trillion USD .
• The world’s nations subsidized fossil fuels with $7 trillion USD in 2022 , an increase of $2 trillion in just two years.
• IEA estimates that $ 4.5 trillion USD in clean energy investments are needed annually to limit warming to 1.5°C.

All this money flowing in the wrong direction is not just someone else’s money. It is my money, your money, and everyone else’s around the world who pays taxes, has a bank account, or has invested money in a pension fund.

A recent example is Sweden’s largest pension fund, AP7, home to savings of 5.7 million Swedes, more than half of the country’s population. This fund invests in Saudi Aramco, one of the biggest, most profitable, and expansive oil companies in the world. Most of these people have no idea that their savings are invested this way.

Same with fossil fuel subsidies. This is when governments are using the taxpayers' money to support oil, gas and coal companies, of whom many have made record-profits since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Politicians often argue that these subsidies are needed to support the poor, for example by lowering the price of diesel and gasoline. That’s often not true. Many reports have revealed that these subsidies are mostly benefiting higher-income households , deepening global inequalities, preventing the transition to green energy, and adding more money to the fossil fuel companies’ record profits than to helping the people.

Moving the money gets momentum

Moving the money in a green direction is not only possible. It has already started happening. Barclays has announced it will stop investing in new oil and gas projects. The Dutch pension fund PFZW has sold its holdings in fossil fuel companies, and the Church of England and Harvard University are doing the same.

A main reason why this shift is now accelerating is the COP28 agreement, in which 197 countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels. The agreement has been rightly criticized for being weak and full of loopholes, but it is nonetheless a dealbreaker in finance. Because if the world has agreed to leave a whole industry behind, why should I invest in it?

It’s not only in finance world things are starting to happen. The Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act is a massive undertaking that increased green subsidies with $ 1.2 trillion USD and created other incentives to accelerate the shift to a greener economy. European Union, the Green New Deal is striving in the same direction.

However, these positive developments – and many others throughout the world – might soon be at risk of being slowed down.

The ultimate election year

2024 has been dubbed the Ultimate Election Year . An estimated two billion people – more than ever before in history – could head to the polls, as more than 50 countries plus the whole European Union are holding elections.

Some of these elections might turn out bad for the climate. And if that happens, it will be difficult to get rid of the fossil fuel subsidies or steer them in the opposite direction.

But as citizens, we will still have the power to move our money to another bank or shift our investments to greener funds. And this, in turn, will have an effect on politics. Why? Because when an increasing number of large institutional investors begin steering investments away from fossil fuel companies, fewer politicians will come to their rescue. When that happens, the fossil industry will also have to start changing.

So this year, if you have the opportunity to head for the ballots in an election, please vote to move the money. And if you have money in the bank or invested in a fund – try to make sure it is invested sustainably. If not, move it. Every dollar counts.

Join our ‘Move the Money Movement’

We Don’t Have Time's ambition is to unite all investors who believe in the power of moving the money. This includes private investors, angel investors, green funds, banks, hedge funds, venture capital firms, investment companies, and anyone making a living from finance. Together, we can push for this narrative and bring other investors on board.

We will call it 'Move The Money Movement,' and our ambition is to shift as much money as possible from fossil to green, and at the same time, create global awareness around the importance of moving the money.

I once helped a 15-year-old girl who stood alone in front of the Swedish Parliament to raise global awareness of our climate crisis. Now, let's focus on the solutions by creating a global financial movement to move the money!

Are you or your investment firm interested in being part of this initiative?

Reach out to me at [email protected] or connect on LinkedIn and tell me who you are, and we’ll take it from there.

Together, We Can Move The Money??, but We Don’t Have Time to wait!

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