20 years of sustainable investing and what this tells us about the future - Flipbook - Page 18
Towards a more sustainable future:
20 YEARS OF SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
33%
‘Sustainable and ESG’ investment represents
33% of the $51.4 trillion in total US AuM,
according to the Forum for Sustainable and
Responsible Investment’s 2020 trends report.
3,000
European Morningstar data show 505 ESG
funds launched and 253 more shifted to an
ESG focus in 2020, and there are now more
than 3,000 sustainable products available in
Europe alone.
CLEANER
Human activity has increased the amount
of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to
levels higher than at any time during the last
800,000 years. The Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Special Report
on Global Warming showed humans have
caused around 1°C of global warming since
the pre-industrial era (1850-1900).
Plastic pollution has increased tenfold since
1980.
400
Fertilisers entering coastal ecosystems have
produced more than 400 ocean ‘dead zones’,
a combined area greater than that of the UK.
Between 300 and 400 million tons of heavy
metals, solvents, toxic sludge and other wastes
from industrial facilities are dumped annually
into the world’s waters.
55%
Half of us (55%) now live in cities and this is
expected to reach 68% by 2025. Current cities
emit 50% to 60% of global greenhouse gases.
(Source: UN)
75%
Some 75% of land surface has been significantly
altered by humans, over 85% of wetlands
have been lost and 66% of the ocean area is
experiencing increasing cumulative impacts
(source: The Intergovernmental Science and Policy
Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services’
(IPBES) 2020 Global Assessment Report).
2019
US Business Roundtable issues
statement on purpose of
corporations, moving away from shareholder
primacy towards a commitment to all
stakeholders, including customers, employees,
suppliers and wider communities.
2020
The world grinding to a halt
during the Covid-19 pandemic
led to a 2.6 gigatonne drop in CO2 emissions
and a so-called anthropause, a term coined
to describe the more welcome ecological
consequences of lockdown. Academics suggest
similar cuts are needed every two years to meet
Paris agreement targets, highlighting the scale
of the decarbonisation challenge.
18 - Liontrust: 20 Years of Sustainable Investing
7,348
There were 7,348 recorded disaster events
worldwide from 2000 to 2020: approximately
1.23 million people died – at a rate four times
higher in poorer than richer countries – with more
than four billion affected in total. These caused
$2.97 trillion in losses to the global economy.
