The Baillie Gifford Positive Change Strategy has two objectives of equal importance: to deliver attractive long-term investment returns and to contribute towards a more sustainable and inclusive world. All companies in the portfolio contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.
Energy, water, transport, health and other infrastructure are critical for socio-economic development. Yet, infrastructure suffers from an annual investment gap of USD 2.5-3 trillion globally, despite the attention that this challenge has attracted. The ongoing public health emergency is a telling reminder of the risks of underinvestment in essential infrastructure. Among other things, underinvestment compromises our ability to effectively respond to systemic challenges.
Examine how the auto industry transformed over the last decade, why it matters, and if automakers are ready to once again transform their products to become a more sustainable industry
In the U.S., the presidential elections in November 2020 could portend an increase in renewables growth in the next few years in case former Vice President Joe Biden wins, subject to Congressional support, as his plan includes $2 trillion in clean energy spending, while targeting a carbon-free power sector by 2035.
Our ocean is a crucial – but often misunderstood – necessity for a healthy planet. Besides creating livelihoods for billions of people and being a source of natural beauty, our ocean serves as a tremendous asset to climate change mitigation, absorbing 93% of climate heat and sequestering 25% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Energy is essential to increased economic prosperity. But if global energy growth continues in line with past trends and energy supply continues to depend primarily on fossil fuels, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will rise to levels that threaten catastrophic climate change. Even after allowing for significant improvements in energy productivity and for the impact of announced policies, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Current Policies Scenario shows us en route to 3°C warming
Pension funds can potentially play a critical role in combating climate change by providing much needed fi nancing and investment. Intervention is necessary to bridge the fi nancing gap of between $1.6 trillion to $3.8 trillion in mitigation costs and $180 billion in adaptation costs to limit global temperature rise and ecosystem collapse.1 Institutional investors such as pension funds have two motivations to providing such fi nancing. On one hand, if the investor community does not act, they face a potential portfolio value loss of $10.7 trillion triggered by the materialization of transition, physical and regulatory risks. On the other hand, the transition to a 2°C scenario is expected to yield $2.1 trillion in global “green” investment opportunities for investors.
Water flows as a prerequisite through every one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially those on food security,
healthy lives, energy, sustainable cities, sustainable consumption and production, and marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
SDG 6 specifically reflects the critical importance of water in its own right, ensuring availability and sustainable management of
water and sanitation for all. There is also growing recognition of the crucial contribution of water-related investments to climate
resilience and to delivering on the Paris Agreement. Beyond environmental concerns, sustainable and collaborative management
of shared water resources also strengthens international peace and security.
All children should be able to read by age 10. Reading is a gateway for learning as the child progresses through school—and conversely, an inability to read slams that gate shut. Beyond this, when children cannot read, it’s usually a clear indication that school systems aren’t well enough organized to help children learn in other areas such as math, science, and the humanities either. And although it is possible to learn later in life with enough effort, children who don’t read by age 10—or at the latest, by the end of primary school—usually fail to master reading later in their schooling career.
Putting nature and people at the centre of food system transformation.Transforming our food system is one of the most important challenges we face in the 21st century. Providing food security for a growing population and restoring the natural systems that food production depends upon, while ensuring social equality and equity requires a systems-based approach