The trouble with the environment; Why investors get interested

​Those of us who care about the future of the planet are dominated by one word: environment.  Mine into any of the theories of change and intervention from Brundtland’s “Sustainable Development” to MacArthur’s “Circular Economy” with the numerous theories of climate change in between, and the bedrock of their theories is provided by a concept of the environment.  

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At conference after conference, seminar, workshop, trade shows and exhibitions, the literature, presentations, powerpoints and speeches the environment concept is ever-present.
But our environment does not need any of these theories or the businesses they inspire.  We do. 
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The real issue is human life on the planet, not the planet itself.  For the bulk of the existence of the planet, human existence has not featured.  The planet’s environment was inimical to the life of mankind.  The torrid dramas of the planet’s life are intense and violent.  Mankind’s existence is far too fragile and hard to sustain to have been possible during the vast majority of Earth’s life.  It has only been possible during the temperate period in Earth’s history that started very, very recently.

Our concern is not with the environment or the planet.  It is with mankind’s life on the planet. 

And if that life on our planet is to be productive, efficient, pleasant, safe and left for our children in a good state, then innovation and solutions are required. That is why investors get interested – as well as for a profitable return.
Let us be clear about this and about the implications it has:

• Firstly, mankind’s life depends upon the environment.  It provides us with the nourishment, the climate, the oxygen without which our lives would not be possible.
• Secondly, we have, throughout our existence and now more than ever, engineered the environment to provide us with what we need.
• Thirdly, we can now see that the manner in which we have engineered it has done a considerable amount of damage to its capacity to support us.
• Fourthly, this capacity is nowhere more clearly compromised than in the provision of essential resources, the first of which is water.  We cannot live without water, but whole regions which have been sustaining life for most of the history of mankind are becoming desertified right now.

So we support environmental technology innovation, but although its theme is the environment, its purpose is entirely human.  The benefits are not environmental.  This is why Green Angel Syndicate likes to say, it is concerned with resources. We specialise in energy, transport and water in our investment portfolio.
The founders of Green Angel Syndicate are also regular speakers at industry events for both investments and Cleantech.

Do get in touch if you would like to join the discussion.