Institutional Investors Inch Toward Global Warming Opportunities

(December, 10, 2009) – With the Copenhagen climate conference underway, two recent events give greater credence to the idea that institutional investors are increasingly buying into global warming investments.

The World Bank, in a press release, has announced that it has raised $130 million from institutional investors such as the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and Sweden’s AP2 and AP3 via a green bond issuance. The bonds, of which this is the third such offering in a year, are intended to aid in the financing of low-carbon production.

Besides the bond issuance, a leading European institutional investor—Norway’s Government Pension Fund, the world’s second largest sovereign fund—has decided to be the lead sponsor in a system meant to monitor water usage. The Carbon Disclosure Project’s Water Disclosure Project is meant to make investors aware of the risk and opportunities with regard to changing patterns in water availability, according to London’s Financial Times. While the Norwegian fund has drawn criticism for overly active advocacy investing, its agreement to be a lead sponsor suggests that the project will enjoy healthy financial backing.

This news comes as manmade climate change—and, in some circles, any sort of climate change—comes under increased scrutiny from both ends of the political spectrum. With global leaders gathered in Copenhagen to discuss potential climate agreements, recently retrieved e-mails from the United Kingdom’s East Anglia University are being used as evidence that climate-change proponents were falsifying data.