Add investors to the growing list of people who want to protect the climate.
On Jan. 9, BlackRock Inc.—a global investment firm that manages nearly $7 trillion dollars in assets—joined an investment pact focused on reducing carbon emissions, Climate Action 100+. With BlackRock’s commitment, Climate Action 100+ represents more than $41 trillion dollars in investments. That’s a lot of capital and another influential name committed to protecting the climate.
While every investor wants to make money, the climate pact represents an increasing number of people who also want their investments to make a positive change in the world, especially for issues like climate. Melanie Nakagawa, head of climate initiative at investment firm Princeville Capital, said—in a recent episode of "Off the Menu"—that this type of “impact investing” is becoming the norm as climate concerns are viewed by the financial world as an untenable risk.
.@blackrock's big news today on climate and investments is dominating financial conversations.
— Nuclear Energy Inst. (@NEI) January 9, 2020
Watch @princevillecap's Melanie Nakagawa and @MonicaTrauzzi discuss why large companies consider higher-carbon assets a risk and what they're doing to adapt.https://t.co/Ag8arvlZ4Q pic.twitter.com/qyYH2OTpZu
“[Climate] awareness is rapidly changing, and I believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance,” said BlackRock Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink in a letter to clients. “In the near future—and sooner than most anticipate—there will be a significant reallocation of capital.”
While reducing carbon emissions and transitioning to a low-carbon economy will involve more than the electricity sector, it still makes up 28 percent of emissions. When you consider that going carbon-free in other sectors like transportation or industry will require more electricity, generating power as cleanly as possible becomes even more important. For this reason, nuclear energy—which provides more than 55 percent of our current carbon-free electricity—plays a major role in holding down carbon emissions.
Additionally, advanced reactors expand the future of nuclear and clean energy. In fact, leading tech entrepreneur Bill Gates sees great opportunities in advanced nuclear and even helped launch TerraPower LLC to design a next-generation reactor.
He’s not alone. Dozens of new companies are working on advanced reactors that represent the cutting-edge in nuclear technology. Advanced reactors promise an affordable and reliable source of clean electricity, plus the ability to produce clean transportation fuels and building materials and to desalinate drinking water, while offering inherent safety features and even the ability to recycle used fuel and reduce waste.
As more investors push for clean energy solutions, nuclear energy leads the way in carbon-free electricity today and is innovating for the reactors and grid of tomorrow.
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