With the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) scheduled to begin October 31st in Glasgow many of the themes that the conference addresses have taken on an added level of urgency in recent years. 

 

The uncomfortable truth is that the continued warming of our atmosphere and the devastation wrought by ever-stronger hurricanes and typhoons has become more commonplace. Those 'once in a 100 years' events are happening with increasing frequency. The utilization of our resources with reckless abandon continues unabated, to the detriment of our environment and the fauna that occupy it. Droughts have wreaked havoc on our food supply chain, and the global pandemic has laid bare the challenges of social inequality.

 

Daunting to be sure, these issues will be front and centre at COP26, where the four-pillar approach of the conference is as follows:

 

1. Secure global net zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach

2. Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats

3. Mobilize finance

4. Work together to deliver

 

The common thread in the above mentioned goals is the need to leverage the immense amount of innovation and technology that has been developed in the last half century. Necessity being the mother of invention, looking to sustainable technologies to address many of the issues we and our future generations will face gives us the best chance of attainable our goals of stemming the damage caused since the Industrial Revolution.

 

To that end, I include in this blog post a link to 'The SusTech Series' publication produced by the Global Portfolio Advisory Committee. 

 

It is a compendium of the publications the team has published that touches on aspects of our daily lives and how technology goes a long way in solving the problems mentioned above. While not a cure for many of the divisive issues and conflicts present in the world today it does provide a framework and rationale for why investment in this area remains a convincing argument for the long-term investor. They are also themes that feature in the portfolios I manage, including my own.

 

Greentech - our key to cutting fossil fuel emissions. Whether through the widespread use of electric vehicles (EVs) or the roll out of wind and solar power generation, governments and private enterprises alike are financing large-scale projects that aim to reduce the dependency on oil and coal, and provide the power that our cars, buses and trucks will require in the future. 

 

AgriTech and FoodTech - another area ripe for disruption is how we grow our food. Vertical farming, urban agriculture and the acceptance of more plant-based protein all have been developed in a relatively short period of time. With a global population slated to top 8 billion in my lifetime, it's no surprise that we will need more of this technology to feed those mouths.

 

FinTech - financial technologies have evolved quickly in the past decade, and are likely to continue along this torrid pace for a while yet. With 1.7 billion of us 'unbanked'; there is ample opportunity to help those rise from poverty. Blockchain and digital payments are also areas that didn't exist at the turn of the century, and are now entering the mainstream. 

 

HealthTech - With an aging population comes rising healthcare costs and unequal access to care. Remote patient monitoring, telemedicine, and robotics in surgery all may seem futuristic, but they are gaining popularity today. The global pandemic laid bare the risks of poor societal health, and technology is becoming increasing accepted as a method to help bridge the gap.

 

Smart  Cities - Urban centres are warmer than the countryside, leading to health issues and the development of micro climates that become feedback loops that affect both people and animals alike. Energy efficiency, waste treatment, and public transportation solutions are all investable themes that we will need more of in the future.

 

I trust you will enjoy reading The SusTech Series as much as I did. It serves to provide a backdrop for the type of investments we can all make to better align our values with value. Some of these innovative technologies will likely enjoy secular growth, perhaps for decades, creating potentially compelling long-term opportunities for companies and their shareholders alike.