The extreme heatwave crisis affecting parts of the UK, Europe, the US and Asia, underscores that private finance must be “urgently unlocked and mobilised by the financial sector, as politicians continue to skirt the issue”, says Nigel Green, the chief executive and founder of deVere Group.
He say; “The consequences of years and years of outrageous inaction from politicians on the climate crisis are now being laid bare.
“The UK’s Met Office has issued its first-ever ‘Red Extreme’ heat alert; the worst heat wave in Europe is causing an avalanche of devastating wildfires across Spain, Portugal, Croatia and France; a heat dome has formed over the southwest and central US, smashing temperature records; and almost 90 cities in China are living under heat alerts.
“Data shows heatwaves have been on the rise in recent years, yet governments around the world are either unwilling or unable to funnel the resources necessary to try and tackle the problem head-on.”
He continues: “Trillions of dollars are needed. This is why it is now critical that private money is unlocked and mobilised in the battle to mitigate the worst effects of human-created climate change.
“For this to happen, all sectors within the financial industry need to step-up, including financial advisories, insurance firms, banks, wealth and asset managers, investment companies, fintech groups, banks and auditors.
“If we fail on this, the level of finance will not be available, nor at the pace necessary, to halt the catastrophic effects of global warming.”
The deVere Group CEO’s calls come after he has publicly criticised some within the financial advisory industry who fail to urge clients to invest in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) orientated investments.
He adds that clients’ investment strategies would benefit. “Funds investing in entities with robust ESG credentials have outperformed their benchmarks over recent years. From a risk management point of view, including these companies in your portfolio is, clearly, a sensible decision to take.”
The deVere CEO concludes: “If mega amounts of private money are not urgently put towards battling climate change – the defining issue of our time – we are doomed to fail.”
