According to the UN, the world will need to invest 2.4 trillion dollars each year until 2035 in order to avoid catastrophic damage from climate change. With that in mind, London-based startup Clim8 is mobilizing small investors to drive the necessary change through its sustainable investment app, arguing that “savings shouldn’t cost the earth.”
Clim8 points out that companies and institutional investors are failing to put the brakes on carbon emissions, with a vast majority of the world’s top 500 companies expected to miss the goals set out in the Paris Agreement. The startup believes that individuals have a large role to play in the transition to a decarbonized economy.
“Our mission is to move billions of pounds of investment into companies that can have a positive impact on our climate,” says Duncan Grierson, the company’s founder and CEO. “That means out of fossil fuels and into clean energy and truly green, sustainable companies.”
A portfolio for the future
Clim8 will make it easy for anyone to invest in publicly listed companies that are making a great effort to positively impact the environment. Users can invest in sectors such as clean energy, mobility, technology, sustainable food and recycling.
Moreover, investors can choose from curated portfolios containing different funds and stocks, which are selected through thorough research that evaluates how a company’s activities impact the climate. In addition, Clim8 will offer green bonds.
Some examples of companies that could make the selection are the energy company Ørsted, wind turbine manufacturer Vestas, and energy management and automation firm Schneider Electric.
“According to Morgan Stanley, almost nine out of ten millennials are interested in sustainable investing,” says Grierson. “With the largest ever transfer of intergenerational wealth expected to result in 24 trillion dollars being under the control of the millennial population by 2020, we feel that Clim8 will be particularly attractive to them.”
Indeed, interest in the app is readily apparent. Within a day after launching its crowdfunding round on CrowdCube, Clim8 was overfunded, raising well over its target of four hundred thousand pounds. More than 5,000 people have registered to gain early access to the app, which is set to launch in the second quarter of this year.