The Economist is holding its 2020 “Investing for Impact” conference in New York City on February 13, 2020. The keynote speaker will be Jeremy Grantham, CEO of investment firm Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. (GMO). Grantham has invested 98 percent of his own net worth in fighting climate change and GMO is also focused on the environment.
Grantham’s foundation invests more than $30 million a year in “green tech,” which has included a solid-state lithium battery that Volkswagon is testing for electric cars, and a gene-edited potato that resists infection by beetles.
His foundation also funds research into the psychology of climate denial, trying to figure out how to combat the climate-change-deniers promoting business interests that Grantham believes will doom the planet.
Grantham says US-based foundations currently contribute just 2 percent of their wealth to environmental causes so, while he tries to stop climate change and improve the environment, he’s also asking colleagues to up the ante and join him. Here’s to #impactinvestment!