Nearly 500 corporate leaders and institutional investors representing $20 trillion in capital met at the United Nations Thursday to discuss the risks and opportunities presented by climate change. The gathering called itself the largest ever meeting of investment types specifically convened to discuss climate change. Attendees mused about how they could continue to make money in a climate-changed future, set a price for carbon that wouldn’t hurt them financially, pressure the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to endorse disclosing climate-related risks, and prompt the United States to adopt legislation slashing its greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 90 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. “This action plan reflects the many investment opportunities that exist today to dent global warming pollution, build profits, and benefit the global economy,” said Mindy Lubber of investment group Ceres. “Leveraging the vast energy-efficiency opportunities at home and abroad holds especially great promise for investors.” Attendees pledged to invest $10 billion over the next two years on green tech and to pressure companies to divulge their climate risks.
