2050 and sustainable investment themes for a greener planet

Dire news about climate change and the extreme weather events of 2021 has dominated the news over recent months and it is easy to get pessimistic. The BBC put out an article last week that 60% of young people are ‘extremely worried’ about climate change. The world we have created is not perceived as a safe place by our kids!

However, we have to remain positive that the tools exist for countries to reach net zero by 2050. We have the technology and increasingly the right costs to clean up energy supply and electrify the green economy. 

There are also many positives to the world in 2050 and its worth taking some time to imagine this. 

The explosion in nature-based carbon offsetting and reforestation and restoration of resources such as peat bogs is great news for nature. As long as this can be achieved successfully with the climate change that is happening, 2050 will see many more parks, woodlands, conservation areas on both land and sea and hopefully a much greater appreciation of nature and the natural systems that support us.

Everything will be electrified by a low carbon grid. Smart systems will power homes and businesses. Potentially even cars will power the grid as millions of batteries can be utilised as an on-demand power source.

Housing will be intelligent, efficient & heated to a constant 20c with heat pumps. Houses with green roofs and drainage systems will handle massive deluges of rainfall.

There will be less traffic as we move to working from home & alternative transport systems (trams, e-scooters) and noise pollution will be reduced by 90%. Living by a main road is no longer such an issue. Even better is that the air is cleaner than it has been for 150 years.

Litter is largely a thing of the past as we move to a total recycling model with all packaging recyclable or biodegradable.

All of this will lead to massive infrastructure changes; with 40c summers and much heavier rainfall most urban areas will have to upgrade infrastructure to cope with these conditions. Cities such as Hull and Bristol are likely to have to look at massive structural engineering projects to cope with even modest sea level rises.

Saving the planet has the possibility of making peoples’ lives better. We are headed for a cleaner, less polluted world where hopefully we can live more closely with the natural systems around us. I for one am hopeful about this. 

At Oneplanetcapital we are investing in the businesses of tomorrow that will tackle climate change across sectors like transportation, electrification, energy storage, renewable energy and consumer sustainability.

For more information on the new wave of companies that are coming to market to solve the climate and environmental issues of the day contact us at info@oneplanet.capital