Ten years ago, I started counting private investments in the global green economy. Together with renowned futurist Hazel Henderson from Ethical Market Media, we put together the first Green Transition Scoreboard that detailed $1.3 trillion of green investments. I’ve been at it ever since, aggregating year-by-year the growth of the global green economy.
Here’s a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Tim taking on Kevin O’Leary back in 2010 when our total hit $2 trillion:
My, how far we’ve come! I’m proud to announce that this year’s report is out, detailing more than $10 trillion! Here’s the breakdown by sector:
The nerds in the crowd should definitely download the full report titled Transitioning to Science Based Investing to read all of Hazel’s valuable insights taking us from the sad realities of today’s state of science-denial to an optimistic future with major breakthroughs in areas like pollution cleanup and plant-based foods.
My personal takeaway from this research is that green sectors are now an unstoppable economic force. Politicians and investors have the power to speed up or slow down this green growth, but it is now so big that economies of scale are kicking in and many green technologies are economically competitive without subsidies. The emerging impacts of income inequality and ecosystem degradation are getting worse, forcing the economy to adapt and evolve.
Countries that embrace this transition by implementing Green New Deal policies will undoubtedly surge ahead of the countries with regressive, science-denying leadership. Similarly, investors need to take note of which companies are ahead of the curve, and which ones are lagging behind.
There still is so much work to be done as we continue the global transition to a green economy, but I’m inspired by the optimism held within my decade-long research. It’s no longer some far-off future with unfamiliar technologies. The green economy is here and now, to the tune of 10 trillion dollars.