We started counting green investments in 2009, just as The Great Recession was starting to turn around. Research was telling us that roughly $10 trillion of investments in green sectors were needed by 2020 to avoid worst-case climate scenarios. A friend and mentor Hazel Henderson posed the question, “How close are we?”, and I decided to start counting.

Our first Green Transition Scoreboard report found $1.2 trillion of private investments in renewable energy, green construction, cleantech startup funding, and corporate R&D. The dismissive talking point of the day was around dependence on government subsidies, so we intentionally screened out public investments like subsidies and gov’t owned utilities.

My, how far we’ve come! Although we’ve added a few more sectors like energy efficiency, water, and peer-to-peer lending, the growth has been tremendous. We are ahead of the curve, and I expect to surpass the $10 trillion mark sometime this year.

Hazel loves to share her futurist thoughts on the next big green technologies, and this year she’s focused on how expanding production of food with saltwater agriculture can achieve both better human nutrition and reduce climate risk. If you’ve never heard of halophytes, then prepare to have your mind blown.

You can read the full report here: 2018 Green Transition Scoreboard Report

For the nerds among us, here’s my gigantic excel spreadsheet so you can check my math.

Cheers to the green economy,

Tim