Investor Ultimatum - Invest in Clean Energy Now

The former CEO of one of the world's largest and most influential pension funds has delivered an ultimatum to big corporations to switch to clean energy or face an investor backlash.

Speaking prior to heading to Australia where he will be a keynote speaker at the All-Energy Conference in Melbourne, Mr Buenrostro said it is "crunch time for the planet and the heads of the global corporate community must be held accountable."

Mr Buenrostro was CEO of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) (which has assets totalling more than $200 billion) which was the first public pension fund in the United States to invest in the growing clean technology industry, committing more than US$1.5billion to the sector.

In stinging comments, Buenrostro said "superannuation and pension funds have immense power - as they control the flow of trillions of dollars of investment capital - and they should give strong consideration to businesses that invest a certain proportion of their revenue in reversing the impact of climate change.

"I would implore more pension and super funds to withhold investments in companies unless these companies become significantly more aware of their carbon footprint and respond accordingly.

"This will not only make them more efficient but more profitable, because a low carbon business is a profitable business. Frankly, these companies need to make changes to the way they operate, otherwise the planet itself is in dire straits."

With clean tech investments increasing significantly year on year and targeted to expand further, these comments from a world leading investor are likely to weigh heavily.

CarbonEdge is pleased to advise we have secured an interview with Mr Buenrostro during his brief visit to Australia. We expect the interview to be available to subscribers by the first week in November. CarbonEdge has also been invited to meet with a number of other international guests of the All-Energy Conference. For further details of the Conference, click here.

 

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