green

In 2018, I started to rejig my portfolio to bring it more closely into line with my values and lifestyle. I was feeling increasingly uncomfortable with returns on my investments coming from sectors which continue to pollute the world and add to global warming. I wanted to introduce more ethically sound investments which are more environmentally friendly given the warnings from the science community on our climate emergency. I became alarmed whilst reading the special report from the IPCC which prompted this article "Climate Change...Be The Change".

The world is changing very quickly and the global climate emergency is moving to the top of the political agenda. As these changes unfold, I have put my existing funds under the spotlight and gradually removed the investments which are part of the problem such as those holding the big oil and gas companies involved in fossil fuel production as well as the large banks which fund their activities. This inevitably includes my low cost global index funds such as Vanguard Lifestrategy which had previously been a core holding of my portfolio.

I have replaced these with investments which focus on areas which are part of the solution - for example, renewable energy such as wind and solar power as well as other areas such as green hydrogen which is part of the mix and making a positive contribution towards a more sustainable world.

"Future people don't get to choose what future they live in. We're deciding for them...now. Our choices will be effectively irreversible". (Alex Steffen)


My portfolio became fossil-free in September 2019. My Climate Change book was published in January 2020 (see margin --->).


2023

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8 comments:

  1. Jane Crow21 May 2019 at 11:25

    Hello,

    As a Newbie Investor and a long-time Eco-Warrior, I've been following your blog with much interest. Trying to invest ethically and on a budget, it's proving very difficult to follow much of the better investment advice around. The Global Energy Clean Tracker I bought is in freefall - I believe mostly thanks to currency exchange rates - and so far my small investment amount and research is mostly limiting me to equities, quite scary in the current market!

    I wholeheartedly support your attempts to presuade the bigger companies to offer more ethical funds/trackers. I was interested in Vanguard and Blackrock funds, but having read this piece in the Guardian today, it seems their bad attitude goes to the top: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/may/21/blackrock-investor-climate-crisis-blackrock-assets Needless to say, I won't be investing with either now.

    More blog posts about your experiments in Green Investing (especially on a budget with Newbies in mind!) would be much appreciated.

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    Replies
    1. diy investor (UK)21 May 2019 at 11:51

      Jane,

      Thanks for your interest, I guess we are all doing what we can given our level of awareness. Of course, the oil majors are doing a lot to muddy the waters via disinformation and say one thing and do the opposite so it can be difficult to see all the angles with clarity.

      You may already know about Ethical Consumer
      https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethicalcampaigns/carbon-divestment

      You may also be interested in the Big Exchange
      https://bigexchange.com/

      Good luck with your investing and green campaigning.

      Delete
  2. Juliet1 December 2019 at 13:08

    Hi
    Am interested in your green portfolio though find myself where you used to be - i.e. looking at building a I.T. SIPP/ISA portfolio and live off the natural yield as I approach 55 in a few years' time. So far, am looking at TRIG, JLEN, BSIF as components of a 'theme' sector (understand the total return approach but feel natural yield approach is (even if sub) optimal for me).

    Any thoughts on one or two ideas that may combined both?

    If I was to consider a 'growth' / LTBH theme in the SIPP, which would your go-to-investment be? (I have bought, partly after reading about it here and on IT Investor, IEM).

    Finally, you have certainly down well with ITM and AFC; wanted to read about Proton Power, but the link takes me to...AFC (again)?

    Thanks for any feedback.



    I would like to include


    ReplyDelete
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    1. diy investor (UK)2 December 2019 at 10:45

      Hello Juliet,

      The renewable trusts you mention sound feasible for income but unfortunately I am not qualified to provide specific advice. I merely post a record of my personal investing journey - a long and winding road it seems!

      Regarding Proton, if you click on the sidebar for November, the link to my post for this company should take you to the write-up.

      Best wishes with your ISA and SIPP income.

      Delete
  3. Juliet9 July 2020 at 15:43

    Hi

    Have you seen this today:


    https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-hydrogen-fund/energy-industry-veterans-to-launch-hydrogen-investment-fund-idUKKBN24A1YB

    Might be of interest?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. diy investor (UK)9 July 2020 at 18:14

      Interesting development, but I suppose not really surprising. I will watch out for the launch later in the year.

      Delete
  4. Joyanta7 January 2021 at 07:50

    juts bought you climate change book

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. diy investor (UK)7 January 2021 at 12:26

      Thanks, let me know what you think and how it could be improved for the next edition!

      Delete

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