A British billionaire has criticised the government for failing to act on climate change and has called on businesses to step up instead.
Karam Hinduja said a “wave of impact investment” is required to create the “global paradigm shift needed to save the planet.”
He said despite a surge of support for the Greens in the European Elections and a steady rise up for the political agenda of the Green New Deal, there are still no “green governments” on the horizon.
But he added it is now up to the private sector to act on climate change and step up where governments have failed.
The spread of climate science denial and the rise of right wing populism also threatens to derail meaningful action taking place, he said.
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Masked Butterflyfish (Chaetodon semilarvatus) swimming over a bommie reef in the Egyptian Red Sea marine reserve of Ras Mohamed, off the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula
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Rising sea temperatures cause corals to bleach (go white) and die
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A giant clam is seen nestled among coral reefs at the Obhor coast, 30 kms north of the Red Sea city of Jeddah
AFP/Gett
4/25 Coral reef in seychelles that has degraded
After the reef has died they break up and become rubble. On this reef there is some regrowth of young corals so there is hope for recovery
Getty
5/25 Coral gardening
A rabbitfish in a net
H Goehlich
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A school of fish and a sea can in a healthy coral reef off the coast of Isla Mujeres, Mexico
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Sky views of great barrier reef in Australia
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A fish swims among coral reefs at the Obhor coast
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Researchers from the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in the southern Israeli resort city Eilat monitor coral growth while scuba diving in the Red Sea
AFP/Getty
10/25 Coral gardening
A rope nursery
Nature Seychelles
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Fish swimming off the coast of Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Hurghada. The rebounding tourism sector is worrisome for the fragile marine ecosystem
AFP/Getty
12/25 Coral gardening
A parrotfish on the reef
C Reveret
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Gorgonian sea fan on a a coral reef in the Egyptian Red Sea marine reserve of Ras Mohamed
AFP/Getty
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A diver swims during a Great Barrier Reef experience on Lady Elliot Island, Australia
Getty/Tourism Queensland
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Jessica Bellsworthy, a PhD student conducting research on the coral reefs of the Gulf of Eilat, holds a coral in an aquarium at the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat
AFP/Getty
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Coral reefs in the water off the Obhor coast, 30 kms north of the Red Sea city of Jeddah in 2008
AFP/Getty
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A diver photographs golden anthias (Pseudanthias aurulentus) on a coral reef in the Egyptian Red Sea marine reserve of Ras Mohamed
AFP/Getty
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Getty/Lumix
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AFP/Getty
20/25 Coral gardening
A damselfish
Sarah Frias-Torres
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Divers swim past a coral reef in the Egyptian Red Sea marine reserve
AFP/Getty
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A puffer fish hovering above coral in the Egyptian Red Sea marine reserve
AFP/Getty
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Researchers from the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in the southern Israeli resort city Eilat monitor coral growth while scuba diving on June 12, 2017 in the Red Sea off Eilat. Global warming has in recent years caused colourful coral reefs to bleach and die around the world — but not in the Gulf of Eilat, or Aqaba, part of the northern Red Sea. At the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in southern Israeli resort city Eilat, dozens of aquariums have been lined up in rows just off the Red Sea shore containing samples of local corals
AFP/Getty
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AFP/Getty
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fish swimming off the coast of Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Hurghada
AFP/Getty
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Masked Butterflyfish (Chaetodon semilarvatus) swimming over a bommie reef in the Egyptian Red Sea marine reserve of Ras Mohamed, off the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula
AFP/Getty
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Rising sea temperatures cause corals to bleach (go white) and die
Getty/iStock
3/25
A giant clam is seen nestled among coral reefs at the Obhor coast, 30 kms north of the Red Sea city of Jeddah
AFP/Gett
4/25 Coral reef in seychelles that has degraded
After the reef has died they break up and become rubble. On this reef there is some regrowth of young corals so there is hope for recovery
Getty
5/25 Coral gardening
A rabbitfish in a net
H Goehlich
6/25
A school of fish and a sea can in a healthy coral reef off the coast of Isla Mujeres, Mexico
Getty/Lumix
7/25
Sky views of great barrier reef in Australia
Getty/iStock
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A fish swims among coral reefs at the Obhor coast
AFP/Getty
9/25
Researchers from the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in the southern Israeli resort city Eilat monitor coral growth while scuba diving in the Red Sea
AFP/Getty
10/25 Coral gardening
A rope nursery
Nature Seychelles
11/25
Fish swimming off the coast of Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Hurghada. The rebounding tourism sector is worrisome for the fragile marine ecosystem
AFP/Getty
12/25 Coral gardening
A parrotfish on the reef
C Reveret
13/25
Gorgonian sea fan on a a coral reef in the Egyptian Red Sea marine reserve of Ras Mohamed
AFP/Getty
14/25
A diver swims during a Great Barrier Reef experience on Lady Elliot Island, Australia
Getty/Tourism Queensland
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Jessica Bellsworthy, a PhD student conducting research on the coral reefs of the Gulf of Eilat, holds a coral in an aquarium at the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in Eilat
AFP/Getty
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Coral reefs in the water off the Obhor coast, 30 kms north of the Red Sea city of Jeddah in 2008
AFP/Getty
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A diver photographs golden anthias (Pseudanthias aurulentus) on a coral reef in the Egyptian Red Sea marine reserve of Ras Mohamed
AFP/Getty
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Getty/Lumix
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AFP/Getty
20/25 Coral gardening
A damselfish
Sarah Frias-Torres
21/25
Divers swim past a coral reef in the Egyptian Red Sea marine reserve
AFP/Getty
22/25
A puffer fish hovering above coral in the Egyptian Red Sea marine reserve
AFP/Getty
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Researchers from the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in the southern Israeli resort city Eilat monitor coral growth while scuba diving on June 12, 2017 in the Red Sea off Eilat. Global warming has in recent years caused colourful coral reefs to bleach and die around the world — but not in the Gulf of Eilat, or Aqaba, part of the northern Red Sea. At the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences in southern Israeli resort city Eilat, dozens of aquariums have been lined up in rows just off the Red Sea shore containing samples of local corals
AFP/Getty
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AFP/Getty
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fish swimming off the coast of Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Hurghada
AFP/Getty
“It is becoming clear there is a limit on what states can do on their own to turn back the tide on environmental disasters, so now the spotlight is on what the private sector can do instead by ramping up investments that make a positive contribution to the environment,” said Mr Hinduja, chief executive of Karma Network, which provides opinion and analysis on ethical investment.
He added that this “could put people instead of government leaders in the driving seat in the battle to counter climate change.”
With a surge in long-term investment contributing to environmental sustainability, “young people are interested in more than just making money – they are interested in doing good while they make money,” he said.
He added: “Why invest in dying products like fossil fuels when advances in clean energy, green subsidies and better regulation could effectively leave coal, oil and gas assets effectively stranded, wiping as much as $4 trillion of value from the global economy?
“And when the world’s largest tobacco company announces it is moving out of making cigarettes, you know it is a time for change.”
Philip Morris International, the company that owns Marlboro cigarettes, announced in January this year it will stop making cigarettes and begin rolling out smokeless alternatives such as e-cigarettes instead.
But Mr Hinduja said money does not provide the solution to manifesting real change.
“The world’s environmental problems will not go away simply by throwing money at them. New challenges need new solutions and next-generation investors want their investments to have an impact. They want to address the environmental challenges they face, whether they do it by investing in infrastructure, finance, or healthcare.”
Mr Hinduja said this is why it was now critical for investors, analysts and entrepreneurs to share their perspectives on best business practice and “on smarter strategies for a more uncertain future.”
SWNS
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