Like most natural, social or political upheavals, climate change presents a unique opportunity for investors who know where to look. Sustainable technologies, like those behind electric cars and clean energy, have sent stocks like Tesla (TSLA) and NextEra Energy (NEE) soaring. But there are more opportunities on the horizon.
Consider Investing in These Industries as the Climate Changes
Industries that are directly dealing with the effects or prevention of climate change could be good selections for your investment portfolio. If you want to leverage the latest Nobel prize-winning research into climate change’s effect on economics and business, you could consider investing in these industries:
Sustainable Agriculture
When making investment decisions, note that the focus of climate change has shifted from preventing it to managing its consequences. In the case of agriculture, companies are researching new ways of producing food as the environment becomes more hostile to traditional methods. If you don’t know enough about sustainable agriculture to make a confident stock purchase, consider an ETF that lets you buy into many companies at the same time, like Defiance NextGen Food & Sustainability ETF (DIET).
Coastal Region Businesses and Construction
Companies that provide goods and services related to seawall construction, desalination, and sustainable agriculture could benefit from the effects of and response to climate change. The largest engineering firms are also likely to benefit. The firms behind projects like bridges and dams are the only ones capable of planning and building the infrastructure that will be needed to manage rising seas in places like Miami.
Insurance
Insurance companies might benefit from increased concern about weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes. Flood insurance is likely to see increased demand as traditional homeowners coverage doesn’t cover flooding. If you don’t want to put all your eggs into one basket by investing in a single company, consider a fund like Invesco KBW Property & Casualty Insurance ETF.
Real Estate
In the real estate market, oceanfront property might see its value decline, and inland real estate could gain in value. There are always old-fashioned REITs, of course, but crowdfunding real estate platforms like Fundrise let you choose real estate investments based on factors like location–and you don’t have to actually buy any real estate.
Leverage Nobel Prize Economic Research on Growth Amid Climate Change
The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to William Nordhaus and Paul Romer in Oct. 2018 for their research on the ways in which climate change and technology have affected the economy. The two shared the Nobel prize amount of 9 million Swedish krona, or about $1.06 million.
Nordhaus created a model that assesses the impact of climate policy interventions, like carbon taxes, on the global economy. Romer theorized that new ideas and technology help drive economic activity.
The debate about climate change continues, and some people downplay its significance. Most investors don’t want to be seen as taking advantage of a serious situation, but this kind of research can help inform investing decisions related to changes in business development, economic development and emerging technologies. Experts agree that climate change is here, so now is the time for investors to get in on the ground floor of technologies that could offset climate change consequences or prevent further negative impacts of climate change.
The post How Climate Change Will Affect Your Investment Opportunities appeared first on GoBankingRates and is written by Karen Doyle
Original source: GoBankingRates
