There has been a change in investor mindset around sustainability, it’s happening faster than previously anticipated, and will lead to an economic transformation by as early as 2030.
These are the bold statements made by the global head of equity, head of sustainability research and head of UK wholesale at Lombard Odier Investment Management (LOIM) who are preparing portfolios and the business for a “fundamentally different economy” within less than a decade.
“We’re on the cusp of an understanding what we’re really seeing is an industrial revolution, a fundamental transformation of our economy as profound as past digital revolutions,” says Thomas Hohne-Sparborth, head of sustainability research at LOIM, joining our group call from the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The team has placed this at the heart of investment convictions pointing to evidence of this rapid change all around them as we understand more about how our economy and environment intertwine.
“What is quite exciting to see here [at Davos] is that there’s very little discussion left on the science behind this,” Hohne-Sparborth adds.
“It’s now very widely understood by all the attendees here that this is a fundamental challenge we’re facing, where action is needed. The focus of discussions here is very much more on the action, and how to bridge the gap between past ambition and the current action that’s needed.”
He points out that as the global economy is hitting some very real physical boundaries for the earth’s system, there are physical implications such as limits on the way we use land, shortages of water, degradation of agricultural productivity, for example.
Read the full interview in ESG Clarity’s February 2023 digital magazine.
