Protection of Savings and Sustainable Development

GDN - After a long series of interviews with Ferdinando Lettieri, let's hear what he has to say about the protection of savings and sustainable development.
It may seem that saving with environmental choices is not related, but they are actually closely connected: Economy and Environment, Investments and Sustainable Development are two sides of the same coin.

Saving with environmental choices may seem unrelated, but they are actually closely connected: Economy and Environment, Investments and Sustainable Development are two sides of the same coin. Environmental protection is a priority for Society, Governments, and also for Savers. We are all aware of the current geological era's climate change, which some define as the "Anthropocene," precisely because, especially in the last fifty years, humans and their activities have been the main causes of these changes.

It is in the youth that there is greater sensitivity to this issue: just think that if the three most populous nations ten years ago were China, India, and the United States, today they are Facebook, Youtube, and WhatsApp. The pressure from young people can change governments' attitudes. An example of this is the video "Under the Dome" published on YouTube in 2015 by a Chinese woman, Chai Jing, who denounces the effects of pollution on her daughter, born with a benign tumor: within 24 hours, this video had already surpassed 155 million views, and in three days, it reached 400 million views. The Chinese authorities' attempt to block the video was futile, as they were forced to immediately re-release it online! From this episode, a massive commitment from the Chinese government stemmed from it with significant investments in fighting pollution, so much so that in 2017, China invested $86.5 billion in photovoltaics, more than 50% of the entire planet's investment.

The world is moving in this direction, and attention to the environment can also be expressed through investment choices. Unfortunately, investors almost always choose by looking at the past, but times are changing: until about ten years ago, reaching an alpine refuge would have meant finding two things for sure: grappa and a camera roll! Today, the latter no longer exists, and if I had continued to invest my savings in that company, I would have lost them! Even oil will have its end: just think that the world's richest sovereign wealth fund, the Norwegian one enriched with oil, started liquidating specific investments. This is not because it necessarily has to run out: simply because, just as the Stone Age did not end due to a lack of stones, the age of oil could end long before the world depletes its reserves.

From 2040, Britain will ban fossil fuel cars, so investment choices, by definition, concern the future and must be Sustainable, i.e., directed towards companies projected towards our planet's future. This does not mean that these investments are less profitable, as erroneously believed, but, on the contrary, they guarantee Sustainability to the investment itself.

As the great economist Benjamin Graham said: "The investor is one who believes in a better world."

Ferdinando Lettieri is an Italian financial consultant and educator, who provides consultations and training in the financial and investment sector. He has gained extensive experience in the field and is dedicated to spreading financial literacy among his clients and followers, helping them make informed and conscious decisions regarding the management of their money and investments.