Edit: In March 2023, Clim8 announced that it is closing down. It will no longer be taking on new customers and will be available to existing customers until May 2023.
Scientists warn that Britain could experience frequent heatwaves of 40C in the next 10 years, as mobile app Clim8 Invest raises £10 million in its bid to tackle the climate crisis through positive impact investment. Meanwhile, a boy aged 11 is to walk 200 miles from his home in Yorkshire to Westminster to lobby ministers for a carbon tax to help reduce emissions, M&G launches a sustainable version of its flagship £56 billion PruFund, and ethical bank Triodos tops a global league table for the most clean energy deals executed by a bank. It’s the Good With Money weekly news brief.
UK could see heatwaves of 40C in the next decade, warn scientists
Scientists have predicted that the UK could see frequent heatwaves of a scorching 40C in just 10 years time because of global warming.
With last week’s heatwave reaching a high of 32.2C on Tuesday at Heathrow Airport, experts warned that extremely hot weather can have serious consequences including water shortages and thousands of heat-related deaths.
Chloe Brimicombe, a heatwave hazards researcher at the University of Reading, has predicted that Southern England could experience its first 40-degree day ‘within the next ten years’.
She said: “Most of our rail network would not be able to run in those sorts of temperatures. We would see increased pressure on water resources, productivity would be reduced, and it could affect our livestock and our crops.”
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Clim8 raises £10m to fight climate disaster
Sustainable investing app Clim8, which makes it easy for anyone to invest directly in solutions to climate change, has closed its latest crowdfunding campaign with £2.85 million raised from more than 1,800 investors.
It takes the total raised to £10 million including funding from Channel 4 Ventures (the venture arm of the TV channel), 7percent Ventures and two previous crowdfunding campaigns.
In its latest round on Crowdcube, Clim8 raised over £1.26 million in the first 24 hours, far exceeding its £750,000 target.
Clim8 says it will use the new cash to feed its growth strategy, following the recent launch of its app in March 2021, and focus on growing its user base. This includes the launch of a new Junior ISA and Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) in the UK.
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Boy aged 11 starts 200-mile walk to lobby PM on climate change
An 11-year-old boy has begun a 200-mile (321km) walk from his home in Yorkshire to Westminster to raise awareness of the climate crisis.
Jude, from Hebden Bridge, said he aims to lobby ministers about the need for a carbon tax when he arrives in London. He was inspired after reading the book Dire Predictions, which offers potential solutions to climate change including a carbon tax. Jude then read about a petition by the Zero Carbon Campaign urging a parliamentary debate on a carbon tax.
“I am hoping to get this petition to 100,000 signatures so it can get debated in parliament,” he said.
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M&G launches sustainable version of flagship fund
British asset manager M&G has launched a sustainable version of its flagship £56 billion PruFund – PruFund Planet.
The move by M&G, which manages around £370 billion in assets, is part of a shift from mainstream fund managers towards investments that don’t harm the environment amid surging demand from investors.
Companies are rushing to adopt sustainability strategies, partly in response to investor pressure, but activists say their claims need to be looked at closely to ensure they are genuine.
M&G said the new multi-asset fund range, PruFund Planet, was launched with £500 million of investment from the company’s £143 billion Prudential With-Profits Fund.
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Triodos tops global table for clean energy deals
Ethical bank Triodos has topped a global league table for the most clean energy deals executed by a bank.
The Good With Money ‘Good Egg’ firm provided 69 green energy projects across Europe with more than $433 million (£314 million) in funding in 2020.
Triodos won the title of “Most Active Lead Arranger”, incorporating traditional renewables such as onshore wind, solar and hydro, alongside electric vehicle (EV) charging, battery storage and energy efficiency projects.
It is the sixth year running that Triodos Bank has topped the league table, published by independent analyst Clean Energy Pipeline, incorporating lending from Triodos Bank UK Ltd, Triodos Bank NV and investments made by Triodos Investment Management.
