HOW TO GET RICH BY SAVING THE PLANET

by Ilio Masprone-Publisher-Knight of the Principality for Culturaal Merits MONACO. As you know, in my quality of publisher in Montecarlo,  I totally agree with the principles of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and of the Monaco Government about green energy. In fact it is incomprehensible to me how anyone could take all the beauty God has created and treat it like a sewer. I firmly believe that if we have any chance of preserving this planet for future generations, we must not only act responsibly in our daily lives, but we must also invest in the solutions that will enable this lofty goal. I.e. we could invest in companies and technologies that were at the forefront of the “green” movement, everything from solar power to organic food.
So, let’s try to understand how it could return a profit in renewable energy or organic food production. First above all we must put aside suspicion and doubt. Yet, while most investors are either clueless or hostile to the idea of investing in green, history is filled with stories of naysayers who got it wrong in a very big way, especially when confronted with huge, disruptive changes in technology. Back in 1903, the president of the Michigan Savings Bank told Henry Ford’s lawyer, Horace Rackham: “The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty — a fad.“
Fortunately, Rackham didn’t listen, and he invested $5,000 in Ford stock. He later sold it for $12.5 million. Just ten years ago, it was difficult to believe that anything even remotely associated with sustainability or environmentalism could be profitable. I have knowledge of a featured guest appearing on Fox, CNBC, and Bloomberg. Since 2005, Jeff Siegel launched Green Chip Stocks and within a year of launching, he was being invited to speak at various investment conferences all across the globe (and getting paid thousands of dollars to do so). His desire to promote the environmental movement ended up netting him an enormous fortune. He was even tapped by Wiley Publishing to write a book on investing in green chip stocks, which ultimately went on to become a best-seller. Green Chip Stocks are still going strong, generating huge profits year after year while making the world a better place. Especially since the members of Green Chip Stocks are not just window shoppers — these are folks who really get what we’re doing here, they want to protect the planet while building wealth, they are some of today’s wealthiest individuals. Recently, HSH the Prince Albert II attended the ‘Mission Innovation: Accelerating the Clean Energy Revolution’ meeting at the COP21 World Climate Change Conference in Paris. Billionaires Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson and other high-profile entrepreneurs have pledged to spark a “new economic revolution” based around clean energy after launching a new investment drive for renewables. Especially Bill Gates, has ponied up billions to facilitate new research and development into clean energy start-ups. These guys didn’t become billionaires by investing in the wrong things. They became billionaires because they are exceptionally smart, exceptionally talented, and exceptionally shrewd entrepreneurs. And let’s face it: The best way to build wealth is to invest alongside wealthy people. It’s not rocket science. From an environmental perspective, a well-diversified mix of solar, wind, geothermal, energy efficiency, and conservation is superior to fossil fuels. From production to consumption, it’s pretty much a no-brainer. But in order for an environmentally superior energy mix to thrive, it must also be economically superior. There’s no denying that a strong mix of renewables, energy efficiency and conservation, and storage is the new energy paradigm, as it’s quickly becoming the most economic paradigm. As former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently said: “I don’t want to be like the last horse and buggy salesman who was holding out as cars took over the roads. I don’t want to be the last investor in Blockbuster as Netflix emerged.”
That’s exactly what is going to happen to fossil fuels. Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, recently said: “Policies to address climate will render the vast majority of fossil fuel reserves stranded. We’re talking about oil, gas and coal that will be un-burnable.”
In fact regulators are starting to send clear signals to the market that a shift from fossil fuels to cleaner energy is underway — specifically policies designed to limit CO2 emissions. These policies are going to impose a heavy burden on the fossil fuel industry as we move forward. The world is now adding more capacity for renewable power each year than coal, natural gas, and oil combined. And there’s no going back. And of course, the icing on the cake is that the more clean energy that’s integrated into the global energy economy, the less damage we end up doing to our air, soil, and water. It’s a win-win for any individual who believes we should respect the planet instead of destroying it. Moreover, the Iran Factor brings consequences. With those sanctions lifted, slump in oil prices will drive green energy take-up in top exporting nations. The Irena Sustainability Week 2016 is the Meeting where global leaders in policy, technology and business discuss new ways of shaping the future of renewable energy and sustainable development. IRENA promotes the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower, ocean, solar and wind energy in the pursuit of sustainable development, energy access, energy security and low-carbon economic growth and prosperity. With a mandate from countries around the world, IRENA encourages governments to adopt enabling policies for renewable energy investments, provides practical tools and policy advice to accelerate renewable energy deployment, and facilitates knowledge sharing and technology transfer to provide clean, sustainable energy for the world’s growing population.  Especially, HSH the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation is supporting “Because the Ocean”. During the COP21, he put forward a Special Report on the ocean by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to achieve Sustainable Development Goal n° 14, dedicated to the ocean and marine resources and finally to promote an action plan for the ocean within the UNFCCC (United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change).