Those were the words of teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg as an estimated 4m people took part in climate change protests around the world last month.
The 16-year-old has become a leader in raising awareness of climate change, particularly for younger people.
Having started her campaign in August 2018 - by taking time off school to demonstrate outside the Swedish parliament - Thunberg has since called out many global leaders over their lack of action, speaking at events like the World Economic Forum in Davos and the United Nations Climate Action Summit.
Sustainability seems to be the new buzz word, but the effects of climate change clearly continue to confuse people.
What can not be disputed is the impact of climate change, as record temperatures, rainfall and hurricanes around the world attest toMs Thunberg, for example, supports her ideology by no longer flying anywhere in the world.
Contrast this with the hypocrisy of Google’s recent climate change conference - attended by numerous A-list stars, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Katy Perry and - let’s not forget - Prince Harry – which saw a rumoured 114 private jets descend on Sicily.
A wasted opportunity for Google Hangouts perhaps.
What can not be disputed is the impact of climate change, as record temperatures, rainfall and hurricanes around the world attest to.
I recently read the PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Megatrends report, which highlights the challenges we face.
It says, without significant global action, average temperatures are predicted to increase by more than two degrees Celsius - a threshold at which scientists believe significant and potentially irreversible environmental changes will occur.
For some time, fund managers have looked to offer investors solutions to tap into climate change and environmental issues, but the co-ordinated effort has never been as strong as it is today. This week’s best in class is a leader in this market.
Launched in 2011, the Pictet Global Environmental Opportunities fund goes well beyond climate change to focus on a full range of global environmental challenges, such as resource efficiency, suitable packaging and less intensive agriculture.
The fund has been managed by Luciano Diana and Gabriel Micheli since 2014, with Yi Du joining last year.
The key differentiator of this fund is its use of the planetary boundaries framework, first published in Nature magazine in 2009 by Johan Rockstrom.
The planetary boundaries framework identifies nine key environmental areas.
These are: climate change, freshwater use, land use, ocean acidification, nitrogen and phosphorous cycle, biodiversity, ozone depletion, aerosol loading and chemical pollution.
The framework specifies the respective threshold which humanity must not cross to prevent irreversible environmental damage.
Companies which the managers can invest in must operate within the 'safe operating space' where human activities can take place.
Sectors such as oil and gas, mining and most chemicals are excluded.
Pictet believes the environmental market is approximately $2 trillion in size and is growing at 6 per cent to 7 per cent per annum.
The managers specifically target companies where a minimum 20 per cent of their activities are actively solving environmental challenges, although the aggregate focus across the portfolio is closer to 65 per cent.
Fundamental analysis is then undertaken on potential stocks. The team assess the quality of the business and financial attractiveness.
Once initial screening is undertaken of around 3,500 companies, around 400 qualify for further screening.
A final list of 200 stocks, with the best risk return profiles, is then drawn from this with further analysis undertaken.
Portfolio construction is built into the process when assessing every stock, which ensures the final 50-holding portfolio is well diversified.
The fund has a strong bias in favour of secular growth, but valuations remain important, so it is more a case of growth at a reasonable price. There is also a mid-cap bias.
Top holdings include American Water Works (4.2 per cent) and Ecolab (3.9 per cent) which provides water, hygiene and energy technologies and services that protect people and vital resources.
Principles have not impacted performance on this fund as it is top quartile in the IA Global sector over five years, returning 94.2 per cent to investors (vs. 68.3 per cent for the sector and 82.8 per cent for the MSCI World Index).
Environmental issues are only going to grow in importance in the long-term and the diverse nature of this vehicle makes it a specialist offering all investors should consider as a compliment to the core holdings in their portfolio.
Darius McDermott is managing director of FundCalibre
