The Brief  |  January 17, 2020 The Week in impact investing: climate action     ImpactAlpha The Week’s Agent of Impact Samara Hernandez, Chingona Ventures. The first hint that Samara Hernandez is not your typical venture capitalist is the name of her new firm: Chingona Ventures. Chingona is slang for “badass woman” in her native Mexico. She launched the...Read More

Governments around the world have committed to dramatically lowering their CO2 emissions, in a bid to combat climate change. With limited supplies of fossil fuels and growing concern over their environmental impact, renewable sources of energy like wind and solar are gaining big momentum. ‘Renewables’ are expected to produce most of the new energy produced...Read More

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time there was talk of recession, in part, because the stock market and yield curve were signaling warning signs. At the end of 2018, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst year since 2008. If the stock market is falling, then investors must think...Read More

Much has been written about the rise of automation in developed countries. Economists have been busily creating models seeking to quantify the likely impact of automation on employment.1 However, far less has been written about the potential effects on work in developing nations. This is surprising, given that automation may be especially troublesome for developing...Read More

This week the European Union outlined the world’s first comprehensive green-financing guidelines to regulate finance-industry claims in the thriving area of environmentally sustainable investment AKA ESG products. While the rules will apply only in the EU, they could have a broad effect due to Europe’s large financial markets and leadership in the sector. Lancelot King, counsel in...Read More

‘A much deeper, faster and more ambitious response is needed’ There are 10 years left to achieve the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, an ambitious plan to create a better future for people and the planet. However, at the first Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit, which took place at UN Headquarters in New...Read More

  Researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind model to control traffic and intersections in order to increase autonomous car capacity on urban streets of the future, reduce congestion and minimize accidents. In the not-so-distant future, city streets could be flooded with autonomous vehicles. Self-driving cars can move faster and travel closer together, allowing more of them...Read More

  Guangdong becomes focus as China races the US to build bigger particle accelerators Scientist says the competition between the two countries will ultimately be for the good of the human race. Scientists in southern China are planning to create machines that will be used to unravel the mysteries of the building blocks of the...Read More

For the world of social media, 2020 arrives with no shortage of drama. As the U.S. presidential election cycle shifts into high gear, controversies over political ads and privacy have resurfaced, with talk of “breaking up” the big networks gaining momentum. At the same time, brand new social platforms like TikTok have emerged to give...Read More

The number of financial advisors investing a portion of assets according to environmental, social and governance criteria has increased substantially. Two years ago, 41% of top advisors polled by Ignites Research used ESG products or ESG ratings (or both). This year, that figure soared to 69% of advisors. There are two ways FAs can approach...Read More