News & Trends
“There are solutions” – Interview with Bertrand Piccard
In an interview with Swiss explorer and psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard, we venture a glimpse into the year 2050. We also find out what he thinks about the legal framework for climate emissions and gain personal insights into his positive investments. In addition, we learn his thoughts on the legal framework regarding CIima emissions and gain personal insights into his positive investments.
Imagine you could look into year 2050 for a moment, which scenarios would you like to spy and what makes you confident we could reach them in the next 30 years?
What makes me confident is the fact that solutions exist. If we invest correctly in these solutions, and if the legal framework becomes an incentive to use them, we will reach our goal of having a good quality of life in 2050. What worries me is the fact that it takes far too long for people to take the right decisions.
You own a Globalance portfolio which is extremely forward-looking and sustainable in its focus — the global warming potential of 1.6 Celsius speaks for itself. What are your expectations as an investor?
As an investor I like to have positive investments. This means a good return, but not if it is detrimental to the world, to nature, to human, other human beings or to the future. So what I find with this portfolio is a way to combine the two. So I jumped on the opportunity to try that.
Your portfolio is one of the portfolios featuring on the Globalance World platform. What was your first impression of Globalance World? And how would you like to see this tool to develop in future?
Normally, when people invest, they have no idea of the impact they have on nature, and on the world. With Globalance World I love that you see the temperature, the natural resource and the ecological impact. It really helps you to become more aware of all the consequences of our investments.
We are living in challenging times: war in Europe, global climate crisis, energy shortages and geopolitical tensions. Yet what positive outcomes can you identify?
We are suffering from the problems we created ourselves. We need to be more respectful and integrate the economy with
ecology. More and more, there is an awareness that we can protect the environment by using new business opportunities. We are starting to understand that we cannot continue like in the past, and that we have to change our altitude to take a better direction exactly like in a balloon.
How do you perceive the recent massive government funding package such as the Biden administration Inflation Reduction Act or EU’s new Green Deal industrial plan?
It’s finally promising to see that the governments are pushing the industry to be cleaner, more efficient with the goal of being more profitable. It means that finally there are some politicians who have understood the link between being clean, efficient, and profitable. And I encourage all these initiatives.
We need fast and scalable solutions. What is your view on the role of business in this context?
Businesses can increase their profitability by using efficient solutions. Today, we’re still in a situation where we are producing too much, to sell too much at a price that is as low as possible to beat the competition. This produces pollution, waste, and very little profits. I believe that the model is really getting tired, it won’t work in the future. We need a model where we produce less, we consume less, and are more efficient. It means that the margin of profit will be higher.
How can policies support the change and what specific actions could they take to support business?
Governments must modernize their legal frameworks. It is still legal to pollute, to put as much CO2 as we want in the atmosphere and to use old technologies. This is not normal. What I want the governments to do is to reinforce the norms and standards to demand everyone to be more efficient. This creates a necessity to use new technologies instead of using old ones.
«I want to make positive investments – good returns and performance, but not if they harm the world or the future.»
Bertrand Piccard
Would you also like to make positive investments like Bertrand Piccard? If you want to invest assets successfully today, they should be geared towards future viability and sustainability. Let us advise you or check the footprint of your investments on Globalance World®.
