Climate solutions

Climate solutions

We use Project Drawdown to help us understand the role our companies can play in climate solutions.

Porfolio Explorer

Why we use Project Drawdown

Founded in 2014, Project Drawdown®1 is a non-profit organisation that seeks to help the world reach 'drawdown' — the future point in time when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline. Project Drawdown’s deeply researched collection of c.90 climate change solutions, which if scaled up, can deliver the Paris Agreement’s 1.5oC temperature goal. The full set of solutions along with the research that backs them are publically available on www.drawdown.org

Drawdown’s solutions offer both breadth and depth of decarbonisation enabling investments. This unique view helps us to understand the role investee companies can play in the decarbonisation of the economy. When grouping these c.90 solutions, we have identified eight areas that according to Project Drawdown can deliver more than 1,600 gigatons of emissions abatement (reductions). 2 In investment terms, the abatement potential for these technologies can be thought as “ total addressable markets", with some offering significant growth potential for companies (tailwinds), while on the flipside pointing to significant declines in some existing industries and practices (headwinds).

Project 'Drawdown' - the future point in time when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline.

We believe that the opportunities for positive climate change investment must be looked at in conjunction with other sustainable development challenges. These eight areas and the underlying solutions show the cross-cutting nature of the climate challenge and consequent opportunities. All investee companies are assessed and if they contribute to positive environmental outcomes they are mapped to Project Drawdown climate solutions.

Portfolio Explorer

Portfolio Explorer

Our Portfolio Explorer tool allows you to explore strategies, companies, countries and sustainability issues of interest in four views – map, human development pillars, climate solutions and Sustainable Development Goals.

Drawdown solutions contribution to 1.5oC2

For example, we commissioned research on smallholder farmers which found that there are more than 500 million smallholder farmers globally producing up to 80% of some key commodities like palm oil, coffee and cocoa.3 These farmers are also responsible for a significant amount of agriculture related deforestation. Of Project Drawdown’s c.90 solutions, 22 are directly relevant to smallholder farmers, offering more than 540 gigatons of abatement potential or 34% of the total.3 In this context, poverty alleviation, human rights and secure tenure of land for smallholder farmers are critical for delivering climate change solutions.

Climate solutions update

We have reviewed portfolio companies for alignment to Project Drawdown's 11 new climate solutions and included them on our Portfolio Explorer.

Footnotes

  1. Any reference to Project Drawdown is to describe the publicly available materials utilised by Stewart Investors in formulating its sustainability analysis. It is not intended to be, and should not be, read as constituting or implying that Project Drawdown has reviewed or otherwise endorsed the Stewart Investors sustainability assessment framework.

  2. Source: Stewart Investors and Project Drawdown solutions data. Gigatons CO2 Equivalent Reduced / Sequestered (2020-2050)

  3. Source: NIRAS-LTS research for Stewart Investors.