June 20, 2025
Follow the Money – Your Money, part 2
Last week we learned that where you invest your money matters a lot. “It turns out that moving your investments to a climate-friendly investment option is the single most impactful thing that the average American can do for climate change,” says Alex Wright-Gladstein, founder and CEO of Sphere, a company focused on climate-friendly investing.
The first step is to take a close look at your retirement portfolio. Most investors hold mutual funds, which are composed of many different stocks. It can be a challenge to figure out which are environmental friends or foes. Go to www.FossilFreeFunds.org. You enter the fund name or symbol and you’ll see a grade based on holdings in their investments in fossil fuels.
“[FossilFreeFunds.org] really makes it transparent what different mutual funds hold, and they update that data on a quarterly basis, and then they grade it,” journalist Alison Takemura explains.
Assume for a moment that you discover your portfolio invests millions of dollars in fossil fuels among multiple energy companies. Does that mean you should divest from those companies? Those energy company investments make money and you want to continue to fund your future retirement. So, how can you achieve both investing for your future and supporting a habitable planet? That’s the question we’ll tackle in next week’s Climate Conversations.
Posted by Donna Gerhauser