Luciano Diana, senior investment manager at Pictet Asset Management, discusses the emergence of a thriving environmental products industry.
In less than 30 years' time, the planet will be home to nine billion human beings, a larger proportion of which likely to be part of the middle class.
This is certain to put even more pressure on the environment, testing it to breaking point. Investors are increasingly alert to these challenges.
Many now recognise that, as stewards of capital, they have a crucial role toplay in placing the economy on a more sustainable footing.
But for them to become part of the solution, investors need to resolve a paradox. How can they become responsible guardians of the environment and simultaneously secure an attractive return on their investments?
We believe the solution to that conundrum has already begun to take shape. With governments and businesses responding to growing public pressure to reverse ecological degradation, a distinct and attractive group of environmental equity investments has emerged.
These are companies that combine strong environmental credentials with innovative products and services designed to safeguard the world's natural resources. Such firms form the core of the Pictet-Global Environmental Opportunities portfolio.
Once a niche activity, environmental investing is now moving firmly into the mainstream.
There are several reasons for that. To begin with, society's attitudes towards protecting the planet have changed considerably in recent years. That's partly because a growing proportion of the population has personal experience of the damage ecological degradation can cause.
In 2015, pollution killed nine million people - three times more than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. Floods and droughts have brought untold misery to millions more.
Social media has also helped shape world opinion. Thanks to Twitter and Facebook, people can voice and share their concerns about pollution and sustainability in a way they couldn't before.
Click here to learn about some of the long-term investment opportunities of these environmental trends.
