Cancun Climate Talks: Institutional Investors Want Stronger Deal

The dearth of U.S. institutional investors at the UN's Cancun climate change talks that ended on Dec. 10 was a telling sign that expectations were low: There wasn't much hope for a major treaty that would dramatically shift the risk/reward equation for climate-related investing. While their European counterparts visibly advocated for a strong carbon-reducing accord in Cancun, U.S. investors largely stayed at home, where lackluster returns and long-term pension obligations are viewed as bigger, more immediate concerns than climate change. Globally, clean energy investments in 2010 will total some $200 billion, up slightly from 2009, but less than half of the $500 billion a year that economists and climate scientists say is needed in the coming decades to meaningfully limit global temperature increases. Still, there were some positive signs from Cancun. One of the strongest is that emerging-market governments are moving decisively to spur green energy growth in their own countries - a trend being noticed by investment banks.