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The October Green Monday began by asking two experts with opposing views - a Malthusian verses a Cornucopian – to review Jeremy Grantham's theory that we are entering an era of rising resource prices. With 29% of the profit warnings this year being linked to rising resource prices, it’s a core business issue. The debate then moved on to capture the views of an investor and a practitioner in a FTSE100 who is engaged in a resource efficiency strategy. It was one of most interesting Green Mondays, thanks to the diversity of speakers and the thought they put into their messages.

Some interesting angles for us were;

• Tim Lenton, Professor of Earth System Sciences at the University of Exeter, showed us how Grantham’s theory has strong foundations in the principles of Earth System Science, and argued that the earth will naturally dictate that humans become more efficient. Recycling and reuse is an inevitability given the finite nature of key resources. In particular, he agreed with Grantham’s view that prosperous reserves represent a key concern.
•   Brendan O’Neil, Editor of Spiked, got sympathy from the audience when he talked about our “miserableness” being one of our enemies, but there was a divergence with the rest on the panel when it came to the scale of the problem.
• The corporates came across as the positive agents of change: Simon Ellis, Managing Director at Legal and General Investments, and Andy Wales, Group Head of Sustainable Development at SAB Miller. Rising resource prices are creating opportunities – investors are looking for companies who are developing more efficient solutions, and the corporates are looking for attractive investments to improve their efficiency.
• Perhaps the moment of the session was when Simon Ellis showed his chart that demonstrated a clear premium for companies who are more resource efficient. Is that because it is a proxy for better management, or because resource efficiency means better margins? Or does it matter – if more investors are to seek out a green premium, companies just need to make sure they are ready to capture it.

Jim Woods on "Jeremy Grantham in 6 minutes"

Timothy Lenton, Professor of Earth System Science, University of Exeter

Brendan O'Neill, Editor, Spiked

Simon Ellis, Managing Director, Legal and General

Andy Wales Group Head of Sustainable Business, SAB Miller

Q & A Session Part 1

Q & A Session Part 2