Energy is set to be a key global concern for the foreseeable future—and to continue to be an important focus for impact and sustainable investors. In this, the first in a two-part series on the new energy landscape, Marta Maretich explores the factors shaping the landscape and highlights some promising sectors for investment in energy.

Investment in the energy sector is set to boom over the coming years. The reasons behind this are well known, especially to environmentally conscious investors: Fossil fuels are becoming scarcer, energy costs are rising, levels of industrialization are increasing, as is global prosperity — bringing increased demand for energy as well as unwanted side effects from its use, like pollution.

Recent findings about climate change are also driving a renewed interest in energy. A series of reports from the IPCC are shining a light on the urgent need to change the way we use energy as well as the types of energy we use. According its recent report, energy is responsible for 47 percent of the increase in anthropogenic (man-made) CO2 emissions—fossil fuel byproducts linked to climate change. High carbon-intensity energy, related to economic growth in developing countries, is an important contributor.

read entire article via The New Energy Landscape: Impact and Sustainable Energy Investing.