Jeremy Grantham, co-founder of GMO.
After hearing Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo co-founder Jeremy Grantham's keynote on Tuesday at the 2018 Morningstar annual conference in Chicago, there is no doubt RIAs in the audience were persuaded to utilize sustainable investing methods. Grantham, who said 98% of his net worth was invested in or committed to environmental foundations, gave a sobering speech on where the world was at in its "decay," and what was needed to change it. "We've created a toxic world," he said.
Aside from highlighting the research on global warming, Grantham illustrated several dangers specifically to agriculture, including severe loss of top soil in the U.S. Midwest due to increased downpours that wash it away, as well as the problems caused by pesticides — rivers polluted with runoff and flying insects killed off, leaving crops with fewer pollinators.
"We only have 30 to 70 good agricultural producing years left" at the rate we are going, he said, adding that the world is losing 1% of collective soil and 1% of arable land a year.
