“David Attenborough: A Life on our Planet” has recently been released on Netflix and looks set to shock viewers into greater awareness of their impact on the world and the actions they can take to reverse the climate decline shown throughout the film.
The last time he made a documentary, Blue Planet, it caused a surge in awareness of plastic in the oceans with firms around the world phasing out single use plastics and investors switching to greener investments.
In this film there are tough parts to watch, including an orangutan climbing the sole, almost bare, tree left in what used to be a lush forest in Borneo, felled to make way for acres and acres of oil palm. Similarly, sea lions falling down the cliff face to their deaths as their arctic landscape falls into the sea and coral dying through the effort of absorbing the sun’s rays in the absence of ice in our polar regions.
It sounds gloomy, and it is. Seeing how the planet has visibly decayed throughout the course of Attenborough’s career is depressing. But he does offer the world a way out and there’s a chance for our pensions and investments to play a big role.
Nick Moules
Head of MarketingAttenborough urges viewers to consider their own consumption in light of the damage it causes in the world.
He highlights positive work taking place to repair our oceans’ fish stocks by banning fishing in certain areas and says that if we do this at a greater scale across the world, we could quickly return the ocean to a point where we could fish sustainably from that point forward and never run out of fish.
There’s footage of food innovation in the Netherlands, which is remarkably, the world’s second largest food producer now, which shows there is potential to reduce the reliance on widespread farming methods.
He also trumpets the positives from wind and solar energy, which could replace fossil fuels at a much faster rate than they are currently projected to do so, if the world unites around the idea.
Where Wren Sterling fits in
It’s not our job, as financial advisers, to tell people how to lead their lives (or to review Netflix shows, ordinarily) but we can offer people the means to make an impact on the world around them via their finances, if they choose to.
Guy Opperman, the Pensions Minister, writing in The Times on the 6th of October said: “If we can unleash the productive power of our pension funds, they can be at the forefront of seizing sustainable opportunities by financing the green-tech and green-energy revolution we need.”
Wren Sterling is helping our clients to do just that through our Impact Investing range of options, launched earlier in 2020. This is the means to switch pensions and investments away from funds that support industries that are not considered responsible, such as fossil fuels. We have a number of investment funds that are ESG, ethical and sustainable to support investments of all amounts and we regularly review the range to ensure its suitability.
Wren Sterling is also committed to doing what we can to limit our impact on the planet. We’re actively encouraging our clients to sign up to our personal finance portal (PFP) to receive their paperwork digitally, helping us to get towards carbon neutrality. We’re also donating £20 for every client who signs up to our PFP and giving that fund to sustainability projects around the world.
The next generation
At 94 he might not be the obvious choice for younger generations, but David Attenborough recently broke the record for the number of Instagram followers by racking up a million faster than anyone else on record. This shows he has broad appeal across age groups with younger generations supporting his calls to action. We’ve seen evidence of clients looking to move towards more responsible investments with their children and grandchildren in mind.
If you want to find out more about our impact investing options, view our brochure or arrange an appointment with us.
You can watch the trailer here or view the whole of David Attenborough: A Life on our Planet on Netflix
NOTE: Your capital is at risk, you may get back less than you originally invested.