The powerful mood for change following this month's historic Paris climate accord may have left you, as an investor, itching to get involved.
Well, you'll be hard-pressed to find opportunities on the local stock exchange.
To recap: for the first time nations have committed to "pursue efforts to stop warming beyond 1.5C" – before the target was 2 degrees. According to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, to achieve that target energy-related emissions would need to be cut to zero by around 2050.
Serious steps towards achieving those goals would clearly also force businesses all over the world to sharply reduce their use of fossil fuels.
The agreement has "absolutely" moved us forward towards a lower-carbon future, says Australian Ethical Investment chief investment officer David Macri.
"The fact that they mentioned the need to stick to a 1.5-degree limit is a huge step forward," Macri says. "Increasing more than 2 degrees would be pretty catastrophic for large parts of the world."
Wasteland for renewable energy
So for the far-sighted investor, putting some of their long-term savings into companies set to benefit from "clean and green" future would make sense.
But where?
"Australia has been a bit of a wasteland for renewable energy," Macri says. "Most of the clean energy exposure we have is via international shares; it's a big part of our international equities portfolio."
Thanks to an abundance of cheap coal in our country, the economics of clean energy have been particularly unfavourable in the absence of legislated penalties for carbon emissions.
More recently, industries such as wind and solar power generation endured a period of actively antagonistic government policies under the prime ministership of Tony Abbott. The change of government has brightened the prospects of more favourable policy support.
"Renewable energy listed plays on the ASX are few and far between, but obviously [wind power business] Infigen is going to be one," Macri says.
He also points to two Kiwi hydroelectric companies he holds in his portfolio: Mighty River Power and Meridian Energy. The dual-listed utilities-style stocks will satisfy investors looking for a clean energy investment, but it's doubtful they will benefit from a move towards lower emissions: New Zealand already derives most of its power from renewable sources such as hydro and geothermal.
Energy-efficient technology But there are other ways to play the theme, such as "cleantech" businesses. These do, however, tend to be small and in the early stages of development, limiting their appeal to more mainstream investors.
"We would be happy to invest in those sorts of things, but it's often the case they are not profitable," says Nathan Parkin, who runs Perpetual's SRI Ethical Australian shares fund.. "If it's unproven technologies, we'd prefer to wait and see how they go."
Macri is more open.
"There are a lot of names, you just need to be prepared to go into the small cap space," he says. "We love that space, that's where we generate our outperformance."
A big area of interest for Macri is in technology that helps businesses become more energy-efficient. He points to companies such as Energy Action, which specialises in helping businesses monitor and manage their energy use.
Macri also mentions a business which has just listed on the ASX, Building IQ, which uses CSIRO software to predict temperature changes in buildings using weather data and to ensure the most efficient operation of air-conditioning systems.
"The first thing you can do is underweight the high carbon emitters," Macri adds. "There are a lot of high intensive industries that are still on the ASX which we call 'old economy', and in this low carbon world that Paris has committed the world to, you really don't want to be exposed to the old economy."
Companies that fit the vibe
Parkin's ethical fund uses what is called a "negative screen" that removes not only high carbon-emitting businesses but also removes other stocks that investors may believe are involved in industries that have negative effects on the community or environment.
But based solely on the size of a company's carbon footprint, Perpetual's screen would remove around 16 per cent of the ASX 300 by market cap. That's the other way to play the green theme, if more indirectly, by avoiding those companies that are going to come off second best in the move to a more clean and green future.
Freedom Foods is a company that is not directly tied to the low carbon theme but fits "the vibe".
Parkin says it's a major holding in his ethical fund. The firm produces nut-free, gluten-free and allergan-free muesli bars and cereals. Freedom Foods has gone from strength to strength, and the share price has tracked that success all the way. After a period of consolidation, the company has "grown into its share price", Parkin says.
"We're quite confidence about the company's future prospects," Parkin says. "They have been investing a lot in growth projects and efficiencies."
"From here on, we'll start to see some interesting results from all the work they've done over the past three years.
Freedom Food, he says, "is operating the right way producing a product that people genuinely see as helpful".
That might not save the world, but for Aussie investors starved of options, it might have to be enough for now.
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