Invest for good 

Pandemics such as coronavirus are the result of humanity’s destruction of nature, according to leaders at the UN, WHO and WWF International, and the world has been ignoring this stark reality for decades.

The illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade as well as the devastation of forests and other wild places were still the driving forces behind the increasing number of diseases leaping from wildlife to humans, the leaders told the Guardian.

They are calling for a green and healthy recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, in particular by reforming destructive farming and unsustainable diets.

Investment in Facebook by environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds shows the importance for investors to analyse what is contained in that fund.

Environmentalists cheered by huge improvements in air quality during the lockdown – and the collapse in coal power generation – have another reason to celebrate. Even the stock market has gone in their favour.

A detailed number-crunching of environmentally sustainable funds has revealed that they have outperformed traditional funds across the board – beating them during the pandemic as well as during the 10 years up to and including the coronavirus sell-off.

The data, from the global research agency Morningstar, comes amid growing evidence that environmentally focused investing – once pigeonholed by City traditionalists as only for a vegan/hippy minority – is becoming mainstream. This week, Vanguard, one of the world’s biggest fund managers, launched two ethical index funds aimed at UK investors, while Aviva, Britain’s biggest insurer, unveiled a “climate transition” fund.