You can invest and help prevent climate change. How to get started

NASA | Reuters

NASA’s Operational Land Imager satellite image shows the Camp Fire burning at around 10:45 a.m. local time near Paradise, California, U.S., on November 8, 2018.

You’ve read it in the headlines: Temperatures are rising and icebergs are melting.

And as more evidence points to the growing influence of climate change, one area is sure to be impacted: big business.

As evidence, take PG&E’s recent bankruptcy filing following the wildfires that ravaged California over the past two years.

The company’s equipment has been blamed for contributing to those disasters. But another factor — the hotter climate and drier terrain in California and broader region — also contributed to the problem.

“Any utility in those regions can be at risk for fires because they have a ton of infrastructure spread across a very fire-prone landscape,” said Julie Gorte, senior vice president for sustainable investing at Impax Asset Management and Pax World Funds.

And the potential risks tied to climate change don’t end there.

“Any company can face climate risk, and I think that is the 800-pound gorilla,” Gorte said.

The good news for individual investors is that there are ways that you can invest with the intention of helping to make a difference and you can still make a profit doing it.