“Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.” – Abraham Lincoln
Which countries have committed to carbon emissions standards, and how do they hope to achieve them? How could carbon commitments affect the markets? Is the time ripe to focus on commodities that are central to global green initiatives by investing in a lithium, nickel, cobalt, and copper ETF?
There are massive commitments to net zero; over $4 trillion between the United States, European Union, and China to be spent within the next decade. To understand the sheer scale of the effort, the visual below illustrates where we are in terms of committed fiscal expenditures on green initiatives in comparison to past human endeavors.
We believe these commitments crush any comparison between today’s “green bubble” (and the bubble it could become), and bubbles of the past; the world’s governments weren’t committing trillions of dollars to the Dot Com era technology transition.
The Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, is a global agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) aimed at mitigating the impact of global warming and climate change. The agreement seeks to limit global temperature rise to “well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to make efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius.”[1]
A key element of the agreement is the Enhanced Transparency Framework, in which countries expressed their willingness to regularly report on their carbon emissions, also called greenhouse gas emissions, and to make continual progress towards reducing them. While the Paris Agreement does not impose specific limits on carbon emissions for individual countries, it requires that all countries make nationally-determined contributions (NDCs) towards lowering their emissions and strengthening these contributions over time.
Climate neutrality is the act of bringing down greenhouse gas emissions as close to zero as possible. This shift will take years for most countries to accomplish, due to the change of habits and investment in technology it requires.
Countries throughout the world have begun taking steps toward improving energy efficiency, increasing their use of renewable energy sources, and reducing emissions from industry, building, and transportation. These commitments are a crucial component of a sustainable, low-carbon future.
Promoting the use of electric vehicles, or EVs, is an important step many countries have taken to achieve their carbon emissions goals and eventually reach climate neutrality, as EVs do not emit pollutants. They also save drivers money in fuel costs, require lower maintenance, and have performance benefits over gas-powered vehicles.
Global carbon commitments are not just good for the earth. They also benefit the futures market for the core commodities required to implement carbon-neutral solutions. EVs rely on lithium, nickel, cobalt, and significant amounts of copper wire. Demand for these raw materials is expected to soar as the world aims for net zero emissions.[2]
Most of the world’s emissions come from just a few countries.[3] The top seven emitting countries accounted for about half of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2020, and The Group of 20 is responsible for about 75% of greenhouse gas emissions globally.[4] As part of the Paris Agreement, the highest carbon emitting countries have set net zero pledges they aim to achieve in the coming years:
Countries that have made carbon commitments have introduced legislation incentivizing EVs[10] and limiting the sales of cars that rely on fossil fuels.[11] These pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will likely continue to impact the value of commodities used to make batteries for electric vehicles. Global demand for lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper has sharply risen and is likely to outpace supply over the coming decades.[12]
Car manufacturers have been rapidly bringing EVs to market. While it is yet unclear which EV manufacturers will come out ahead, one thing is certain: All EVs will rely on the core raw materials used to produce the batteries they run on: lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese, as well as the copper wire that connects them. Savvy investors will likely want to consider a lithium, cobalt or copper ETF that prioritizes this key commodity used in EV batteries. EMG’s CHRG ETF combines exposure to the futures market of a range of core commodities essential in any EV battery or other carbon-neutral solutions – Lithium, Nickel, Copper and Cobalt. As countries around the world renew and strengthen their carbon commitments, effective exposure to these commodities becomes an increasingly attractive option for investors
[1] “The Paris Agreement. What is the Paris agreement?” www.unfccc.int
[2] “The raw-materials challenge: How the metals and mining sector will be at the core of enabling the energy transition.” January 10, 2022. www.mckinsey.com
[3] “For a livable climate: Net-zero commitments must be backed by credible action.” www.un.org
[4] “G-20 nations have gathered to talk carbon emissions. The negotiations won’t be easy.” August 31st, 2022. www.cnbc.com
[5] “2030 Climate Target Plan.” www.climate.ec.europa.eu
[6] “China’s Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy and Climate Resilience Needs Shifts in Resources and Technologies.” October 12th, 2022. www.worldbank.org
[7] “Take Climate Action in Your Community” www.whitehouse.gov
[8] “Cabinet approves India’s Updated Nationally Determined Contribution to be communicated to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.” August 3rd, 2022. www.pib.gov.in
[9] www.zerotracker.net
[10] “Credits for New Clean Vehicles Purchased in 2023 or After.” January 25th, 2023. www.irs.gov
[11] “EU approves effective ban on new fossil fuel cars from 2035.” October 28th, 2022. www.reuters.com
[12] “The demand for electric vehicles is skyrocketing. Can the supply of lithium and other critical minerals for batteries keep up?” October 4th, 2022. www.grid.news
Investing in ETF’s involves risk, including possible loss of principal. International investing may be subject to special risks, including currency exchange rate volatility, political, social or economic instability, less publicly available information, less stringent investor protections, and differences in taxation, auditing and other financial practices. Investment in emerging market securities involves greater risk than that associated with investment in foreign securities of developed foreign countries. The Fund invests in securities of companies of all sizes, including those that have relatively small market capitalizations. Investments in securities of these companies involve greater risks than do investments in larger, more established companies. Derivatives include instruments and contracts that are based on, and are valued in relation to, one or more underlying securities, financial benchmarks or indices, such as futures, options, swap agreements and forward contracts. The Adviser may engage in speculative transactions which involve substantial risk and leverage, such as making short sales. The use of leverage by the Adviser may increase the volatility of the Fund. Because the Fund invests in financial instruments that are linked to different types of commodities from the metals sector, the Fund is subject to the risks inherent in the metals sector. Such risks may include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions or cyclical market patterns that could negatively affect supply and demand in a particular industry; changes in environmental conditions, energy conservation and environmental policies; competition for or depletion of resources; adverse labor relations; political or world events; increased regulatory burdens; changes in exchange rates; imposition of import controls; obsolescence of technologies; and increased competition or new product introductions. The exploration and development of mineral deposits involve significant financial risks over a significant period of time, which even a combination of careful evaluation, experience and knowledge may not eliminate. Few properties which are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines. The Fund invests in companies that are economically tied to the lithium industry, which may be susceptible to fluctuations in the underlying commodities market. Commodity prices may be influenced or characterized by unpredictable factors, including, where applicable, high volatility, changes in supply and demand relationships, weather, agriculture, trade, changes in interest rates and monetary and other governmental policies, action and inaction. Securities of companies held by the Fund that are dependent on a single commodity, or are concentrated on a single commodity sector, may typically exhibit even higher volatility attributable to commodity prices.
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