8 STOCKS TO HELP SAVE THE PLANET

Our picks are working on solutions to climate change and are good buys now. We found good choices for fund investors, too.

- NELLIE S. HUANG

It’s the end of business as usual. To save the planet, consumers, companies and governments all over the world are stepping up their sustainability game, or at least pledging to do so. That’s important, because it will take all parties working to fight climate change if we are to get to a net zero-world—when carbon emissions are balanced by absorption—by 2050, which is part of the goal of the Paris Agreement, an international treaty to tackle climate change that came into force in 2016.

Nearly 200 countries have committed to the agreement and set targets to reduce carbon emissions. Companies are vital players, too. One-fifth of the world’s largest 2,000 companies have committed to net-zero target emissions. And 90% of the companies in the S&P 500 index now release sustainability reports, up from 20% a decade ago. Setting targets and measuring progress, says Katherine Collins, Putnam’s head of sustainability investing, is an important step.

Consumers are changing their ways, too. Shoppers are sending a clear signal: Sustainability is no longer the exception, it’s the expectation, especially for frequent, essential purchases such as groceries, household and personal care items, and clothing.