Visualize the competition for the dominance of electric vehicles
Farewell to Facebook: Why the company changed its name
Visualization of social risks in the world's top investment centers
Ranking: The world's largest oil and gas company
The world's largest real estate bubble in 2021
From Amazon to Zoom: What will happen to the Internet in one minute in 2021?
Visualize the competition for the dominance of electric vehicles
Farewell to Facebook: Why the company changed its name
Mapping: The fastest (and slowest) Internet speed in the world
Ranking: Insider trading of large technology CEOs in the first half of 2021
Visualization of women's economic rights around the world
Billionaires who are late bloomers, according to their breakthrough age
The richest man in human history, to the Industrial Revolution
Is $1 million enough for American retirement?
The world's largest real estate bubble in 2021
Visualize the most extensive blood types in each country
Pandemic recovery: Has the North American city center rebounded?
Ranking: The most prescribed drugs in the U.S.
How do the COVID Delta variants compare?
Visualize the world's largest pharmaceutical company
Visualize the competition for the dominance of electric vehicles
Ranking: The world's largest oil and gas company
The 10 largest companies in Brazil
Which countries have the most nuclear weapons?
Ranking: Top 50 companies with the highest green energy usage
The 10 largest companies in Brazil
All the metals we mine in one visualization
Visualize key metals in smartphones
The age of silver: the uses of silver over time
Visualize 50 years of global steel production
Visualize the competition for the dominance of electric vehicles
Net zero emissions: steps that companies and investors can consider
Mapping: Human impact on the surface of the earth
Top coffee producing countries in the world
Ranking: Top 50 companies with the highest green energy usage
Animation: Changes in the map of Europe in the past 2400 years
Visualization of social risks in the world's top investment centers
Interactive map: tracking the world's hunger and food insecurity
Mapping: Where are the ongoing conflicts in the world today?
Which countries have the most nuclear weapons?
The following content is sponsored by The Recycling Partnership.
Reduce recycling and reuse. Many people are familiar with this mantra, but it is not always easy to practice what we preach.
Although most Americans want to recycle, in fact not enough people can do it. In fact, nearly 40 million households in the United States have almost no recycling.
This infographic from the Recycling Partnership highlights why this gap persists and provides solutions to help bridge it. This also explains why the bold investment in recycling now may bring potential returns.
Of the 47 million tons of recyclables produced in a year, only one third is actually recycled. This difference is due to multiple factors: lack of recycling, education and infrastructure.
Therefore, the roadside recovery rate in the United States is only 32%. If progress continues at this glacier speed, the country will only be able to achieve fair access to recycling for all households within 150 years.
The recycling industry in the United States has been broken-so why is it a good time to fix it?
First, consumers demand change: 84% of consumers want packaging to be recyclable. The corporate sector is actively responding to these needs. More than 450 of the world’s largest companies gathered to sign a pledge:
This will not only increase the recyclability rate, but also increase the recyclable content by 5 times by 2025.
Because of these changing winds, investors hope to incorporate more environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into their financial decisions. As a result, the number of S&P 500 companies publishing sustainability reports has jumped from 20% in 2011 to 90% in 2019.
Finally, in the highest level of action, the United States is also committed to achieving bold climate-related goals, namely:
Policymakers also emphasized the importance of the circular economy for packaging (designed to eliminate waste and reuse resources), which means rethinking the current recycling system in the United States.
How can the public and private sectors work together to achieve these goals? Recycling partners have a collective solution: invest $17 billion in a better future.
Over five years, this $17 billion investment can improve recycling infrastructure and in the process strengthen the demand for recycling-related education.
The following is the content of this calculation:
The last factor is worthy of in-depth study, because it accounts for the largest part of the required investment for a reason.
Consumers are highly confused about what they can and cannot recycle, resulting in more recyclables ending up in landfills. For example, did you know that most plastic container lids cannot be recycled? It is estimated that only 1/4 of plastic waste is actually recycled, while the rest is incinerated or eventually landfilled.
Unless this confusion is eliminated, millions of tons of recyclables will continue to be wasted. Improving education and public participation are the solutions.
The following table highlights the possible significant knock-on effects of public education on recycling rates and recycling of all types of materials:
This is why continuous annual investment is needed to maintain the momentum of the education and outreach strategy to build long-term trust in the recycling system.
In the long run, the potential return on investment (ROI) of U.S. recycling may be nearly twice the amount originally invested. After 10 years, USD 30.8 billion can be recovered or saved through the following forms:
Other more intangible benefits include avoiding emissions equivalent to 129 million cars, creating 200,000 jobs, and capturing 169 million tons of new recyclables.
Obviously, the attitudes of consumers and businesses towards recycling are undergoing radical changes. Therefore, public-private partnerships are essential for these efforts to reach their full potential.
The recycling partnership brings various stakeholders together on the same table to rebuild the U.S. recycling system and achieve this goal.
Visualize the global electric vehicle market
Climate investment: what is it, what drives it, and where to start
Visualization of social risks in the world's top investment centers
7 ESG elements that investors need to know
The 20 fastest-growing jobs in the next ten years
The world's top 100 companies: the United States and everyone else
Introduction to MSCI ESG Index
Tracking: U.S. Utilities ESG Report Card
In 2020, the global electric vehicle market sales exceeded 3 million for the first time. The following is a snapshot of the largest electric vehicle market.
Electric vehicles (EV) are a key part of the future net-zero carbon puzzle, and the electric vehicle market is growing exponentially.
Countries and governments all over the world recognize the importance of these zero-emission vehicles, so they are included in their decarbonization plans. But some countries are far ahead in the electric car race, while others have not yet fully embraced the adoption of electric cars.
This infographic provided by our sponsor, Scotch Creek Ventures, outlines the global electric vehicle market and the growth potential of the United States.
In 2020, the global sales of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles will exceed the 3 million mark for the first time. The data in the first half of 2021 indicate that we may usher in another year of record sales.
Europe and China have been the leading electric vehicle markets for the past two years, with more than 80% of plug-in hybrid and pure electric vehicle (BEV) sales occurring in these two regions.
Although the country’s population is the driving force of absolute sales potential, government incentives have played a key role in expanding the adoption of electric vehicles during this period. For example, in addition to incentives such as road toll exemptions, some European countries also provide tax incentives for the purchase and ownership of electric vehicles. Similarly, China's electric vehicle subsidies compensate buyers differently based on the mileage of the purchased vehicle.
European countries also dominate the ranking of electric vehicle penetration rates, which represents the share of electric vehicles in new passenger car sales. The top 10 countries with electric vehicle penetration rates in 2020 are all European countries, of which Norway tops the list.
Although the United States is the world's third largest electric vehicle market, its sales are only a small part of those made in Europe and China, and its electric vehicle penetration rate is only 2%. However, the US electric vehicle market is growing rapidly and has great potential for expansion.
Both automakers and the government support the U.S. switch to electric vehicles.
The country has one of the world's largest battery super factories, located in Tesla's Giga Nevada, which can produce 37 gigawatt hours (GWh) of batteries per year. Other battery manufacturers have announced plans to build larger factories in the next few years.
Therefore, by 2025, the battery manufacturing capacity in the United States is expected to reach 224 GWh, higher than the 59 GWh in 2020. The following are some of the battery factories in operation and planning in the country:
*Represents factories that are planned, announced or under construction.
The government is also doing everything it can to support the adoption of electric vehicles. The recently passed trillion-dollar infrastructure bill supports the White House’s electrification plan, of which US$7.5 billion is used to build a network of electric vehicle charging stations, and another US$5 billion is used for low-emission and zero-emission buses. Earlier this year, President Biden signed an executive order aimed at making 50% of all new car sales become electric vehicles by 2030, providing another catalyst for the shift to electric vehicles.
Therefore, the sales of electric vehicles in the United States will increase. However, more electric vehicles require more batteries, and more batteries require more raw materials—especially lithium.
In 2020, batteries account for 81% of lithium consumption, and demand continues to increase.
According to Bloomberg News, by 2030, the world may need 2,000 GWh of lithium-ion batteries each year, which is higher than the 223 GWh in 2020. Given that lithium is a key component of these batteries, the impact on lithium demand will be huge.
In fact, global lithium demand is expected to be in short supply in 2025. In addition, by 2030, 200 battery super factories are under construction, and the world may need 3 million tons of lithium each year, which is about 37 times the current output.
As the global electric vehicle market expands, meeting the growing demand for lithium will require new sources of production. This is especially true for the United States, which strives to establish a domestic battery supply chain, but only has one lithium mine.
Scotch Creek Ventures is developing two lithium mining projects in Clayton Valley, Nevada, to supply lithium for a green future.
In 2020, the amount of funds flowing into sustainable ETFs will be 63 times that of 2016. We showed how investors implement climate investments in their investment portfolios.
Among all sustainability issues, 88% of global investors rank the environment as their top priority. Obviously, investors are realizing the urgency of climate change and the necessity of related investment strategies.
In this chart from BlackRock iShares, we define climate investment, the power that empowers it, and how investors begin to implement it in their portfolios.
Climate investment involves choosing a sustainable strategy, where climate risks and/or opportunities are key considerations. This helps investors adjust their investment portfolios to adapt to the transition to a low-carbon economy.
There are many long-term structural forces that are accelerating the transition to climate investment.
In response to this momentum, the number of companies disclosing climate change information has almost doubled in the past five years. This transparency allows investors to make more informed decisions.
New products that take into account climate factors are helping investors transform, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are a widely used tool. In fact, the amount of funds flowing into sustainable ETFs globally has increased substantially every year.
In 2020, the amount of funds flowing into sustainable ETFs will be 63 times that of 2016. ETFs are a useful tool because they provide investors with the transparency they need to pursue specific financial and climate goals.
Among sustainable ETFs, there are a series of funds that incorporate climate factors. To make this area clearer, BlackRock divides climate investment into three main methods:
"We believe that the greatest potential gains will go to global investors who can prepare their portfolios for the new era of climate investment the fastest." -Manuela Sperandeo, Head of Sustainable Index Europe, Middle East and Africa, BlackRock
Regardless of the approach investors take, iShares believes they can help facilitate the transition to sustainable investment.
Animation: Changes in the map of Europe in the past 2400 years
Here are 15 common data fallacies to avoid
How does your personality type affect your income?
Problem with our map
Mapping: countries/regions by per capita alcohol consumption
The world's largest real estate bubble in 2021
The richest man in human history, to the Industrial Revolution
Mapping: the second major language around the world