Impact Investing - Ørsted

3 min read 13 May 21

The World’s leading owner and developer of offshore wind power

The world is facing a climate emergency. Scientists have clearly demonstrated the need to limit global temperature rises to well below 2°C, as going above that threshold is likely to trigger irreversible consequences for nature and humans. To stay within 1.5ºC global warming by 2100, the world needs to halve global carbon emissions by 2030 and reduce emissions to net-zero by 2050.

We believe Danish renewable energy company Ørsted provides an important solution to tackling climate change through the transition to renewable energy sources, such as wind power.

Nearly 3/4 of these emissions come from fossil fuels, and the green energy that Ørsted produces allows for the world to transition away from these harmful power sources to renewable, carbon-neutral energy.

Both onshore and offshore wind power is at the core of the green solutions that Ørsted provides through the displacement of fossil fuels.

Offshore wind technology takes advantage of the powerful and abundant wind at sea. It is deployable at large scale and is especially useful for powering areas with high population density. It has the potential to be the backbone of the global green energy transformation, according to the IEA, and the European Commission estimates that in Europe alone, it is feasible to scale up the deployment of offshore wind from 20GW today to 450GW by 2050.

Onshore wind is currently the most price-competitive renewable energy source. While wind conditions are less favourable on land than at sea, the maturity of this technology makes it deployable globally, ideally in regions with large uninhabited areas of land.

Over the past decade, the company has been on a major decarbonisation journey to transform from one of Europe’s most carbon-intensive energy companies to a global leader in renewable energy.

Ørsted has reduced its carbon emissions by 86% compared to 2006, and in 2009 formulated its vision of a business transformation from fossil fuels to green energy by 2040. This target was achieved 20 years ahead of schedule.

In light of this, in January 2020 Ørsted was ranked the most sustainable company in the world in the Corporate Knights' index of the top 100 sustainable companies globally – this was the first time an energy company topped the list. 

In brief 

  • United Nations Sustainable Development Primary Goal #7: Affordable and clean energy.
  • Nationality: Danish
  • Leader in the offshore wind market, with 24% market share
  • Global offshore wind capacity is expected to grow from 20GW today to 450GW by 2050
  • In 2019, Ørsted helped avoid 11.3 million tonnes of carbon emissions, which equates to removing more than 5.7 million cars from the roads
  • Provides renewable energy to over 15 million people worldwide 

While we support the UN SDGs, we are not associated with the UN and our funds are not endorsed by them.

All company data sourced from Ørsted. Figures shown were latest available from company literature, as at January 2021.

M&G (Lux) Positive Impact Fund invests in Ørsted.

If you want to know more about M&G (Lux) Positive Impact Fund please visit the fund page.

By M&G Investments

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