--- title: The Leaders Financing the Planet's Future description: In 2022, political, financial, and corporate leaders around the world grappled with the urgent need to find the green to go green. canonical: https://time.com/6239405/leaders-financing-climate-future-2022/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-12-08T13:00:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T15:08:51.447Z article:section: Climate og:title: The Leaders Financing the Planet's Future og:description: In 2022, leaders around the world grappled with the urgent need to find the green to go green og:url: https://time.com/6239405/leaders-financing-climate-future-2022/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt435f9fc4918def88/698a389ecabb1df1e8e50fac/climate-amazon-brazil.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: BRAZIL-AMAZON-RAINFOREST-DEFORESTATION og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Leaders Financing the Planet's Future twitter:description: In 2022, leaders around the world grappled with the urgent need to find the green to go green twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt435f9fc4918def88/698a389ecabb1df1e8e50fac/climate-amazon-brazil.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Leaders Financing the Planet's Future > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Future Proof: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Future Proof is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Making sense of the climate and energy economy. Future Proof examines the forces transforming energy and climate, and what those changes mean for business, technology, policy and the global economy. Senior correspondent Justin Worland goes beyond traditional climate coverage to connect the energy transition to the bigger decisions reshaping companies, markets and society. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 8, 2022 1:00 PM UTC  A tree with pink foliage sticks out of the Amazon rain forest on June 6 A tree with pink foliage sticks out of the Amazon rain forest on June 6 Mauro Pimentel—AFP/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 8, 2022 1:00 PM UTC Understanding [climate change](https://time.com/section/climate/) requires wrapping your head around some crazy financial figures. To transition the global economy away from fossil fuels, governments, financiers, and businesses must invest some [$4 trillion](https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050) into clean energy every year beginning in 2030, according to the International Energy Agency. That sounds like a lot, but it’s dwarfed by the cost of doing nothing. Insurance giant Swiss Re [warned](https://www.swissre.com/institute/research/topics-and-risk-dialogues/climate-and-natural-catastrophe-risk/expertise-publication-economics-of-climate-change.html) last year that climate change could cut off nearly 15% of global economic output by 2050\. In 2022, these numbers came to the fore as leaders grappled with the urgent need to find the green to go green. Perhaps no single climate investment this year will go further than the $369 billion the U.S. is spending to catalyze renewables and cut emissions via the [Inflation Reduction Act](https://time.com/6204582/inflation-reduction-act-climate-change/). After holding up the legislation for the first 18 months of Joe Biden’s presidency, West Virginia Democratic Senator **Joe Manchin** struck a deal in July to bring the law’s most significant provisions to life. Analysts say it will help dramatically cut U.S. emissions and incentivize trillions more in private investment. Speaking of private investment, **Yvon Chouinard**, founder of retailer Patagonia, made waves in September when he announced he would [donate the entire company](https://time.com/6213780/patagonia-founder-chouinard-climate/)—reportedly valued at around $3 billion—to save the planet. Future profits will be used to address climate change, not to benefit shareholders. Elsewhere, satisfying shareholders has proved a difficult needle to thread. Many investors are eager to see companies prioritize environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, but some politicians, including in Florida and Texas, are trying to block state funds from making ESG investments. Perhaps no one is under more pressure than BlackRock CEO **Larry Fink**, who has advocated for sustainable investment. He [wrote](https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/investor-relations/larry-fink-ceo-letter?cid=ppc:blk:ll:na:ol:goog:na:v2:bhv:tl&gclid=Cj0KCQiA7bucBhCeARIsAIOwr-99299TzLKNupDwlYPbQ1nuxijg44BuykPtlldQLdC6ucDApdd3RsYaAr4DEALw%5FwcB&gclsrc=aw.ds) in his annual letter in January that his approach represents the latest iteration of capitalism and is “not woke.” In the public sector, too, leaders widely agreed this year that the status quo must change. At COP27, the annual U.N. climate summit, governments struck a deal to create a fund to help pay for the losses and damages resulting from climate change that will disproportionately harm developing countries. While the issue has seen many champions over the decades, **Mia Mottley**, the Prime Minister of Barbados, has emerged as a key voice for overhauling the global financial system to help poorer nations invest in climate programs without relying on costly debt. In September, she released [the Bridgetown Agenda](https://time.com/6225264/climate-reparations-rich-countries-barbados/), a proposal to remake the International Monetary Fund and World Bank with climate change in mind. These ideas gained initial support at COP27, including from the U.S., and are seen as a key complement to the loss and damage fund. In Brazil, the election of **Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva** to replace the climate-change-­denying Jair Bolsonaro as President led to an [immediate rush of enthusiasm](https://time.com/6226932/lula-win-amazon-climate-change-brazil/) among climate advocates. Bolsonaro has allowed farmers to raze the Amazon with little concern for the severe climate costs. Lula has yet to take office but has already gotten to work crafting programs to facilitate wealthier countries’ paying for Brazil’s efforts to protect the rain forest. All of these developments are ground­breaking. 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