VegTech Invest announced on Tuesday that data and analytics provider Ethos has certified its debut exchange traded fund, the VegTech Plant-based Innovation & Climate ETF (EATV ), as Carbon Neutral Without Buying Credits. EATV is the first ETF that Ethos has certified as carbon neutral using lifecycle analyses.
Launched a little over a year ago, EATV is a global ETF of publicly traded plant-based innovation companies on the New York Stock Exchange. The fund includes 37 publicly traded companies actively innovating with plants and plant-derived ingredients and producing primary products that are animal-free.
The actively managed fund is a pure-play in plant-based innovation companies and the companies that support them to propel a less damaging and less resource-intensive supply system.
While most Ethos’ carbon-neutral certifications compare the carbon footprint of a portfolio with purchased offsets, the plant-based innovation certification championed by EATV considers carbon emissions avoided by replacing animal products for a less carbon-intensive food and materials supply system. This means that the investments made by EATV are avoiding creating emissions rather than using offsets.
“Offsets are really important for mitigating global warming, but it is also critical that we address the underlying problem, including the massive emissions generated by our meat-based food system,” said Ethos Founder and CEO Luke Wilcox.
Ethos determined that the aggregate carbon avoidance potential of all EATV holdings was greater than the estimated carbon footprint, meaning that an investment in EATV may result in a net reduction of carbon when considering the expected emissions avoided.
“The emissions avoidance thesis through replacements of carbon-heavy animal products has always been at the core of EATV’s philosophy. We have always believed that avoiding emissions can be even more impactful than participating in a carbon market, which can have intermediaries, and be complicated and inefficient,” added EATV’s fund manager Sasha Goodman.
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