Dear friends and supporters of Altiorem,

A few weeks ago, I wrote about two imminent threats to the Amazon, being the likely election of Flávio Bolsonaro as president of Brazil and the record El Nino strengthening in the Pacific. In a rare comeback from a first-round deficit, the first of those threats didn't come to pass thanks in part to the extraordinary mobilisation of young activists across the country.

Across Europe we have also seen massive student-led protests, some turning to destruction of property. The protests in France, another example of how climate intersects with other issues, were sparked by teacher shortages, class sizes and the state of the buildings. This followed 1,352 schools and colleges needing to be closed and more than 4,000 adjusting their hours during the June heatwave and cuts to the Fonds vert, the general ecological transition fund local authorities draw on to renovate public buildings.

While not directly connected, these protests coincided with student protests in at least ten other countries with issues including the cost of living, cuts to university funding, university fees and military spending driving students to take a stand.

We shouldn't be surprised that students are rising up at this time. After all, young people have driven social change movements from the Soweto uprising in South Africa in 1976 to the Sunflower protests in Taiwan in 2014, to the Bangladesh protests in 2024 which ended in a change of government.

The challenges for young people today have few parallels. They have been the subject of an uncontrolled social experiment of mass social media adoption while also enduring a global pandemic, the weight of polycrisis, unaffordable housing and education, and now the prospect of AI hollowing out the entry-level jobs that allowed them to gain the experience they need to progress in their careers. And if you think it is bad in wealthy countries….

So once again, it is the youth who are left to hold the mirror to society and force us to reckon with the world we are leaving future generations. While the implications for sustainable finance are varied, from what it means for the economy, intergenerational wealth transfer and demographics where fewer young people carry an ever-greater load, there are more direct examples.

Students led the campaign to divest university endowments from apartheid South Africa (1977 to 1986) and the fossil fuel divestment movement (2011) and have held governments and companies accountable in the courts. Youth-led court cases including the German Constitutional Court ruling that the Climate Protection Law places an unreasonable burden on future generations directly challenge the idea that economists and financiers can “discount” their future.

Recently, I was shown that young people are not only holding the mirror up, but they are also driving the responses needed. I was approached by a remarkable young woman in India, Anandini Agrawal, who with other students established the Ashoka Impact Finance Club, the first student-led initiative in impact finance in India, the International Network of Students in Impact Finance (INSIF) and RISE Capital, Asia's first undergraduate impact investment fund, through which students gain direct exposure to deal scouting and deal evaluation. You can read about her inspiring story on Altiorem.

Separately, I was also approached by Sam Garis who is the incoming co-head of SII Capital, which was set up by the Sydney University Impact Investing Society (SUIIS) in 2025. SUIIS was founded in 2021 and has more than 1,500 student members. These young leaders are developing the impact focused investment approaches which must form the cornerstone of a new economy.

Altiorem’s original curation and publication model connected students to professionals to build a platform for expanding sustainable finance knowledge for the industry, while supporting students' future careers in sustainable finance. Over the years we have had more than 150 volunteers contribute to Altiorem, most of them students and we have been delighted to see many start their careers in roles with a focus on sustainability. It is no understatement to say that Altiorem would not have been possible without them.

While our model had to change following the closure of Stewart Investors and loss of our funding, we have not lost sight of our role and responsibility to the next generation of finance leaders. Altiorem is giving 20 complimentary gold subscriptions to both organisations, and we will also find other ways to support their purposeful work. If you would like to get involved, please reach out as these organisations need various forms of support to spread their inspiring work.

The mirror that young people have time and again put up to our industry shows one glaring fault more than any other. At its heart, stewardship and fiduciary duties have been too narrowly applied, the duty should have always been about what will be left for the generations that follow.

Until next week.

Pablo

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Pablo’s handpicked highlights from Altiorem last week:

To see all of the resources added this week visit Altiorem’s website: Altiorem Articles: Insightful Reads & Expert Knowledge

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