Wall Street is telling us there is a green revolution about to happen in the United States, writes Giles Archibald, leader of South Lakeland District Council.

The environmental policies of ex-president Donald Trump and the new president Joe Biden could not be further apart. Donald Trump is a climate change denier, supports the fossil fuel industry, pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement and has allowed deforestation and biodiversity loss in some of the United States’ largest forests.

Joe Biden, the new president, on the other hand, talks about climate change all the time. He has nominated several prominent climate change activists to his cabinet and has expressed commitment to Net Carbon Zero by 2050. Indeed, his plan is to produce all electricity from renewables by 2035.

This is great news, since the United States produces more than 13 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gases each year, and historically has been responsible for 25 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions. There are already signs that his climate envoy John Kerry is flexing his influence. We hear he had a quiet word with the UK Government about the importance of the next big climate meeting in Glasgow later this year. I expect we will see a cascade of new climate-related policy announcements from the new administration.

The US stock market is confirming this is real. The stock prices of solar technology stocks, wind turbine stocks and hydrogen fuel cell stocks have risen dramatically fast over the last two months. In addition, the US technology is spreading worldwide.

In a little-publicised development, one hydrogen fuel cell manufacturer in the US has just signed a new joint-venture with Renault to produce hydrogen-based vehicles in Europe. Their aim is to capture 30 per cent of the EU light vehicle market.

Savvy investors can see an opportunity. A US president determined to go net zero presents a chance for new technologies to attract finance and find new markets. The stock market is telling us that we have entered a new phase in our fight against climate change.

Let’s hope so.