Smart investors are always looking for the next best thing to come down the road because they know that the early bird gets the worm. The first people who get into a new investment or whole new field of investing are the ones that are likely to make the most money. This is common knowledge and will probably never change.

There is an investment opportunity right now that falls into the category of "new" even though it’s been around for a while. That’s because it’s been sort of flying under the radar for a number of years and other factors which we’ll discuss. The field of green investing has been around for a while but hasn’t really taken off yet in a big way. Why not? Let’s take a look at some of the reasons.

First, green investing is a big field with many different facets. You could define it to include anything involving alternative energy and any types of conservation projects. In that case you’d have quite a wide field. If you narrow it down a little to only include carbon offsetting and trading you’d still have quite a large market and one that has gone largely unnoticed by the mainstream investment community for most of the last 10 years.

The reasons for this seem to be as follows. First, because carbon offsetting, or cap and trade as it is known in the U.S., has been linked to the global warming controversy, many people have been confused as to whether or not there is actually any credence to the whole basis behind the concept in the first place. Through, mostly, disinformation the elements in the U.S. in particular that have downplayed the human effect on n global warming have created a lot of doubt in many peoples’ minds about the real necessity for any kind of carbon offsetting system in the first place.

This has, of course, created a reluctance on the part of many investors to seriously consider carbon offsetting to be a viable investment opportunity in the first place. After all, the thinking goes, if it may not turn out to be a real problem to begin with, then the whole carbon market could completely collapse. However, the effects of global warming are getting to be too acute to dismiss anymore and the body of science that concludes that greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the cause has become too overwhelming.

Carbon dioxide and other GHGs (such as methane) are causing global warming, something has to be done about it and reducing carbon emissions seems to be the only solution. That said, there will exist a market for the trading of carbon offset credits, as there does now exist, and that market will only get bigger as time goes on and more companies and individuals feel a responsibility to correct the problem.

And you know when some of the biggest banks in the world start to get involved, as they have in recent years by setting up green investment divisions, that things are on the move. Our advice: don’t wait. Start looking into smart carbon-based investments now. Make sure that you’re the early bird this time.