As an example, the SPHERE 500 Climate Fund (SPFFX) has done very well since inception...something like +30%. It lists a strategy of investing in large companies that do not derive revenue from the sale of fossil fuels, hold fossil fuel assets, use fossil fuels for power or produce fossil fuel related equipment. That sounds pretty good, no?
Well, its top holdings are: Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Google, and Meta - All companies engaged in promoting and evolving AI, which requires enormous volumes of energy to operate data centers and sundry infrastructure...which is often derived from fossil fuels. In effect, this fund is the SP500 excluding coal and oil and gas companies. It also only invests 80% of its funds into its stated purpose, so up to 20% can be invested in anything the fund managers want.
Is it better than nothing? Probably, but all the gains it has achieved are from a few mega-cap tech companies through AI (just like the rest of the market). There is no reliable way to check where each and every data center is deriving its power, so this fund is a little aspirational in nature, rather than a practical way to help the environment - it just adds more layers between the fossil fuels and the top-end.
Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED Talk :)