We present a special mid-week episode of SmarterMarkets™, bringing you exclusive interviews from the IETA North America Climate Summit.  At this September’s Climate Week in New York City, we partnered with IETA to interview a wide-range of carbon market participants. During this pivotal year in carbon markets, we wanted to discuss their perspectives on where we are and what we need to do next to harness the power of markets to make net-zero possible. SmarterMarkets™ host David Greely sat down with these guests to talk about how carbon markets support their strategy for climate action; how this year’s challenges to operationalize the Article 6 markets, as well as this year’s challenges to the reputation and growth of the voluntary carbon markets, are affecting their strategies; and what they see as the most important ideas being discussed at the Climate Summit this year. We’ve compiled a selection of those interviews into this special episode of SmarterMarkets™. The full interviews for each guest are available on the SmarterMarkets™ Presents media portal. Our guests in order of appearance in this episode are: Ingo Puhl, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Southeast Asia at South Pole Lisa DeMarco, Senior Partner & CEO at Resilient and Chair of the Board of Directors at IETA Svenja Telle, Director of Origination at Base Carbon Ana Carolina Avzaradel Szklo, Technical Director, Markets and Standards at VCMI Melissa Lindsay, Founder & CEO at Emsurge & Emstream Juan Durán, Executive Director at EcoRegistry Dinesh Babu, Executive Director at Climate Action Data Trust Nick Osborne, GM, Global Environmental Products at Shell Energy Lars Kvale, VP of Market Solutions at Chia Network Lars Kroijer, Founder & Managing Director at Allied Offsets Max DuBuisson, VP of Sustainability Policy & Engagement at Indigo Ag Goulnara Aguiar, CEO & Founder of Ormex Standard Dominique Strasdin, Head of Business Development at Vertree Rick Saines, Managing Director at Pollination Matt Beckwith, Sr. Advisor at Varda Ag Leslie Durschinger, Founder, CEO, & CIO at Terra Global Capital Mark Downes, Communications Director at IETA David Antonioli, Independent Advisor & Former CEO at Verra

This week, we kick off our new series, Commodities in Asia. In this series, we’ll be exploring the current state and the future ambitions of the commodities markets in Asia. Across energy, metals, agriculture, and carbon, we’ll be talking with the leading voices of the Asian commodity markets to help us better understand how we can work together to build the next generation of truly global smarter markets. We kick off our series with Amreeta Eng, Executive Director at Enterprise Singapore. Enterprise Singapore is a government agency under the Ministry of Trade & Industry that champions enterprise development by partnering with companies and industry to build capabilities, innovate and internationalize, and by supporting the growth of Singapore as a hub for global trading and start-ups. SmarterMarkets™ host David Greely sits down with Amreeta to discuss how Singapore has become a center for commodities trading and the broader commodities industry.

For the final episode of our September Sessions, we welcome Evy Hambro into the SmarterMarkets™ studio. Evy is Managing Director and Global Head of Thematic and Sector Based Investing, Fundamental Equity at BlackRock. SmarterMarkets™ host David Greely sits down with Evy to discuss how to put investment capital to work by investing in companies that are providing the materials we need to support the energy transition at scale, and how to find those companies that are best positioned to profit from the changing energy landscape as we move from brown to green.

Daniel Yergin, Vice Chairman of S&P Global and author of The New Map, discusses the complexities of the energy transition, the growing demand for critical battery metals, market signals and challenges in permitting processes, the slow flow of finance to the global south, and the approach and roadmap needed for the energy transition to achieve net zero. The conversation also touches on COP 28 and the focus on pragmatic solutions for addressing climate change.

Erik Townsend, host of the Macro Voices podcast and creator of the documentary series Energy Transition Crisis, dives deep into the complexities of our shift away from fossil fuels. He discusses the urgent need for a successful energy transition in light of climate change and rising energy prices. Townsend advocates for advanced nuclear technologies, like molten salt reactors, as sustainable solutions. He emphasizes the importance of public awareness and the broader implications of energy policy on living standards, challenging misconceptions about renewable energy effectiveness.

This week on The September Sessions, we welcome Dirk Forrister into the SmarterMarkets™ studio. Dirk is the President and CEO of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA). SmarterMarkets™ host David Greely sits down with Dirk to discuss how IETA and its members are viewing the world’s evolving carbon markets and net zero landscape on the eve of their North America Climate Summit this week in New York City.

The podcast features Robert Friedland, Founder and Executive Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines. They discuss sourcing raw materials for the energy transition, challenges of mining, revolutionizing raw material sourcing, technology solving conflicts, pulse power, and the role of governments in energy transition.

On the final installment of our Summer Playlist, we welcome Frances Haugen into the SmarterMarkets™ studio. Frances is an advocate for accountability and transparency in social media and the author of the memoir, The Power of One: How I Found the Strength to Tell the Truth and Why I Blew the Whistle on Facebook. SmarterMarkets™ host David Greely sits down with Frances to discuss the algorithms designed to capture our attention, their flaws, and how we can incentivize change and build better social networks.

Our Summer Playlist continues this week with Ted Merz, Founder of Principals Media and the Former Global Head of News Product at Bloomberg. SmarterMarkets™ host David Greely sits down with Ted to discuss the changing nature of information in our lives and our relationship with it.

Helima Croft, Managing Director & Global Head of Commodity Strategy at RBC Capital Markets, discusses the geopolitics and current state of play in the global commodities markets. Topics include the consequences of the Russia war, the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on commodity markets, China's oil imports, geopolitical concerns with Iran, and influences on the commodity markets such as OPEC and investment strategies. The podcast ends with a casual conversation about summer reading lists.