Sustainability Now

We are in the era of data centers. They are being built with the speed and intensity of factories during the industrial revolution, and with the same sort of capital attraction. But their high emissions, which are under-reported by companies (we will tell you why!), have left both real estate and tech investors with a dilemma: take advantage of the data center boom or have a portfolio with low emissions. We explore this tension in this episode of Sustainability Now.Helpful Reading: Desire for Data Centers Creates Carbon Dilemma for Property InvestorsHost: Mike Disabato, MSCI Sustainability & ClimateGuests: Tom Leahy, MSCI Solutions; Yoon Young Chung, MSCI Sustainability & Climate.

Carbon, selfishly, has dominated the sustainability conversation for some time. But what about the often-overlooked foundation of our everything in our economy: biodiversity. How can you measure that if its basically everything? We show you how in this episode, exploring how every business, from agriculture to technology, depends on the health of ecosystems, and how investors can now quantify those connections through innovative data-driven tools. By unpacking the creation of our new Biodiversity Risk Index Screen, the conversation reveals how measuring nature’s complexity can help reduce financial exposure to environmental loss and drive more resilient investment strategies. It’s a deep dive into how markets are beginning to account for the true value of the natural world. Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG ResearchGuest: Laura Coomber, MSCI ESG Research

Do hurricanes affect the market? Join us as we cover new research that tracks the financial fallout of storms on company equity. Through asset exposure and climate models, we’ll discuss how storm paths connect to stock prices and why investors may want to take notice, before the next hurricane hits.Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG ResearchGuest: Xinxin Wang, MSCI ESG Research

As the planet continues to warm, physical climate risk is no longer an abstract future concern. It is financially material today. The question now is where those risks will materialize and how are companies prepared for those risks. We can help you find out -  just by listening to this episode!Report discussed: https://www.msci.com/research-and-insights/blog-post/the-bill-is-due-physical-hazard-revenue-losses-mount-plans-lagHost: Mike Disabato, MSCI Sustainability and Climate ResearchGuest: James Edwards, MSCI Sustainability and Climate Research

Climate change doesn’t just arrive one disaster at a time. It stacks crises on top of each other: drought followed by flood, heat followed by fire; shocks that turn small problems into big financial hits. In this episode, we talked about how compounding climate hazards are reshaping the bottled water industry, what a 2024 Nestlé scandal reveals about the future of water quality, and why investors should be paying closer attention. Host: Mike Disabato - MSCI ESG ResearchGuest: Cole Martin - MSCI ESG ResearchLink to paper discussed in episode: https://www.msci.com/research-and-insights/blog-post/compound-climate-hazards-pressure-beverage-giants

Controlled companies now outnumber widely held ones. New MSCI research shows that this market shift has significant implications for shareholder returns. Guest: Jonathan Ponder, MSCI ESG ResearchHost: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research

We already know there is a clear link between ESG ratings and the cost of capital. But the question remains: do ESG ratings matter for bonds and their credit spreads? Should fixed income investors care? Listen to this week’s episode to find out!Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG ResearchGuest: Jakub Malich, MSCI ESG ResearchLink to paper discussed in episode: https://www.msci.com/research-and-insights/paper/the-financial-materiality-of-sustainability-risk-in-credit-markets-a-decade-of-evidence

Jonathan Ponder, from MSCI ESG Research, shares insights on the shifting landscape of sustainability reporting in North America. He discusses how companies may be scaling back on their disclosures, posing questions about corporate transparency. The conversation highlights a rise in climate disclosures contrasted with a decline in workforce reporting. Ponder also examines changes in shareholder proposals, noting a preference for specific requests and the emergence of contrarian proposals challenging traditional practices.

As the physical risks from climate change grow, so does our reliance on accurate maps to assess them. In this episode, we dig into the limitations of publicly available flood maps and explore how data and modeling in the marketplace have evolved - often surpassing the capabilities of standard public tools. Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG ResearchGuest: Kate Towey, MSCI Climate Risk Center

Let’s venture beyond the portfolio and into the engine room of company performance. In this episode, we explore how ESG Ratings relate to core business fundamentals like profitability, sales variability, and asset turnover. It’s a new piece of a much bigger picture that connects sustainability with financial performance. Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG ResearchGuest: Yu Ishihara, MSCI ESG Research