All Things Sustainable

Corporates, financial institutions, investors and academics gathered in New York City on May 17 for the S&P Global Sustainable1 Summit to discuss topics such as net zero, the energy transition and ESG data challenges. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we bring you highlights from the panel discussions as well as interviews on the sidelines of the event. We hear from Emily Chew, Chief Responsible Investment Officer at Calvert Research and Management, one of the largest responsible investment companies in the U.S. Emily talks about the intense level of engagement and coordination that climate change requires of companies. "Every organization needs this multi-stakeholder, multi-pronged approach," she says. "It really stretches us into this new ... type of financial literacy that pertains to climate." We also hear from the largest bank in the U.S. Rama Variankaval, Global Head of the Center for Carbon Transition at JPMorgan Chase and Co., talks about the challenge of putting climate targets into practice. "We published a target and that's when the real work started,” Rama says. “It's easy enough to put a glossy 20 pages with numbers on it and pretty pictures of trees, etc. But then you have to go and say: Ok, what do you do with this?" We also sit down on the sidelines of the event with Josh Green, Co-Founder and COO of technology platform Novata, to talk about the role of private equity markets in ESG. “If all the public companies in the world are fantastic in reducing their carbon emissions but private companies keep doing business as usual, we are not going to solve our climate problem," he says. And we talk with Simran Heer, Program Manager at Microsoft, who explains how the company uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to tackle sustainability issues. We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com). Register for the S&P Global Sustainable1 Summit here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/sp-global-sustainable1-summit?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_content=ESGInsiderAd Photo credit: Getty Images

Around 300 corporates, financial institutions, investors and academics gathered in Paris on May 10 for the S&P Global Sustainable1 Summit to discuss topics including net zero, biodiversity, the energy transition and the ESG data challenge. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we sit down on the sidelines of the event with Sagarika Chatterjee, high level champion for climate action and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, or GFANZ. Sagarika talks about the importance of credible, near-term net zero targets. "This has to be about the next five years. It can't be about only the next 20 or the next 30," she tells us. We also sit down with Magnus Billing, CEO of Sweden’s largest pension fund, Alecta. He says carbon pricing could be part of the solution in getting to net zero. "The market doesn't have the proper incentives today to take action," he tell us. "The drive to make changes and take actions would be enormously higher if we had a correct price on the actual cost" of carbon. We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com). Register for the S&P Global Sustainable1 Summit here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/sp-global-sustainable1-summit?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_content=ESGInsiderAd Photo credit: Getty Images

Stakeholder capitalism — the idea that companies are responsible to a wide range of stakeholders in addition to shareholders — was a big focus at the last iteration of Davos, the annual meeting hosted by the World Economic Forum that brings together global leaders from governments, business and academia in Switzerland. In 2022, Davos is scheduled to take place the week of May 22. Ahead of that event, we’re talking with Bruno Roche, the former Mars Inc. chief economist who founded the Economics of Mutuality platform. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, Bruno outlines a new approach to corporate performance measurement and accounting. "Fifty years ago, financial capital was scarce, but natural resources were overly abundant. Today, it's just the opposite — financial capital is overly abundant and natural resources are scarce," Bruno tells us in this episode of the ESG Insider podcast. "Yet our economic model has not changed. So there is something wrong." Bruno proposes a total rethink of corporate purpose to an approach that is more focused on a wide range of stakeholders. "The purpose of business is about creating scalable and profitable solutions to the problems of people and planet — not profiting from creating problems," he says. We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com). Register for the S&P Global Sustainable1 Summit here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/sp-global-sustainable1-summit?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_content=ESGInsiderAd Photo credit: Getty Images

Human rights problems lurking in supply chains — from child labor and unfair wages to unsafe working conditions — are moving up the ESG agenda for many companies and investors. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we explore how the issue is evolving. One force behind this change is new legislation being rolled out that requires companies to identify, measure and tackle human rights risk related to their business activities. Another is a warming climate, and the way the physical impacts of climate change can affect societies and workers and disrupt the global flow of goods and services. The human rights topic is also coming into sharper focus following the COVID-19 pandemic and amid instances of localized conflict in different parts of the world. Meanwhile, social media and other tech businesses face their own human rights issues, ranging from data privacy to hate speech. In this episode, we talk with human rights experts from three organizations: asset manager Robeco, law firm Clifford Chance, and the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, a U.K.-based nonprofit. We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com). Register for the S&P Global Sustainable1 Summit here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/sp-global-sustainable1-summit?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_content=ESGInsiderAd Photo credit: Getty Images

Regulation is increasingly shaping the agenda for environmental, social and governance-focused investors. In many parts of the world, regulators are working to bring clarity to an often-confusing ESG market amid an alphabet soup of different voluntary frameworks. The European Banking Authority, which oversees EU banks, is one such regulator. Earlier this year, it said it will ask banks to disclose information on climate risks and their plans to address those risks from 2023. For this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we interviewed Pilar Gutierrez, Head of Reporting and Transparency at the EBA, about the new standards, how they fit with a push for more standardized reporting internationally, and what improvements banks will have to make. “Many corporates or banks are already providing disclosure reports on nonfinancial information according to the TCFD recommendations,” Pilar tells us. “But when assessing these reports, we still observe growth for improvement in terms of consistency and comparability of the disclosures.” We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com). Register for the S&P Global Sustainable1 Summit here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/sp-global-sustainable1-summit?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_content=ESGInsiderAd Photo credit: Getty Images

A new report from the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, charts a challenging but feasible course ahead for many sectors in achieving net zero emissions. The report warns that delayed action could result in significantly worse losses and damages, including trillions of dollars worth of stranded fossil fuel assets. In this Earth Day episode of ESG Insider, we talk with a contributing author to the report, John Bistline. John is Program Manager in the Energy Systems and Climate Analysis Group at the Electric Power Research Institute, or EPRI. He explains that a low-carbon future will depend on transforming energy systems that rely on electricity or fossil fuels to operate. And he talks about the potential challenges energy systems face in pursuing net zero emissions by 2050, and the actionable takeaways in the report for companies. "The next steps are thinking about these credible commitments to public policy, private investment, to innovation. And in the near term, that may mean doubling down on options that previous decades have helped to make cheap," he says. "We're also going to see a lot of work trying to scale the technologies that are needed to reach net zero emissions across the economy. And I think in order to do that, there's going to be a lot of interest, a lot of investment in these options that today are sort of more at a pilot scale." Listen to our episode on the IPCC's previous February 2022 climate adaptation report here: https://soundcloud.com/esginsider/ipcc-climate-report-warns  Listen to our episode on the IPCC's August 2021 report about the scientific basis for climate change here: https://soundcloud.com/esginsider/in-fighting-climate-change  Register for the S&P Global Sustainable1 Summit here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/sp-global-sustainable1-summit?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_content=ESGInsiderAd  We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com). Photo credit: Getty Images

The world is working to meet ambitious environmental, social and governance targets in the form of the Paris Agreement and the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals. It's clear that banks will play a central role in financing the changes needed to meet these goals. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we talk with Karen Fang, Global Head of Sustainable Finance at Bank of America, about how one of the largest U.S. banks is approaching sustainability challenges. In the episode, Karen discusses the bank's goal of deploying and mobilizing $1.5 trillion in sustainable finance by 2030, how Bank of America is working to align SDG and ESG goals, and steps the bank is taking to meet its own net zero goal. She also talks about the new climate disclosure proposal from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the difficulty of measuring and managing Scope 3 emissions. "For us, as a bank, the biggest challenge is Scope 3 because that's our entire supply chain and value chain," Karen says. "It really takes all of our clients that we lend money to and invest in to work with us on a credible transition plan to transition to net zero so our financing and investment emissions — which is the biggest contributor of our Scope 3 emissions — can be neutralized over time." Listen to our recent episode on the SEC’s climate disclosure proposal here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/podcasts/unpacking-implications-of-the-sec-s-proposed-climate-disclosure-rule Register for the S&P Global Sustainable1 Summit here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/sp-global-sustainable1-summit?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_content=ESGInsiderAd We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com). Photo credit: Bank of America

In 2022, the ESG Insider podcast is bringing you a series of interviews with some of the world’s largest asset managers, owners and financial institutions. In this episode, we hear from the largest pension fund in the U.S. — the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS. We speak to Simiso Nzima, managing investment director of global equity at CalPERS. The conversation focused on five vital sustainability topics — executive pay and its link to ESG performance; board diversity; climate risk; the lack of standardization in ESG metrics; the SEC’s new proposal on climate-related disclosures; and finally, the debate about divestment versus engagement. To listen to our interview with BlackRock: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/behind-the-scenes-with-blackrock-how-the-worlds/id1475521006?i=1000554510594  To listen to our interview with State Street Global Advisors: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-street-global-advisors-exec-on-climate-accountability/id1475521006?i=1000551552556  We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com). Photo credit: Getty Images

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently unveiled a long-anticipated climate disclosure rulemaking proposal. The proposed rule, which is now open for comment, would require companies to disclose certain climate-related information ranging from greenhouse gas emissions to expected climate risks to transition plans.   In this episode of ESG Insider, we explore the potentially wide-reaching implications for investors, companies and for climate disclosure globally.  To help us understand the SEC's proposal as it relates to audit and attestation requirements, we talk with Maura Hodge, who is IMPACT and ESG Audit Leader at professional services firm KPMG. We also learn about the challenges of measuring Scope 3 indirect emissions from our colleague Dr. James Salo, who heads environmental research & ESG modeling at S&P Global Sustainable1. And to explore legal implications surrounding the proposal, we talk with Mellissa Duru, special counsel at law firm Covington & Burling and co-vice chair of the firm's ESG practice. Mellissa previously worked at the SEC in its Corporate Finance Division and as a lead adviser to former Commissioner Kara Stein on the SEC's ESG-related regulatory policy. We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com). Photo credit: S&P Global Sustainable1 

Pollution, over-fishing, coral bleaching and the impact of climate change — the oceans are clearly in trouble. Over the past decade, many more nature-based projects have gotten the support of green financing mechanisms, such as green bonds, but little of that new money has benefited the ocean economy. To help fix that financing gap between the terrestrial and marine worlds, some banks are experimenting with a new type of financing instrument known as a blue bond. The first such instrument was issued in October 2018, enabling the island nation of Seychelles to offload a portion of its debt in return for increased marine protection. The deal stabilized Seychelle’s debt position, while boosting investment in the local marine economy. Since then, half a dozen other countries or banks have issued blue bonds, including the World Bank, the Bank of China and the country of Belize. In this episode we speak to Ramzi Issa, a managing director at Swiss bank Credit Suisse, who helped arrange the recent Belize blue bond, which raised $364 million. Part of that money was used to restructure Belize’s debt and part of it is allocated for marine conservation. As Ramzi says, "You're effectively creating funding for these projects through debt relief. So that was kind of a key feature of the transaction when [investors] participated." For now, blue bonds remain a niche market. But they join other innovative efforts to increase ocean investment flows. In July 2021, for example, we interviewed the marine explore Jacques Cousteau’s grandson, Philippe, who is also working to bring the oceans to ESG investors. Listen to the episode here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-cousteaus-grandson-is-bringing-oceans-to-esg-investors/id1475521006?i=1000527653970 Both blue bonds and other form of sustainable financing for the oceans could get more attention during the U.N. biodiversity conference known as COP15 being held in China in late April and early May. Correction: This episode was updated to correct a reference to Credit Suisse, which is a Swiss bank. We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com). Photo credit: Getty Images