Climate Positive

In this week's episode, Gil speaks with Matt Rogers, the founder and CEO of Mill, a startup revolutionizing how we tackle food waste. They delve into the inspiration behind Mill, discussing how the idea came about and the parallels to Matt's previous work as the co-founder of Nest, the company behind the iconic learning thermostat and other smart home products. Matt discusses the functionality of Mill's kitchen bin, which transforms food scraps into nutrient-rich animal feed, and how the company is bringing this groundbreaking product to the market. He explains the emissions profile of Mill's appliance and the positive impact it can have on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Also, Matt shares his insights on the crucial role of technology and innovation in driving sustainable solutions.Links: Mill WebsiteMill Impact StatsMatt Rogers TwitterMatt Rogers LinkedInMill LinkedInMill TwitterMill InstagramMill TikTokEpisode recorded May 2. 2023 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod. Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.

Seafood provides nearly 20% of the animal protein humans consume globally. This growing source of protein is also rather healthy with many of our nutrient-rich foods coming from aquatic creatures. But already, the supply of our wild capture seafood has flattened, meaning that the vast majority of our global fisheries today are being overfished in an unsustainable manner. Fortunately, Finless Foods and other sustainable seafood startups are working to bring sustainability-driven innovation to the seafood space. With both plant-based and cell-cultured options, consumers are finally beginning to experience the taste and value of seafood alternatives that are better for our oceans and their inhabitants as well as our climate. In this episode, Chad Reed talks with Finless Foods’ chief strategy officer Shannon Consentino-Roush about the past, present and future of the sustainable seafood movement and industry. Links: Finless FoodsArticle: World Tuna Day: How sustainable are tuna fisheries?Article: Wild seafood has a lower carbon footprint than red meat, cheese, and chicken, according to latest dataEpisode recorded: April 21, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod. Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.

In this week's episode, Gil Jenkins and Hilary Langer speak with Jason Horowitz and Emma Bubola of The New York Times about their recent cover story on Venice's battle against the relentless forces of rising seas. They discuss the unlikely early success of the MOSE sea walls in protecting the city during high water events that have become increasingly commonplace due to climate change.Links: As Sea Levels Rise, the Savior of Venice May Also Be Its Curse, (The New York Times, April 2, 2023)MOSE Venezia ProjectAll Emma Bubola StoriesAll Jason Horowitz StoriesJason on TwitterEmma on TwitterRecorded: April 21, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod. Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.

With extreme weather events proliferating, insurance companies are already on the front lines of climate change. In this episode, Chad Reed speaks with Sarah Chapman, Chief Sustainability Officer for Manulife – one of the world’s largest insurance providers and investment managers. Sarah discusses how Manulife incorporates ESG risks and opportunities, including emissions accounting and biodiversity issues, into its operations and investment decisions, the three pillars of Manulife’s ambitious impact agenda, and the role of industry associations and policy in supporting financial material ESG initiatives. Links:Manulife’s Environmental, Social and Governance Report (2021)Manulife’s Impact AgendaTaskforce on Nature-related Financial DisclosuresEpisode recorded: April 12, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod. Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.

More than 90% of Fortune 500 companies report their emissions using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHGP), which supplies the world’s most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standards. But despite significant advances in data analytics around emissions measurement, it’s been nearly a decade since the GHGP was last updated. Thankfully, the NGOs that manage the GHGP recently kicked off the update process, soliciting feedback from stakeholders across the spectrum. In this episode, Chad Reed and HASI Strategic Advisor Brendan Herron speak with Faraz Ahmad, Head of Net Zero Grid for Amazon. Faraz dives deep into the efforts of the Emissions First Partnership, a consortium of companies working together to reduce their emissions with the most impactful clean energy projects and to move away from megawatt hour matching and toward integration of an emissions-based framework into the GHGP. Faraz also discusses how underserved regions – both across the globe and within the U.S. itself – could economically benefit from an emissions first approach to the energy transition.Links: Greehouse Gas ProtocolEmissions First PartnershipCarbonCountEpisode recorded: March 28, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.  Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.

Expanding access to clean energy like solar is essential to global climate goals, and it is especially impactful for the residents on island nations in the Caribbean that face high energy costs and are exposed to increasingly violent storms. As the director of projects for the Rocky Mountain Institute (now known as RMI), Chris Burgess navigates the decarbonization and decentralization of energy in markets that have previously been left out of the energy transition. Hilary Langer and Chris Burgess (Director of Projects for RMI) discuss why decentralized power is especially important to quality of life in underserved communities, how to establish alignment among disparate stakeholders, and how urgent action can be scaled. Links: RMI on 60 MinutesRMI (Rocky Mountain Institute)RMI’s “Solar Under Storm” ReportChristopher Burgess on LinkedInAmory Lovins, Soft Energy PathsMia Mottley UN Profile: Champions of the Earth Episode recorded: March 23, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.comor tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod. Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.

In this episode, Gil Jenkins speaks with Peter Krull, Partner & Director of Sustainable Investing at Earth Equity Advisors, A Prime Capital Investment Advisors Company. Peter focuses on creating and managing Earth Equity’s sustainable, responsible, and impact investment portfolios as well as writing thought leadership pieces and elevating the responsible investing story.Gil talks with Peter about his background and journey into the industry, how sustainable investing has evolved from socially responsible investing (SRI), which focused on exclusion, and the differences between impact investing, ESG investing, and sustainable investing from his point of view.  Peter also shares his thoughts on a few of the energy and environmental sectors that excite him most. Links:WebsitePeter Krull TwitterPeter Krull LinkedInFull Bio: Pete is a well-known leader in the green business community and a long-time advocate for fossil-fuel-free and sustainable, responsible, and impact (SRI) investing.He began his investment career at Merrill Lynch in 1998 where he earned the firm’s Certified Financial Manager designation. He honed his investment management skills as he guided his clients through the dot-com bubble and recovery.In 2004, he hung up his shingle as Krull & Company and began the journey as a conscious entrepreneur. From the beginning, he knew that his firm would focus on responsible investing and trademarked the phrase, helping you align your investments with your values®. In 2017, Krull & Company became Earth Equity Advisors.Over the years, he has provided leadership to clients, colleagues, and communities. From chairing the Asheville-based environmental non-profit MountainTrue through a pivotal expansion to guiding Earth Equity Advisors’ rapid growth and rise to prominence as a six-time Best for the World™ honoree, Pete’s impact on the responsible investing movement is clear.He was named one of the 100 most influential financial advisors in America by Investopedia in 2018 and became one of the first individuals to earn the Chartered SRI Counselor™ designation from the College for Financial Planning. In 2021, Pete was featured by The Collider among the Faces of Climate City, which highlights Asheville, NC residents who are providing leadership in the Climate industry. He was also recognized on Real Leaders’ list of 70 Environmental Leaders You Should Know alongside Sir David Attenborough, Jane Goodall, and Greta Thunberg, and was selected for the LUMINARIES Class of 2021 by ThinkAdvisor in the category of Thought Leadership & Education. Recognition continued in 2022 with Pete being announced as a finalist for the RIA Intel Awards’ ESG Advocate of the Year, appearing on AdvisorHub’s list of Fastest Growing Advisors to Watch in 2022, and receiving the 2022 Sustainable Champion Award from the North Carolina Business Council.Pete’s expert opinion is sought after by The New York Times, Bloomberg, Money Magazine, CNBC, The Washington Post, Investors Business Daily, US News & World Report, MarketWatch, Investment News, Wealth Management, RIA Intel, Barron’s, and other notable national publications, podcasts, and channels. He is also a contributing writer to top business publications, Forbes and Kiplinger. As Partner and Director of Sustainable Investments, he is responsible for leading the firm’s SRI initiatives, including thought leadership, education, and managing the sustainable investment portfolios.A native of Western New York, he lives in Asheville, NC with his wife, Dr. Melissa Booth, a microbiologist, author, and the founder of The Science Communicator. He is a serious amateur photographer, a lover of world travel, and a huge fan of the Buffalo Sabres. As you would expect, their house is solar-powered and their cars are electric.Episode recorded February 3, 2023 Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hasi.comor tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod. Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.

Over the last few years, there has been an influx of venture capital seeking out profitable climate tech startups. At the same time, asset-backed financing has become generally more available and cheaper – all else equal – for renewable energy and other sustainable infrastructure projects. But there has been a missing middle – investors willing to underwrite both technology and project-level risk to drive systemic climate positive change. This is why Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP) was created – to reimagine infrastructure investing for the 21st century. By integrating technological expertise, infrastructure experience, creative capital, and multistakeholder engagement, the firm has been making significant platform investments in the technology-enabled infrastructure of the future. Chad Reed and Jonathan Winer (SIP Co-Founder and Co-CEO) dive deep into many of the spaces SIP is investing in – from autonomous vehicle roadways, to shared broadband solutions, to waste-free recycling, to truly resilient electric grids. Links: Sidewalk Infrastructure PartnersAccelerator for AmericaOhmConnect Episode recorded: February 3, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hannonarmstrong.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod. Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.

Way back in early 2020, Microsoft made some of the most ambitious climate pledges of any corporation on the planet. It pledged to be carbon negative by 2030 and by 2050 to remove from the atmosphere all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by way of electricity consumption since its founding nearly 50 years ago. It also launched a $1 billion Climate Innovation Fund to accelerate the global development of technologies required to achieve these pledges.In this episode, Chad Reed chats with Brandon Middaugh – Senior Director of Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund. From direct air capture to sustainable aviation fuels to urban green buildings, the discussion spans several of the verticals into which Microsoft has invested a portion of the $500 million it has already deployed through its fund. In addition, Brandon touches on the value of industry coalitions, the role of climate philanthropy, and the importance of centering people at the heart of the climate movement. Links: Microsoft Climate Innovation FundThe Carbon CallThe Big BurnEpisode recorded: January 18, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hannonarmstrong.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod. Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.

Kim Kovacs is the Chief Executive Officer of element6 Dynamics. She is spearheading a transformation in the hemp industry to bring industrial hemp production to scale.  By replacing tree-based pulp in paper and in packaging, hemp can reduce the pressure to harvest forests while also sequestering carbon and replenishing soils. In this episode, Hilary Langer and Kim Kovacs discuss how hemp works as a carbon sink, why both farmers and corporations are eager to get involved in hemp production, and why now is the time to grow in the volume needed to reverse the carbon impact of the paper and packaging industry.  Links Element6 DynamicsKim Kovacs on LinkedInNew York Times: Where Does All the Cardboard Come From?NRDC: The Issue With TissueEpisode Recorded: January 13, 2023Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, and Hilary at climatepositive@hannonarmstrong.com or tweet them to @ClimatePosiPod.  Email your feedback to Chad, Gil, Hilary, and Guy at climatepositive@hasi.com.