ESG Currents

From the $50 billion forest-carbon market to 50,000 tons of waste being transformed into textiles, disruptive solutions will likely be key to moving toward a so-called nature positive economy. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast, Grace Osborne, BI’s ESG integration analyst for EMEA, is joined by Tracy Farrell, CEO of the IUCN-US, and Giulio Bonazzi, CEO of Aquafil, in two conversations. These leaders discuss the multifaceted ways the world is moving to mitigate biodiversity loss, including bridging the estimated $942 billion biodiversity-financing gap and revolutionizing the use of recycled materials to enable companies such as Prada to Gucci to reduce their impact on the planet. Find this and other Bloomberg Intelligence podcasts at BI PODCASTS <GO>.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Solving the climate crisis is not just a moral imperative, but also an opportunity for investors to earn a competitive return for finding and funding the desperately needed solutions. On this week’s episode of ESG Currents, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Senior ESG Analyst Rob Du Boff talks with famed hedge-fund investor Tom Steyer about his new venture Galvanize Climate Solutions. This episode also includes a discussion with Galvanize’s Chief Investment Officer for Global Equities Seth Kirkham from the BI ESG Conference on Dec. 11. This episode was recorded on Dec. 20, 2024.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“My biggest biodiversity name is Microsoft,” says Vicki Benjamin, cofounder of Karner Blue Capital and CFO at Boston Common Asset Management. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast, Melanie Rua, a Bloomberg Intelligence senior ESG associate, and Grace Osborne, BI’s ESG integration analyst for EMEA, sit down with Benjamin to discuss her pioneering biodiversity investment strategy and methods for identifying leaders in the transition to a so-called “nature-positive economy,” which is set to unlock an estimated $10 trillion in business opportunities. From identifying industries of high loss impact to overcoming data limitations, the three examine the effort to put a value on nature and to halt biodiversity deterioration this decade.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Energy-infrastructure developers are on the front lines of realizing the electricity growth need to power the AI revolution. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast, Andrew John Stevenson, senior climate  analyst, sits down with Dan Lee, Managing Partner at Simcore Partners. From the backup in grid availability in PJM plants to the opportunities to boost assets in Texas grid operator ERCOT, this episode delves deep into the process to get electrons on the grid in a timely, low-cost fashion. This episode was recorded on Dec. 11, 2024.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As debates around the language and value of ESG persist, the underlying issues continue to influence companies, industries and markets. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast, BI’s director of ESG research, Eric Kane, is joined by the analysts who have hosted episodes throughout the year to discuss the key ESG themes that will affect investments in 2025. Andrew Stevenson, Rob Du Boff, Melanie Rua, Conrad Tan, Gail Glazerman, Margot Wentzel, Grace Osborne and Christopher Ratti share insights on the climate, supply chains, water, sustainable debt, regulation, cybersecurity, nature and much more.This episode was recorded on Dec. 12.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As political polarization has deepened, companies are finding themselves buffeted by opposing expectations for business behavior. On this week’s episode of ESG Currents, Alison Taylor, clinical associate professor at NYU Stern School of Business and author of Higher Ground, speaks with BI Senior ESG analysts Gail Glazerman and Rob Du Boff about prioritizing different stakeholders and ESG issues. She discusses the risks both of ignoring ESG and promising too much, finding a balance by focusing on materiality and the risks that arise when corporate actions fail to match corporate messaging. This episode was recorded on Nov. 18.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What repercussions could the recent US election have on EVs and transportation-electrification policies? On this week’s episode of ESG Currents, Stacy Noblet, vice president of Transportation Electrification at ICF and Holly Froum, a BI litigation analyst, join Margot Wentzel, BI senior ESG associate, in two conversations covering these topics. They discuss what the US election outcome and change in administration could mean for existing EV policies, how local and federal policy affects electrification, and developments within the transport electrification space. This episode was recorded on Nov. 15.  For more insights, register for BI ESG’s Dec. 11 conference here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The importance of green financing has grown in recent years and analyzing its impact has been a hurdle for many investors, one that may potentially be resolved with advances in artificial intelligence. In today’s episode Romina Reversi, Credit Agricole CIB’s head of Sustainable Investment Banking, Americas, Marcel Bock and Andreas Hoelzl, co-founders of Mensura AI, join Chris Ratti, Bloomberg Intelligence’s senior ESG credit strategist, to discuss how quantifying the impact of sustainable debt, using proceeds for green or social projects or linked to social and environmental KPIs, could be done using AI. Sustainable-finance professionals are faced with a myriad of challenges and AI can assist with automated workflows to decipher and improve comparability of the impact and allocation data points. For more insights, register here for BI ESG’s Dec. 11 conference.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Private markets are uniquely positioned to unlock the value of nature, which may be one of the world’s most underappreciated assets. On this week’s episode, BI’s senior ESG associate Melanie Rua is joined by Anne Valentine Andrews, global head of private markets at Manulife IM, and Brian Kernohan, the firm’s chief sustainability officer, to discuss how nature and climate can drive investment strategies. They explore frameworks such as TCFD and TNFD, the intricacies of carbon credits and biodiversity markets and the future of portfolio diversification. With over $16 billion in assets under management across agriculture and timberland, Manulife stands as the largest manager of natural capital assets. This episode was recorded on Oct. 18. For more insights, register for BI ESG’s Dec. 11 conference here: https://bbgevent.app/esg-investment/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Economics is defined as the study of how society allocates scarce resources. So, can it help us more intelligently apportion carbon emissions? On this week’s episode of ESG Currents, Professor Michael Greenstone joins BI’s director of ESG research, Eric Kane, and senior ESG analyst, Rob Du Boff, to discuss his research on pricing the social cost of carbon and Climate Vault’s efforts to create a more robust market for carbon credits. Professor Greenstone is the director of the new Climate and Energy Institute at the University of Chicago, served as the chief economist in Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers and is the co-founder of Climate Vault.This episode was recorded on Sept. 25. For more insights, register for BI ESG’s Dec. 11 conference here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.