Last week, a few thousand sustainability professionals gathered for the annual GreenBiz conference hosted by GreenBiz Group. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we’re on the ground talking with panelists and attendees about the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the space — from regulation, disclosure requirements and supply chains to environmental justice, employee wellbeing and burnout. Many attendees expressed frustration and a general sense of being overwhelmed by the pace o...
Feb 24, 2023•31 min•Season 5Ep. 8
After more than 16 years leading the US Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, CEO Lisa Woll is stepping down. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, she reflects on how sustainable investing has changed during that time, and where she sees the field going next following US SIF's latest biennial report on sustainable investing. That report identified $8.4 trillion in total US sustainable investment assets under management at the beginning of 2022. To put that figure in context, $...
Feb 17, 2023•28 min•Season 5Ep. 7
Taxonomies: This is a topic that has dominated many conversations in the sustainability world in recent years. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we explore the growing number of taxonomies around the world. In simple terms, a taxonomy is a kind of dictionary of sustainable activities designed to provide clarity on which economic activities are sustainable and to support investment flows into those activities. A recently released report from international conservation organization WWF a...
Feb 10, 2023•38 min•Season 5Ep. 6
In the past few years, hundreds of financial institutions have made big announcements about becoming net zero or carbon neutral by 2050. But S&P Global Sustainable1 data indicates that many of these pledges don’t address Scope 3 financed emissions, which come from the investments financial institutions make or the loans they finance. These account for the bulk of the industry’s emissions. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we’re digging into the steps financial institutions are taki...
Feb 03, 2023•35 min•Season 5Ep. 5
The annual Davos summit just ended, and one of the topics of discussion at this World Economic Forum event was stakeholder capitalism. In simple terms, stakeholder capitalism is the idea that companies are responsible to a wide range of stakeholders, including their customers, employees, suppliers and communities, as well as their shareholders. A few years ago, this was a big topic at Davos as the World Economic Forum helped develop a set of “Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics” to offer companies un...
Jan 27, 2023•24 min•Season 5Ep. 4
In 2022, the world experienced major climate-related disasters ranging from flooding and hurricanes to drought and extreme heatwaves. Moreover, 2022 was the sixth-warmest year on record, according to scientists at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. NOAA just issued its annual report on climate trends in the U.S. for 2022, which includes a review of the major climate-driven weather events that each cost at least $1 billion. NOAA reported 18 separate billion-dollar ...
Jan 20, 2023•22 min•Season 5Ep. 3
In late December 2022, nearly 200 countries at the U.N. biodiversity conference known as COP15 reached a landmark agreement for protecting and restoring nature by 2030. Deforestation was a big topic of conversation at COP15 given the importance of forests for both biodiversity and climate change. In this episode of ESG Insider, we look at how some asset managers are addressing one of the largest drivers of forest loss, commodity-driven deforestation, which includes the clearing of forests for fa...
Jan 13, 2023•27 min•Season 5Ep. 2
In this episode of ESG Insider, we’re looking ahead to sustainability themes that will drive 2023 by revisiting our most popular episodes and some of our favorite interviews from the past year. We’ll hear from one of the world’s largest banks; the Chair of the Network for Greening the Financial System, or NGFS; the Co-Chair of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, or TNFD; some of the scientists behind reports by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPPC; and m...
Jan 06, 2023•20 min•Season 5Ep. 1
The U.N. biodiversity conference known as COP15 ended earlier this week with a landmark agreement for nature, the Global Biodiversity Framework. In this episode of ESG Insider, we unpack the big takeaways from the conference through several on-the-ground interviews in Montreal. We speak to Laurence Pessez, Global Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at the big French bank BNP Paribas. We sit down with Simon Zadek, Executive Director of NatureFinance, a nonprofit focused on advancing the place...
Dec 22, 2022•31 min•Season 4Ep. 52
Mining exploration around the world is picking up as companies seek new deposits of elements like lithium and copper to support the energy transition. Research by S&P Global Sustainable1 finds there is overlap between existing mines and exploration sites and some of the world’s most important areas for biodiversity. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we explore what the mining industry is doing to reduce its impact on nature and local communities — including by recycling minerals. T...
Dec 16, 2022•43 min•Season 4Ep. 51
We just hosted our inaugural ESG Insider Live podcast event, bringing our show on the road to host interviews in front of an audience. In today’s episode, we bring you the highlights of those interviews on the topics of climate, nature and the evolving ESG landscape. We talk to Amy Hepburn, CEO of the Investor Leadership Network, a coalition of institutional investors representing more than $10 trillion in assets under management. She says that to advance climate goals, stakeholders need to addr...
Dec 09, 2022•37 min•Season 4Ep. 50
The second part of the U.N.'s Convention on Biological Diversity, known as COP15, kicks off in Montreal on Dec. 7. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we tell you what to expect. We speak to Elizabeth Mrema, COP15 Executive Secretary and Co-Chair of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, or TNFD. She talks to us about themes that will be covered during COP15 and what will make the conference a success. "We need to see the world and the parties to the convention really und...
Dec 02, 2022•23 min•Season 4Ep. 49
What do Walmart, one of the world's largest retailers, and big multinational power company Ørsted have in common? They're both taking steps to decarbonize their supply chains that could ultimately result in wide-ranging changes across sectors. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we're continuing with the theme we covered last week of decarbonizing supply chains. We speak with Walmart’s Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, Kathleen McLaughlin. She tells us that the c...
Nov 18, 2022•40 min•Season 4Ep. 48
The UN climate conference known as COP27 is underway, and today (Nov. 11) is Decarbonization Day. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we explore how companies are setting decarbonization targets in their operations and across their supply chains. To understand how companies are engaging with suppliers, we talk with Simon Fischweicher, who is Head of Corporations and Supply Chains for CDP North America. CDP is a nonprofit environmental disclosure platform that has a program aimed at helpi...
Nov 11, 2022•26 min•Season 4Ep. 47
The UN climate conference known as COP27 kicks off in just a few days. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast we tell you what to expect. We talk to Jenny Davis-Peccoud, a Partner at management consulting firm Bain & Co., about the role of the private sector at COP. Taryn Fransen, Senior Fellow in the Global Climate Program at the World Resources Institute, talks to us about where countries stand on climate pledges known as Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs. And we speak with ...
Nov 04, 2022•35 min•Season 4Ep. 46
The U.N. climate conference known as COP27 kicks off next week. Adaptation to a changing climate will be an important part of the talks. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we look at how companies and investors are using climate modeling to measure and manage the future financial impacts of climate hazards such as wildfires, drought and flooding. According to a new S&P Global Sustainable1 dataset, 92% of S&P Global 1200 companies will have at least one asset highly exposed to ph...
Oct 28, 2022•24 min•Season 4Ep. 45
On Oct. 17, the Council of the EU approved a law to improve gender balance on corporate boards. The development comes 10 years after the European Commission first proposed the rules, and occurs at a time when many companies face pressure to increase diversity on their boards and management teams. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we look at what the new law means for companies, investors and women. "If we want to be sure that women have equal rights, but also if we want to ensure that ...
Oct 21, 2022•24 min•Season 4Ep. 44
As extreme weather events such as Hurricane Ian intensify, the urgency of combatting climate change is increasing. The investment community is taking steps to make investment products low-carbon and reduce risk across portfolios. But what does that look like in practice? In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we speak to two London-based investment managers on the sidelines of an S&P Global Sustainable1 event in London about what investors are doing to understand and manage climate risk...
Oct 14, 2022•23 min•Season 4Ep. 43
In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we bring you Part 2 of our on-the-ground coverage from Climate Week NYC. Throughout the week, we heard experts talk about the delicate balancing act required to achieve net zero and energy transition goals while also accounting for the impacts on nature and society. We talk to the CEO of nonprofit Just Capital, Martin Whittaker, who explains why environmental and social issues cannot be considered in isolation. We hear from Dr. Jane Carter Ingram, Exec...
Oct 07, 2022•24 min•Season 4Ep. 42
Climate Week wrapped up last week in New York City, and throughout the week, we heard about the systemic changes needed to combat climate change. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we’re bringing you key takeaways, highlights and interviews from our time on the ground. We hear from Global Head of Sustainable Investing at Natixis Investment Managers, Nathalie Wallace, about the role the investment community plays in combating climate change. Ivan Frishberg, Chief Sustainability Officer a...
Sep 30, 2022•22 min•Season 4Ep. 41
Climate Week NYC is ending, and the United Nations Climate Conference known as COP27 is fast approaching. As the urgency to address climate change intensifies, financial regulators and supervisors are taking an increasing interest in climate change and the impact it is having on the financial system and the economy at large. To get a better understanding of this landscape, we’re looking at some of the recent actions central banks have taken on climate in this episode of the ESG Insider podcast. ...
Sep 28, 2022•30 min•Season 4Ep. 40
In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we delve into a measure in the recently passed U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, that allocates $27 billion toward green banks and other local investments via the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. In an interview with Connecticut Green Bank President and CEO Bryan Garcia, we explore how green banks could use this new influx of federal funds to accelerate the low-carbon transition. The Connecticut Green Bank was t...
Sep 16, 2022•23 min•Season 4Ep. 39
In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast from S&P Global Sustainable1, we preview what to expect during Climate Week NYC, which begins Sept. 19. Climate Week has run annually since 2009, convening leaders from business, government and the climate community through hundreds of events held across New York City. The goal is to drive climate action, and this year the tagline is “Getting it Done.” To learn more about what to expect from the week, we turn to Dr. Terry Thompson. Terry is Chief Sc...
Sep 09, 2022•32 min•Season 4Ep. 38
Sustainability and ESG have evolved significantly in recent years — and alongside this change, recruiting in the space has also changed. In this Labor Day weekend episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we go behind the scenes of ESG recruiting in an interview with Kurt Harrison, a Partner with the global executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates where he is Co-Head of the Global Sustainability Practice. Kurt says the demand for ESG talent is “insatiable.” He gives us insight into the kinds ...
Sep 02, 2022•29 min•Season 4Ep. 37
On Aug. 16th, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA. The IRA is a comprehensive energy and climate law that allocates nearly $370 billion in federal spending to decarbonization efforts over the next decade. In this episode of ESG Insider, we take a deep dive into those measures and explore the implications for the goal President Biden set to cut U.S. emissions by at least 50% by 2030 relative to 2005 levels. We talk with Robbie Orvis, Senior Director ...
Aug 26, 2022•27 min•Season 4Ep. 36
In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we explore the evolving role of the Chief Sustainability Offer, which is taking on greater importance in many organizations as awareness of environmental, social and governance issues grows. In many companies, the CSO is now working in tandem with Chief Executives and Chief Financial Officers. Often CSOs act as the "glue" embedding sustainability throughout company strategy and across different departments, Francesca Messini tells us in the episode. Fr...
Aug 19, 2022•20 min•Season 4Ep. 35
In the last few years, central banks have played an increasing role in measuring the impacts of climate change on financial systems and economies. In 2017, a handful of central banks established the Network for Greening the Financial System, or NGFS. The network now has more than 100 members from around the globe working to manage and measure the risks climate change poses to financial stability. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we speak with NGFS Chair Ravi Menon, who is also managin...
Aug 12, 2022•24 min•Season 4Ep. 34
Regulation is transforming the world of environmental, social and governance investing, and in many areas, Europe has been leading the charge on new rules and standards. In June 2022, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached a provisional agreement on new sustainability reporting rules for companies, known as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, or CSRD. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast we speak to Adrie Heinsbroek, Chief Sustainability Officer at Netherla...
Aug 05, 2022•22 min•Season 4Ep. 33
The rapid decline of the world's biodiversity poses big financial risks to businesses and the global economy. One of the organizations working to help companies assess, report and act on these risks is the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, or TNFD. The TNFD has been busy since forming in 2021 — releasing beta disclosure frameworks and launching pilot projects to test out these frameworks. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we speak with one of the experts deeply involve...
Jul 29, 2022•27 min•Season 4Ep. 32
In this episode of ESG Insider we're talking with one of the largest U.S. property and casualty insurers, Liberty Mutual Insurance, about how the company is integrating climate change risk into its investment decisions and underwriting practices. We interview Rakhi Kumar, Senior Vice President for Sustainability Solutions and Business Integration at Liberty Mutual Insurance, about a recent climate transition scenario analysis by the insurer. "As much as we may want to go faster, we have to recog...
Jul 22, 2022•25 min•Season 4Ep. 31
