Ep 102: Alex Dewar, Sr. Manager at BCG's Center for Energy Impact

In today’s episode, we cover:

• Early learnings and thoughts on COVID-19 pandemic and parallels with climate change
• Alex’s role at BCG and his work in the energy industry
• His work with oil and gas companies in responding to climate change
• How oil and gas companies’ climate change strategies have evolved
• Oil and gas companies’ attitudinal change to accepting climate change as an existential issue
• Impact of the IPCC report on the oil and gas industry
• How stakeholders are demanding action on climate change
• Reconciling the fossil fuel industry’s legacy of climate denial
• Who should be accountable for the fossil fuel industry’s contribution to the climate crisis?
• The argument that fossil fuel companies have assets needed to address climate change
• Why should the public trust the fossil fuel industry?
• Carbon pricing as a policy tool
• Applying targeted regulation to ensure best behavior by the industry
• Shift in lobbying focus from denying the science to focusing on the socio-economic considerations
• Impact of divestment vs. ESG investing
• Reasons why oil and gas industry has lagged in “total shareholder return” over the past decade
• The increasing cost of capital for the industry and reasons for it
• BCG’s ethical policies as it relates to climate change
• “Deep de-carbonization technologies”

Links to topics discussed in this episode:

• Alex’s work at BCG: https://www.bcg.com/en-us/about/people/experts/alex-dewar.aspx
• “Social license to operate”: https://learningforsustainability.net/social-license/
• ESG Investing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental,_social_and_corporate_governance
• Letter from BlackRock CEO, Larry Fink: https://www.blackrock.com/us/individual/larry-fink-ceo-letter

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant