All About The Green

In our latest episode of All About the Green, we are joined by Zoe Knight, Managing Director and Group Head, HSBC Centre of Sustainable Finance, to discuss the global sustainable finance agenda and the growing focus on transition finance in supporting Net Zero goals. 

In our latest episode of “All About the Green,” we are joined by Marisa Buchanan, Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainability at JPMorgan Chase & Co., for a deep dive on the state of sustainable finance markets. Marisa describes how her career path in climate and ESG finance has evolved, and how JPMorgan's sustainability strategy is reflected in corporate governance—and incorporated throughout global business lines. We discuss progress on managing environmental and social risks, the practical challenges of implementing Net Zero commitments and the need for transition finance—including for hard-to-abate sectors. Key themes include the need for international alignment in sustainable finance policy and regulation, the importance of public-private sector collaboration and the vital role of private capital markets in achieving a fair and equitable transition to a Net Zero future.

A fascinating conversation with Gordon Bennett, Managing Director of Utility Markets at Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)—we look at the role of global capital markets in financing climate and ESG solutions, the importance of high-integrity voluntary carbon markets to support Net Zero goals and natural capital, and ways to bring down the currently high cost of new green technologies we need for decarbonization. 

As momentum builds for the financial services industry to act on climate change, continued international alignment is crucial to ensure progress is made quickly. As the world's largest and second-largest carbon emitters respectively, China and the U.S. have an opportunity to demonstrate global leadership in confronting this challenge. In this episode, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and noted China expert Hank Paulson discusses China's recent initiatives to decrease its carbon footprint through innovative solutions, emphasizing how the U.S. and China can work together to tackle climate change—and the potential consequences if they do not.

On the ground in Glasgow, Scotland for the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference, our President and CEO Tim Adams sits down with Jay Collins, Vice Chairman, Banking, Capital Markets, Advisory for Citi. They discuss the commitment of the financial industry to the transition to a low-carbon, and ultimately net-zero, economy; as well as key developments at the conference and what the future of sustainable finance could look like.

This podcast explores a variety of topics relating to climate change and its impact on the financial services industry and the broader economy. Through conversations with topic experts, each episode encourages a pragmatic, commonsense approach for the transition to a low-carbon and ultimately net-zero economy. 

As new energy technologies become more prominent how they are adopted and integrated into our current energy grid system becomes a pressing logistical endeavor. The severity of recent climatic events underscores the importance of a modern grid system that is secure, affordable, and reliable. Rob Gramlich, Founder and President of Grid Strategies LLC, and Julia Hamm, President and CEO of the Smart Electric Power Alliance, provided their perspectives on these points and other considerations as the US plans for a more sustainable energy system. 

Financial institutions and markets have the unique capacity to effectively identify risks and fund solutions. Investments in cutting-edge green technologies have a powerful role to play in reducing carbon emissions, increasing the use of renewable energies, transforming waste, and much more. In this episode, we discuss scaling-up investments in green technologies with Dr. Vanessa Z. Chan, Chief Commercialization Officer and Director of the Office of Technology Transitions at the U.S. Department of Energy, and John Goldstein, Managing Director and Head of the Sustainable Finance Group at Goldman Sachs.  

The CEO of Sustainability Accounting Standards Board Foundation (SASB), Janine Guillot, joins the latest episode of our “All about the Green” podcast. Speaking with the IIF Managing Director and Head of Sustainability, Sonja Gibbs.

ABN Amro’s Head of Reporting and Stakeholder Engagement, Tjeerd Krumpelman, joins the latest episode of our “All about the Green” podcast. Speaking with the IIF’s Chief of Staff, Greer Meisels, the conversation explores some of ABN Amro’s innovative work in the impact measurement and reporting space including the bank’s journey towards integrated reporting. Tjeerd also walks us through the institution’s experience as the first bank to publish its Impact Statement based on the Impact Institute’s “Framework for Impact Statements” – what it is, why the bank felt it was important to participate, and what it revealed – as well as some of the steps ABN Amro is taking to reduce its own operational carbon footprint in addition to the challenges “financed emissions” present. Moreover, given the proliferation of definitions, Tjeerd articulates what sustainability means to an institution like ABN Amro.

S&P Global Ratings’ Director of Sustainable Finance, Mike Ferguson, joins the latest episode of our “All About the Green” podcast. Speaking with the IIF’s Chief of Staff, Greer Meisels, the conversation explores S&P Global’s recently launched ESG Evaluation, a way to think about a company’s ability to operate successfully when it comes to risks and opportunities it might face in the future. It looks at a company’s current environmental, social, and governance (ESG) profile and its Preparedness assessment to see how certain ESG factors could directly or indirectly financially impact a company.

The Paulson Institute’s Deborah Lehr joins the latest episode of our “All About the Green” podcast.

AATG Episode 2: Marisa Buchanan, Executive Director of Sustainable Finance at JPMorgan Chase by The Institute of International Finance