Podcasts about environmental finance

Hear from Gordon Bennett, Managing Director at ICE, as we dive into theory and practice of carbon pricing and its important role in driving the transition to net zero. Carbon pricing is the poster child of market-based solutions to climate change. The principle is simple: by assigning a cost to greenhouse gas emissions, we incentivize polluters to emit less, and to do so in the most cost-effective way. But there's a significant gap between the theory and practice. Currently, only 24% of global emissions – about 12.8 gigatonnes – are covered by pricing mechanisms such as carbon taxes or cap-and-trade. On top of that, just half a gigatonne was traded in voluntary markets last year. Clearly, there's still a long way to go. In this episode, we explore the carbon pricing gap, including: Why it exists, what's needed to close it; The integrity challenges facing voluntary carbon markets, and how to address them; And how central counterparties can help drive the transition by ensuring transparent, reliable pricing. To find out more about the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR®) Certificate, follow this link: https://www.garp.org/scr For more information on climate risk, visit GARP's Global Sustainability and Climate Risk Resource Center: https://www.garp.org/sustainability-climate If you have any questions, thoughts, or feedback regarding this podcast series, we would love to hear from you at: climateriskpodcast@garp.com Links from today's discussion: The World Bank's Carbon Pricing Dashboard: https://carbonpricingdashboard.worldbank.org/ Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA): https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/CORSIA/Pages/default.aspx GARP Climate Risk Podcast with Simon Sharpe: https://www.garp.org/podcast/five-times-faster-cr-240321 The Oxford Offsetting Principles: https://www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/research/oxford-offsetting-principles GARP Climate Risk Podcast with Mark Campanale: https://www.garp.org/podcast/net-zero-supply-side-issues-cr-220303 Speaker's Bio(s) Gordon Bennett, Managing Director of Utility Markets and Global Head of Environmental Markets, ICE Gordon has been Managing Director at Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) since February 2015. Mr. Bennett is responsible for the sales and business development of ICE's global environmental portfolio, the world's largest environmental marketplace. He is a member of the Board of ICE Endex, ICE Futures Abu Dhabi, Spark Commodities and a member of the Strategic Advisory Board of BeZero Carbon. He contributes to a wide range of external environmental and energy market initiatives including a member of the Nature Based Solutions Taskforce of the Sustainable Markets Initiative, the Transition to Net Zero Working Group of the Climate Financial Risk Forum, the City of London VCM Steering Committee, the VCMI Stakeholder Forum, the Advisory Board of the University of Cambridge Energy Policy Research Group and was named Environmental Finance's sustainable business leader of the year in 2022. Prior to ICE, Gordon spent 12 years at the global energy broker, Spectron, joining as Group Financial Controller and latterly serving as Chief Executive Officer. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

In this episode of the Grow Your Wealth podcast, we explore the extensive career of Steve Lambert, a co-founder of Capital Markets Advisory Services with over 35 years of international experience in wholesale banking. Steve shares his insights on impact investing, environmental finance, and building high-performing teams. He also discusses his journey through various roles in the financial sector, from working with fintech companies to navigating the Asian financial crisis. [00:00:00] - Introducing Steve Lambert [00:05:00] - Steve's Early Career and Background [00:10:00] - Transitioning from Traditional Career Paths [00:15:00] - Insights on Impact Investing and Environmental Finance [00:20:00] - Key Career Moments and Shifts [00:25:00] - Navigating Financial Crises and Risk Management [00:30:00] - Practical Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs [00:35:00] - Balancing Personal and Professional Life [00:40:00] - Quickfire Questions: First Jobs, Motivations, and Leisure Follow Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevelambertcmas iPartners Website: www.ipartners.com.au Register Here: https://ipartners.iplatforms.com.au/register/register-as-wholesale/ iPartners LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ipartners-pty-ltd Follow Travis Miller: https://www.linkedin.com/in/travismilleripartners

The world of finance has proven that it has the power to drive the global decarbonization effort and advance interest in ESG investments. ⁤⁤Learn how this is happening with one of the architects of the Green Bond Principles. ⁤⁤Today's guest is Marilyn Ceci, a titan in the world of sustainable finance. ⁤She started in interest rate sales at JP Morgan, making her way to Head of ESG Debt Capital Market, and is now the Managing Director and Senior Advisor to the Center for Carbon Transition. ⁤⁤With over three decades of experience, Marilyn spearheaded ESG debt capital market growth and co-authored the Green Bond Principles, a cornerstone in the development of the green bond market worldwide. She also steered JP Morgan to become the #1 Global Sustainable Bond Underwriter multiple years in a row.⁤Marilyn is a major force in driving the global sustainability agenda forward, earning her several awards and recognitions such as Wall Street's Green Bond Warrior by Reuters and GlobalCapital's Top Most Impressive Green/SRI Investment Banker. ⁤In this episode, I dig into the origins of the Green Bond Principles and their evolution. ⁤⁤Marilyn also shares how green bonds differ from traditional bonds, the role of bonds and fixed income in driving long-term ESG impact, and more. ⁤⁤Join me in this powerful discussion on the transformative power of green bonds and how Marilyn's work contributes to sustainably financing the carbon transition. —Show notes: {link}—About the SRI 360° Podcast: The SRI 360° Podcast is focused exclusively on sustainable & responsible investing. In each episode, I interview a world-class investor who is an accomplished practitioner from all asset classes. —Connect with SRI360°: Sign up for the free weekly email update.Visit the SRI360° PODCAST.Visit the SRI360° WEBSITE. Follow SRI360° on X.Follow SRI360° on FACEBOOK.—Key Takeaways:Intro (00:00)Meet Marilyn Ceci (02:31)An overview of JP Morgan and their ESG debt strategy (07:48)From interest rate sales to kickstarting the green bond market (12:07)Incentives for issuing a green bond vs. a traditional bond & examples (23:36)Insights on co-authoring the green bond principles & their evolution (29:50)The role of bonds and fixed income in driving long-term ESG impact (39:25)Supporting biodiversity, stakeholder engagement, & greenwashing (45:18)Marilyn's take on the new European green bond regulation (51:27)Marilyn's role at JP Morgan's Center for Carbon Transition (55:14)The future of fossil fuel-related projects at JP Morgan (01:03:24)Experience with teaching at Duke University (01:04:58)Rapid fire questions (01:06:48)—Additional Resources:JP Morgan's Center for Carbon TransitionJP Morgan's Carbon Compass OverviewJP Morgan's Carbon Compass MethodologyJP Morgan's 2023 Climate ReportPlanet Tracker Green Washing Report Connect with Marilyn Ceci on

In what has to be one of the most original episodes of the Climate Confident podcast, I delve into the world of Toco, an innovative currency that's setting a new precedent in the fight against climate change. Join me as I talk with Joe Pretorius and Paul Rowett, who share their vision of a currency that not only serves as a medium of exchange but also as a tool for environmental action. Backed by The Carbon Reserve, Toco represents a bold step towards marrying financial transactions with carbon reduction efforts.Joe and Paul recount their journey from conceptualising Toco to its pilot success in Stellenbosch, and their upcoming expansion into Europe. They highlight how Toco enables individuals and corporations to contribute to climate action in a tangible way. Moreover, they introduce the Carbon is Money organisation, a pivotal force in advocating for the recognition of carbon reduction as a valuable economic activity, crucial for Toco's mission and broader acceptance.For those fascinated by how innovation can bridge sustainability with everyday financial practices, this discussion sheds light on Toco's potential impact. Learn about the synergy between The Carbon Reserve, the Carbon is Money organisation, and how Toco is poised to revolutionise our approach to economic activity and environmental stewardship.Don't forget to check out the video version of this episode on YouTubeSirva SoundbitesExplores the latest trends and topics on global talent mobility and the future of work.Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify All Business. No Boundaries.Welcome to All Business. No Boundaries., a collection of supply chain stories by DHL...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the showPodcast supportersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing supporters: Lorcan Sheehan Hal Good Jerry Sweeney Andreas Werner Devaang Bhatt Stephen Carroll Marcel Roquette Roger Arnold And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show. CreditsMusic credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper

#155: Nicholaus Rohleder is the Co-Founder of Climate Commodities and a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree. At CC, he sits on the steering committees of CC's operating businesses in physical trading, mineral processing & refining, transportation & logistics, renewable power & alternative fuels, and reinsurance.Outside of his professional commitments, Nicholas serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches the course Climate Technology: Finance & Policy focused on the following areas of the climate economy: solar & wind, batteries – grid & vehicle applications, hydrogen, carbon capture, and circularity, critical minerals, and climate-focused insurance solutions. He currently serves as an Alumni Mentor at Columbia University's Climate School, as a Contributing Writer focused on climate, insurance, & geopolitics at Climate & Capital Media, and as a Mentor for the Rice University Clean Energy Accelerator. As a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, he currently serves as a member of the global Forbes 30 Under 30 board as a representative for Texas.Nicholas received a Master of Science in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Environmental Engineering and Technology from the UPenn, where his research was focused on clean energy technology materials science alterations and substitutions in various clean energy transition scenarios, and a Master of Science in Sustainability Management with a concentration in Environmental Finance from Columbia University where his research was focused on the economics of waste to value conversion technologies in homogeneous and heterogeneous waste input scenarios.On the show he shares his story, the influence of his grandpa, things learned from sports, time at Columbia, Penn, and Oxford, experiences working for a hedge fund, starting his own business, critical minerals, determination, building a culture, and much more.Enjoy the show! 

Applications are now open for the Niamh Burke Memorial Bursary, which will award a total of €10,000 to students pursuing studies linked to climate action and renewable energy in Ireland. Candidates can apply here for the bursary until Friday 15th March at 5pm. The bursary was established by leading law firm Arthur Cox LLP, in memory of their former colleague and Arthur Cox partner, Niamh Burke, who played a significant role in the development of the Irish wind energy sector and advised on some of Ireland's largest, energy, infrastructure and construction projects. All relevant disciplines are open for consideration including law, economics, engineering, policy, science, planning and others. It is open to students planning to study in these or related fields in Ireland, at postgraduate level in 2024. If more than one person is selected, the bursary monies will be split between the successful applicants. Last year's recipients Sean Murphy from Cavan and Karin Mackey from Tipperary impressed the judges with their commitment to working to tackle the climate emergency and their passion for their chosen fields of Renewable Energy and Environmental Finance, and Environmental and Natural Resources in Law, respectively. Speaking ahead of the 2024 bursary launch Sean Murphy said: "I just completed the first semester of Smurfit's MSc in Sustainable Finance. The award has been a huge financial support in pursuing the Masters. I am currently in the process of applying for summer internships in the space with the hope of securing graduate employment afterwards. I would recommend anyone interested in studying in this area to apply." Karin Mackey added: "I am extremely grateful to Arthur Cox and Wind Energy Ireland for choosing me to be a recipient of the Niamh Burke Memorial Bursary, it has been a huge honour. I am currently commencing my second semester of the LLM Environmental and Natural Resources Law in UCC and have been gaining valuable knowledge that I have been able to integrate into my daily work." Danielle Conaghan, Partner, Energy Group and Head of Environment and Planning, Arthur Cox LLP, said: "We are very pleased to continue providing this bursary in memory of our colleague Niamh Burke. Ireland has the potential to be at the forefront of the energy transition and we want to support the next generation who are working towards a carbon-neutral future." Dave Linehan, Head of Research, Wind Energy Ireland said: "We are supporting future leaders in Ireland's fight against climate change. This bursary gives a boost to young people looking to work in wind and renewables. It is a really important bursary and needed now more than ever as we fight to meet our climate action targets." The bursary was launched in 2020 and has already helped eight people with their studies. It is funded by Arthur Cox and Niamh's family, to offer opportunities to a new generation of renewable energy experts. The fund is administered by Wind Energy Ireland. Previous recipients have used the bursary to study at University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, NUI Galway, University College Cork, Dublin City University and the Law Society of Ireland. Could you be our 2024 recipient? Apply now - closing date is Friday 15th March 2024 at 5pm.

On our show for September 18th, host Richard Mabion speaks with Jeffrey Severin, presently Sr. Program Manager for the Heartland Environmental Justice Center, which is part of the Environmental Finance […] The post THE CONNECTIONS THAT EXIST BETWEEN HUMAN AND NATURAL SYSTEMS appeared first on KKFI.

Establishing its own carbon trading system in 2021 gave the UK a chance to set out what it aspires to from this market-based approach to tackling emissions. As Finlay Walker, corporate trader at Vertis Environmental Finance, explains in this episode of EVOL X that around 750 installations must comply with this ever-tightening framework. Speaking in May 2023, Walker explained how the smaller UK market provides fewer signals, with a divergence from the larger European market.    About Energy Voice Energy Voice investigates and reports on what matters in global energy, helping sector leaders understand the geopolitical and economic factors underpinning current events, and giving them a view on what's coming over the horizon. Each year, 3.4m professionals use Energy Voice as a trusted source of breaking news and insight. For more information on how you can speak to those professionals across multiple platforms to build your brand and generate actionable business leads, visit energyvoice.com/content-services. For a 30 day free trial subscription to the Energy Voice website and app, visit energyvoice.com/subscribe.  

Synmax is the second geospatial company from legendary energy trader Bill Perkins that I have profiled (the first was app.skyfi.com). Finally I can say we have gotten into spatial finance. Eric Anderson CFA, their CTO, was a very stimulating guest. I especially appreciated his willingness to cover the philosophical side of the AI question towards the end. Eric also had fantastic advice for an apprentice for the final question. Overall I feel incredibly proud to have gotten to this point with the podcast. I have had a very strong interest in spatial finance since the field emerged a couple of years ago, but always felt the academic version of it was deficient. Yes, environmental implications of finance are important, but I don't see a reason not to simply call this Environmental Finance. So, Synmax is real spatial finance - using remote sensing and spatial analysis to gain a trading edge. What made it all the more meaningful to me was to have this interview with a chartered financial analyst. This is someone who has survived an exam with a 30% pass rate. More about Bill Perkins: https://spearswms.com/wealth/natural-gas-trader-bill-perkins/. He runs Skylar Capital: https://skylarcapitalmanagement.com/. Eric mentioned Synmax is in the process of acquiring Gas Vista: https://gasvista.com/. They have a nice map animation of ships they track: https://leviaton.com/login/?next=/, a function Eric said Synmax will integrate into their offering. Where to next? Well, Gabe gave me a SAR image of London in the last episode. Unfortunately it wasn't autographed by Joe Morrison, maybe Luke Fischer didn't ask for one on my behalf after all (check the Skyfi interview for the reference!) But I feel something is building here if I do my homework. THE GEOSPATIAL INDEX The Geospatial Index is a comprehensive listing of all publicly traded geospatial businesses worldwide. Why? The industry is growing at ~13.8% annually. For only $11,600 to start, this growth rate is $5,000,000 over a working life. This channel, Twitter account, blog, watchlist and podcast express the view that you are serious about geospatial if you take the view of an investor, venture capitalist or entrepreneur. You are expected to do your own research. This is not a replacement for that. This is not investment advice. Consider it entertainment. Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/geospatialindex⁠ Watchlist: ⁠https://www.tradingview.com/watchlists/19805134/ Podcast: ⁠https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/geospatialindex Blog: ⁠https://www.geospatial.money/ Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/london-mapup/ NOT THE OPINION OF MY EMPLOYER NOT YOUR FIDUCIARY NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE

Topic thoughts? Guest ideas? Comments? Just text us. (pls include reply details if needed)Carbon exchanges are an important component of sustainable finance as they enable the sale of carbon credits to reduce emissions. In this episode, we have Bill Pazos, Co-founder and Co-CEO of the AirCarbon Exchange (ACX), which won Environmental Finance's Best Carbon Exchange award twice. The discussion starts with an overview of the role of carbon exchanges and Bill's views on the current state of carbon markets and trading. We then delve into ACX's history, shareholders and stakeholders, operations, how carbon credits are organised on the platform, and other aspects. ABOUT BILL.  Bill is a carbon market pioneer who has managed emerging market and high yield investments for more than 25 years and currently serves as director of Kuber Energy, a renewable energy and climate finance advisory company in Singapore.  Previously, he was a Managing Director at Standard Bank.  In this capacity he was the Global Head of Carbon origination and Finance, as well as a member of the board of Standard Merchant Bank Singapore.  As the CEO and founding partner of Ecoinvest Carbon S.A., a joint venture company with Bunge S.A., he built what became one of the world's largest aggregators of carbon credits.  In his early career he was a bond trader at JP Morgan Chase (MHTCo.) in New York as well as a partner at Dartley a large Emerging Markets Fixed Income Fund.  He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics with a concentration in Mathematics from The College of Wooster, Ohio, and an MBA in International Management from ASU's Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management. HOST, PRODUCTION, ARTWORK: Joseph Jacobelli | MUSIC: Ep0-29 The Open Goldberg Variations, Kimiko Ishizaka Ep30- Orchestra Gli Armonici – Tomaso Albinoni, Op.07, Concerto 04 per archi in Sol - III. Allegro. | FEEDBACK: theasiaclimatecapitalpodcast@gmail.com.

Topic thoughts? Guest ideas? Comments? Just text us. (pls include reply details if needed)Offshore wind generation capacity is one of the fastest growing forms of green energy globally. It will rise 10-fold this decade – to 330 GW by 2030 from about 34 GW in 2020 –based on one estimate (Wood McKenzie) and will need tens of billions of dollars. Our guest, Mark Hutchinson is one of Asia's leading veteran experts in the energy sector in general and clean energy in particular. In our conversation we first discuss the current state of the US and European offshore wind markets. We then deep dive into the current state as well as the outlook for offshore wind in some key jurisdictions around the region, including Japan and South Korea. As well as markets which are offering enormous potential including India, the Philippines, and Vietnam. In addition to the business opportunity, Mark also shares some interesting thoughts on financing trends.ABOUT MARK. Mark Hutchinson has over three decades of energy sector experience, including over 25 years consulting and research experience in Asia. He has expertise in strategic advice, finance, M&A, contract negotiations and due diligence in the power and renewables, and the oil and gas sectors. He is the chair of the Southeast Asia Task Force for the Global Wind Energy Council. Mark works with the GWEC members in Asia and globally to represent the wind industry in policy and regulatory discussions across the region. GWEC convenes both in-person and virtual meetings with key stakeholders, providing fact-based analysis and guidance to help shape policies that affect the wind industry.Note: Link to details on GWEC's Global Wind Report Launch 2023HOST, PRODUCTION, ARTWORK: Joseph Jacobelli | MUSIC: Ep0-29 The Open Goldberg Variations, Kimiko Ishizaka Ep30- Orchestra Gli Armonici – Tomaso Albinoni, Op.07, Concerto 04 per archi in Sol - III. Allegro. | FEEDBACK: theasiaclimatecapitalpodcast@gmail.com.

Episode Summary Hosts Nicholas Gandolfo, Vice President, Corporate Solutions Sabrina Tang, Sales Associate, Corporate Solutions In this episode, Nick and Sabrina reviewed what's new in sustainable finance and shared some notable deals and transactions that have hit the market. They discussed the overall decline of global bond markets and expressed some optimism for the year to come, as sustainability is a central issue for investors, companies and governments and is still closely tied to capital markets. They also shared research on the carbon performance of food producers and a report on how to scale credible transition finance among countries in Southeast Asian.  Sustainable Market Hopes for 2023  If you've been following sustainable finance market activities, it's no surprise that 2022 was not a great year overall. Markets were down in volume for the first time in 11 years. According to figures from Environmental Finance, total annual sustainable bond issuance fell 19%, from US$1.05 trillion in 2021 to US$845 billion in 2022. Social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds were hit hardest – down about 25% compared to 2021, while green bonds fared a bit better with a more modest 14% issuance decline.  Despite the lower issuance volumes, there is hope for a rebound in 2023 as overall markets stabilize and issuers seek financing. This year may see use of proceed instruments like green bonds continue to gain ground compared to performance based, sustainability-linked bonds. We may also see more transition deals, social and biodiversity focused activity, as well as more complicated transactions going to market. It's still early days, so let's see how things develop.  Updated Standard for Reporting Financed Emissions in Sovereign Debt  If you're a bank trying to figure out how to report on your financed emissions, be sure to read through Partnership for Carbon Reporting Financials' (PCAF) recently updated standard. Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard for Financed Emissions addresses demands from financial institutions and provides a methodology to help investors in sovereign debt account and report greenhouse gas emissions. The methodology on sovereign debt includes bonds and loans of all maturities, however, only debt issued by the central bank on behalf of the sovereign would be covered. The methodology also requires reporting of scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3 emissions and recommends getting the information from countries' reported data via the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Key Moments 0:01:16 Market overview 0:03:24 COP15 insights 0:04:22 Australia sustainable finance taxonomy 0:05:04 BNP Paribas social impact bond 0:05:16 TPI paper on food producers' carbon performance 0:06:53 Updated PCAF standard 0:07:31 Banks' transition planning under scrutiny from ECB 0:08:05 Activity in carbon markets 0:08:45 Austria launches green commercial paper program 0:09:14 CBI paper on transition finance in ASEAN 0:10:17 SLB and SLL overview 0:15:34 Audience questions 0:21:00 Green bonds overview 0:23:56 Green loans overview 0:25:06 Social bonds and loans overview 0:27:38 Labeled products, transition bonds and regulatory updates   Links to Select Resources Environmental Finance – Annual Sustainable Bond Issuance Falls for First Time Since 2011 Bloomberg.com – Global Debt Market Lost at Least $75 Billion of Business in 2022 Reuters – ESG Watch: Despite Setbacks, Green Finance Ends 2022 in Good Health Global Capital – High Hopes for Corporate Issuance in 2023 Environmental Finance – COP15 Agreement 'Significant,' but Credit Impact Depends on Implementation Environmental Finance – Climate Change Litigation: 11 Key Cases for Insurers to Watch Australian Sustainable Finance Institute – Taxonomy Project Global Capital – Saving Biodiversity: The Next Mountain for Capital Markets Transition Pathways Initiative – TPI Carbon Performance Assessment of Food Producers: Discussion Paper Environmental Finance – PCAF Sovereign Debt Methodology Plugs Gap in Emissions Accounting, Says Allianz European Central Bank – Supervisory Priorities and Risk Assessment for 2023-2025 Environmental Finance – Carbon Markets Can Help Provide Nature-based Solutions The Hindu Business Line – Sovereign Green Bonds Will Act as Benchmark for Private ESG-linked Debt: RBI's Rao Global Capital – Austria to Launch Green Commercial Paper in 2023 Climate Bonds Initiative – Scaling Credible Transition Finance – ASEAN Edition Sustainalytics SPOs: UNIQA Green Bond Impact Report Mosaic Solar Green Use of Proceeds Securitized Bond (2022-3)

Bérénice Lasfargues is Sustainability Integration Lead at BNP Paribas Asset Management. In this role, she is in charge of the implementation of the firm's ESG integration policy, working closely with portfolio managers across all asset classes to more purposefully integrate ESG criteria in their portfolios; and manages the internal firm-wide network of ESG Champions in investment teams. The changing regulatory environment is placing increasing importance on ESG data, and in her role, Bérenice works on the evolution of the firm's ESG research platform (including development of BNPP AM proprietary ESG rating and SDG data models) and provides strategic guidance on the optimal flow of ESG data through the company. She also coordinates the firm's approach to impact investment, and leads on its ESG analysis in the ICT sector.  She is the representative for BNPP AM's sustainable investment capabilities across the Americas, promoting the firm's expertise with clients and externally across the region. Previously, she worked at the OECD, undertaking economic research on green and blended finance. She was also a legislative fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives and conducted fieldwork on climate change and development in emerging markets. Bérénice holds masters' degrees in engineering and environmental management from Ecole Centrale Paris (now CentraleSupelec) and the National University of Singapore, respectively. She is an EFFAS CESGA (Certified ESG Analyst) certificate holder. Bérénice joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: Why asset managers are looking so closely at sustainability and ESG goals BNP Pams sustainability investment beliefs and four standard pillars Challenges with ESG rating systems How ESG data could become more valuable Advice and recommendations for sustainability professionals  Bérénice's Final Five Questions Responses What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? One piece of advice would be to get involved or keep up as much as you can with collaborative working groups and networks. Depending on your focus area or sector, there are so many. For example, if you are within the investment management industry, you could get involved with Principles for Responsible Investment, the Global Impact Investing network, or the Initial Investors Group on Climate Change, just to name a few. I was collectively marched towards mainstreaming sustainability for more cognitive diversity to solve common challenges and raise the bar across the board. So number one is get involved. Number two would be to put in the work into the training and knowing your stuff on sustainability. It may seem from the outside, the ESG landscape is a bit fuzzy. We just talked about the fact that the market is fragmented. But ESG is now part of a firm's license to operate. Therefore there is a need to engage and upscale your workforce on this topic. There are great trainings that exist, the CFA Institute, the Fundamentals for Sustainability Accounting from SASB, the European Federation of Financial Society also has a training. Within BNP Pam we have a network of ESG champions. Each client and investment facing team has one, and they're required to get some formal certification on ESG. So it starts with people and upscaling your people so they have expertise to make the right judgment calls. Maybe a final one would be: develop your leadership skills as they relate to change management. All ESG jobs at the moment, unless you're working at a pure player firm, and even then, involve some element of persuasion and winning hearts and minds. ESG is a journey, and along the journey you will need people and you will need to be able to convince people in other parts of the firm on the foundation of ESG. That is what change management is all about.  What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? The momentum of the space, but also the increased scrutiny from a new set of stakeholders- regulators, retail, investors, consumers- clearly they shine the light on the fact that we have made so much progress. But there is still so much progress that we still need to make. In the current environment, there is a strong and very important push against greenwashing and that is welcome. I think it will make us only better as practitioners. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? One short book, which is really a call to action, would be On Impact: A Guide to the Impact Revolution by Sir Ronald Cohen. This book is kind of a prelude of sorts to this much longer book titled Impact: Reshaping Capitalism to Drive Real Change. So you can either read the short manifesto or the longer book depending on your bandwidth. But both books talk about the advent of the impact entrepreneurs and the potential paradigm shift from the risk return equation to a risk return impact equation in investment analysis, and also from measuring activities and inputs to measuring outcomes. Also how at each level as consumers; citizens, employers, we can facilitate this transition in thinking on impact investing. Another book, I have to confess I'm only halfway through, but another book which I find very interesting is Moving Beyond Portfolio Theory by Jon Lukomnik James Hawley. We truly look at how modern portfolio theory has been instrumental in shaping traditional investment but also how it falls short in terms of including a consideration of systemic risk and market ecosystem impact. So that's a very tall order, tackling modern portfolio theory. That's what you're trying to do in this book. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? In terms of resources, keeping up with market developments related to ESG investing. There are a few newsletters and resources that I would say most of us in the industry tend to read. There is Responsible Investors, Environmental Finance, Bloomberg Green, the Financial Times Moral Money newsletter just to name a few. Another resource for us is academia as well as looking at work done by international organizations, such as the IEA, the OCE or the World Bank Group. We at BMP Pam are a founding supporter of GRAFSI, which is the Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investments. It is a global network of leading research universities founded in 2017 that aims to develop academic collaboration on the topic and they have aan annual conference. The next one is in September at the University of Zurich and next year will be at Yale university in September 2023. I think one of the reasons we are very keen to support academia is that as sustainable investment practitioners in such a growing and emerging field, we really need to rely on high quality academic research to make sense of this ESG alphabet to support development of new methodologies, as well as inform development of our new policies in a way that is transparent. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and your work being done at BNP? They can find information regarding our approach to sustainability on our corporate website https://group.bnpparibas/en/. On it you can find global sustainability strategy, all our policies on integration, stewardship, regulatory documentation. We have a sustainability report but also have profiled members of our firm on what it means for them in the day to day sustainable investor for a changing world. I can also be reached out to directly on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Episode Summary  Hosts  Nicholas Gandolfo, Director, Corporate Solutions   Aditi Bhatia, Regional Sales Manager, Corporate Solutions   In this episode, Nick and Aditi share recent developments in the global sustainable finance market. They touch on the cooling bond market and the shifting geographic split in green bond issuance, noting that EU dominance is waning as other jurisdictions close the gap. Nick gives his thoughts on the impact of the forthcoming EU green bond standard on what future bond frameworks will include, what will be reported, and the level of external review required.   In her update on sustainability-linked loans and bonds, Aditi highlights a couple of transactions, notable for their use of gender-based KPIs aiming to increase the number of women in management positions. Finally, Nick applauds Sustainalytics' Corporate Solutions business for providing the most second-party opinions in the first half of the year, as cited by Environmental Finance.   Study of Greenhouse Gas Targets Used in Linked Finance    Environmental Finance recently published a report analyzing the types of key performance indicators being used in sustainability-linked bonds and loans. Across sustainability-linked instruments, carbon and greenhouse gas emission reduction KPIs accounted for about 75% of KPIs used, with other environmental issues, such as water, making up 10%, social issues another 10% and less than 5% related to governance issues. This makes sense, given the quantitative nature of GHG and carbon emission metrics. The report also noted the emergence of KPIs tied to scope 3 emissions, which is a promising trend given the high impact of scope 3 emissions for some industries.   Focus on Supply Chain Sustainability Improvements  For organizations looking to support ESG and sustainability improvements in their supply chain, it's important to understand suppliers' needs and motivations. Some large players in food and agriculture are offering financial incentives to farmers to implement sustainable practices. Others are supporting programs to pilot and scale innovative sustainability solutions. Still others are working to advance social goals, such as furthering opportunities for minority and female entrepreneurs. Sustainalytics' Corporate Solutions is working more and more with clients to support their evaluation of suppliers – from KPIs connected to suppliers to ESG assessments of their suppliers.      Key Moments  0:00:48  Market overview  0:02:01  Changing geographic in green bond market  0:02:25  Sustainalytics leads SPOs in H1 2022  0:02:55  Green/social split tranche instead of sustainability issuance  0:03:40  Nuclear back on the radar  0:04:33  Malaysia Islamic financing  0:04:45  EU Green Bond Standards coming soon  0:05:29  Guidance for finance sector decarbonization  0:06:05  Updated Climate Bonds Initiative methodology  0:06:41  Securitization and structured deals  0:06:45  Sustainable finance and supply chain  0:07:21  New NNIP social bond fund  0:07:39  More articles on biodiversity  0:08:00  KPIs used is sustainability-linked instruments  0:09:52  SLB and SLL overview  0:13:54  Audience questions  0:18:32  Green bonds overview  0:22:52  Green loans overview   0:24:28  Social bonds and loans overview  0:26:15  Labeled products overview  0:27:40  Transition bonds overview  0:28:25  Regulatory and country updates    List of Select Resources  Environmental Leader: Sustainable Finance Markets Cool After Record-Setting Year  Investment Executive: As markets wobble, sustainable finance suffers too  S&P Market Intelligence: Europe's dominance in green bond market fades amid record growth in China  Environmental Finance: Sustainalytics delivers most SPOs in first half of 2022  Asia One: New World Development offers world's first USD social and green dual tranche bond in public markets totalling USD700m  Bloomberg: Once-Unthinkable Nuclear Green Bonds Are Coming to Europe  Environmental Finance: Issuers opt for SLBs as EU tightens green bond rules, says BdF  Environmental Finance: Focus on banking transition plans as priority, IIGCC recommends  Environmental Finance: CBI tightens green bond criteria and readies social expansion  Green Biz: Supply chain emissions are top of mind for food and ag  Environmental Finance: Green securitisations 'under-utilised in Europe'  Funds Europe: NN IP launches SDG-focused social bond fund  Environmental Finance: Sustainability-linked Debt - Carbon Emissions KPIs    More Episodes

Jason Kaminsky is the CEO at kWh Analytics. Just prior to joining kWh Analytics, Jason spent more than three years as a Vice President of Environmental Finance at Wells Fargo Bank. As a senior member of the Wells Fargo deal team, Jason originated, underwrote, and financed tax-equity investments during a time when the bank added nearly $1bn of solar assets. Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2011, Jason worked at SPG Solar, where he supported the CEO on strategic corporate initiatives. Jason received both his B.S. in Mathematics and his B.S. in Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Environmental Sciences from UCLA. He holds an M.S. degree in Environment and Resources from Stanford University, and also completed his M.B.A. at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is from Thousand Oaks, California. Highlights from the Show Jason's background is on the finance side of solar and alternative energy kWh was founded to create a data ecosystem that could be used by the financial industry They created a data co-op model with solar asset owners who would share the data with kWh and get insights back, allowing kWh to use that data in its products to the financing world In 2015, they collaborated with the Department of Energy to see what could be understood about solar production, to see if there's a better way to forecast than the tools on the market so far This also enabled an entry into the insurance space because of what kWh understood about the solar projects they could apply their data to These solar projects needed to generate enough power to pay for their construction and operation, and insurance can be used to cover the risk that they fail to cover their costs Project Finance is nothing new, but when it's in new technologies like solar, it's inherently riskier and more expensive, so insurance can help ensure the flow of financing, allowing these new technologies to take hold While the entity doing the project is the one that takes out the coverage, the lender needs to understand the insurance, too, so they can provide more favorable loan terms, so that creates a need to educate both sides of the risk equation, not just the buyer Projects started to have trouble getting Property insurance in 2021 due to climate risk, especially in markets like Texas, where a large hail event lead to a multi-million-dollar loss at a solar project kWh wondered whether they could do a better job of understanding these risks than existing insurers, and find a way to insure these projects They go a step further, though, because they also have data on the success of projects, including weather-related losses a project suffers, and actions project owners take to protect against these losses, so they can give proactive insights and advice to insureds to reduce their risks and enhance the project's performance Having come from the renewables space, the kWh team is better positioned than the broader insurance market to understand and support these risks, just like specialist financiers can do a better job choosing and supporting projects than the general lending community As we look at power production being built, 3/4 is renewables, so this may be a small space today, but it is very quickly ramping up My ESG paper can be found at future-of-insurance.com/esg This episode is brought to you by Pinpoint Predictive (http://www.pinpoint.ai) and the book series, The Future of Insurance: From Disruption to Evolution by Bryan Falchuk (future-of-insurance.com). Follow the podcast at future-of-insurance.com/podcast for more details and other episodes. Music courtesy of UPbeat Music, available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Google Play. Just search for "UPbeat Music"

Joel Moreland is a Principal Consultant at Social and Environmental Finance. He has worked in early stage investing, corporate finance, fund management and mainstream banking. In this discussion we start with how he was born into a culture of activism, thanks to the work his parents had done, and then delve into a broad and multi-faceted discussion about the issue of climate change and the various steps being taken to address it. Joel's view is that the main issue is "urgency" - the urgency of the problem and the lack of understanding that the naturally conservative approach being taken by scientists in the modeling, arguably, requires much greater action by investors.  We talk about lobbying, the multi-lateral policy changes that are on the horizon, and the difference that concerted action by like-minded investors can make. We learn about the mindset of "doing good" and how it is sometimes incompatible with generating a profit or making a return, and how we need to adapt our services and communication to make progress more likely. We talk about the innovations inherent in climate tech, how being a techno-optimist is not enough anymore and how regulatory change can make a real, positive difference. It is a discussion that blends both high level directions of travel and specific examples of what is going well and less well amid the current environmental challenges.  Series 1 of the 2022 Fiftyfaces Podcast is brought to you with the kind support of Heard Capital, a Chicago-based asset manager invests in public equities in the technology, media, telecommunication, financial and industrial sectors.The firm was founded in 2011 and manages assets via a long/short fund and a long-only fund.

What is the role of IFC Treasury and how does it work with Financial Institution to advance Climate objectives?  This week we are joined by IFC's Head of Industrial Relations, Esohe Denise Odaro, who describes how the IFC Treasury function works and how they incentivized financial institutions to reach ESG objectives.  Denise also is the Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Green, Social and Sustainability-Linked Bonds Principles hosted by the International Capital Markets Association and was names by Environmental Finance as 2020 “Personality of the Year”. 

Episode Summary In this episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast, Benoy talks with Jason Kaminsky who is COO at kwh Analytics which is insuring the energy transition through the most comprehensive renewable energy data.  Jason speaks about many interesting topics like how kwh uses data to create insurance products like their solar revenue put product, how hail storm in Texas damaged a solar plant and how that impacted the insurance market, and underperformance of solar projects is common based on the forecast production.  Benoy Thanjan Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy, as well as an advisor for several solar startup companies. Reneu Energy is a premier international solar energy consulting firm and developer, and the company focuses on developing commercial and industrial solar, as well as utility-scale solar plus storage projects. The company also sources financing for solar projects and hedges both energy and environmental commodities.  Benoy received his first experience in Finance as an intern at D.E. Shaw & Co., which is a global investment firm with 37 billion dollars in investment capital. Before founding Reneu Energy, he was the SREC Trader in the Project Finance Group for SolarCity, which merged with Tesla in 2016. He originated SREC trades with buyers and co-developed their SREC monetization and hedging strategy with the senior management of SolarCity, to move into the east coast markets. Benoy also worked at Vanguard Energy Partners, Ridgewood Renewable Power, and Deloitte & Touche. Jason Kaminsky Jason Kaminsky is the COO at kWh Analytics. Just prior to joining kWh Analytics, Jason spent more than three years as a Vice President of Environmental Finance at Wells Fargo Bank. As a senior member of the Wells Fargo deal team, Jason originated, underwrote, and financed tax-equity investments during a time when the bank added nearly $1bn of solar assets. Prior to joining Wells Fargo in 2011, Jason worked at SPG Solar, where he supported the CEO on strategic corporate initiatives. Jason received both his B.S. in Mathematics and his B.S. in Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Environmental Sciences from UCLA. He holds an M.S. degree in Environment and Resources from Stanford University, and also completed his M.B.A. at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Stay Connected: Benoy Thanjan Email: info@reneuenergy.com  LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com   Jason Kaminsky Website:  https://www.kwhanalytics.com Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonkam/ Email:  jason.kaminsky@kwhanalytics.com Contact US at kwh Analytics https://www.kwhanalytics.com/contact Email:  Contact@kwhanalytics.com Solarscape(formerly Lendscape): https://www.kwhanalytics.com/solarscape Sponsor:  Summit Ridge Energy Thank you to Summit Ridge Energy for sponsoring this episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast! Summit Ridge Energy is the leading owner-operator of community solar projects in the United States. The team has been a strong force within the U.S. commercial solar market for years and was instrumental in the creation of "virtual" power purchase agreements and associated financing structures. Summit Ridge Energy has leveraged this experience to launch Summit Ridge Capital, a dedicated funding platform that acquires pre-operational community solar and battery storage projects.  SRE also works with land owners across the country to maximize the value of their acreage by offering predictable lease income to host their solar farms.  From site identification and system design, to take-out financing and construction management, Summit Ridge is the most complete solutions provider in the community solar space.   https://srenergy.com info@srenergy.com  Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on iTunes,Podbean, youtube, and most of the major podcast platforms. This episode was produced and managed by  Podcast Laundry (www.podcastlaundry.com)                

We find out about environmental finance - climate finance, sustainable investing, energy markets and carbon markets with Dr. Sebastian Gehricke from the University of Otago Business School.

The coronavirus pandemic and a growing awareness of social risks have thrust the ‘S' in ESG into sharper focus for many sustainability-minded companies and investors. Issuance of social bonds — debt instruments that raise money for things like affordable housing, health and education — surged nine-fold to $165 billion dollars in 2020 from the previous year, according to data from Environmental Finance, a global sustainable finance news and analysis provider. And as that market expands, investors are seeking clear guidance on social investment definitions. The European Union has already developed a green taxonomy, or a classification system of sustainable businesses and sectors. In this episode of ESG Insider, we look at the potential social taxonomy the EU has proposed to help define the ‘S.' “We've got a good understanding of the E,” says Victor van Hoorn, executive director at Eurosif, a European forum that promotes sustainable investment. “We're more or less starting with a blank sheet of paper when we're talking about the ‘S.'” Check out our episode on the green taxonomy here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-green-what-investors-need-to-know-about-the/id1475521006?i=1000531954636 Photo credit: Getty Images 

Today's guest is Dr. Michael Dorsey, Global Energy, Environmental, Finance, and Sustainability Expert.Dr. Dorsey is a serial organization builder and leader in for-profit, non-profit, scholarly, and governmental realms. Dr. Dorsey is an active investor, and co-founder and principal of Around the Corner Capital. Through Around the Corner, Dr. Dorsey maintains active relationships and agreements in the U.S. and beyond with various partners from Barrett Capital, to the ​California Clean Energy Fund​, to Silverleaf Partners, the ​ Royal Bafokeng Holdings (South Africa), Univergy (Japan/Spain), the World Bank and many other institutions and high net-worth individuals driving the global renewable revolution. In non-profit realms, Dr. Dorsey helped to co-create the northern California headquartered Center for Environmental Health. In 2013,​ Dr. Dorsey and two former student collaborators co-created the predecessor to the Sunrise Movement​. Beyond this, Dr. Dorsey sits on several non-profit boards. In academia, Dr. Dorsey was a professor in the environmental studies program at Dartmouth College.Dr. Dorsey's significant government engagement began in 1992 as a member of the U.S. State Department Delegation to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, "The Earth Summit." Dorsey was a task force member of President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development, a member of Senator Barack Obama's energy and environment Presidential campaign team, and was appointed to the EPA's National Advisory Committee. I was excited about this discussion because Dr. Dorsey is a profound climate activist, environmental investor, and public advocate. In this episode, Dr. Dorsey explains his theory of change and what motivated him to focus on climate. We also dive into a discussion on single-solution rhetoric, why our leadership is failing, and how to create a more sustainable and just future. Dr. Dorsey is an incredible guest. Enjoy the show!You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at info@myclimatejourney.co, where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.Episode recorded September 16th, 2021For more information about this episode, visit: https://myclimatejourney.co/episodes/dr-dorsey

In this episode, we speak with Michael Eckhart, former Global Head of Environmental Finance at Citigroup, founding chairman and former president of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), and co-author of the Green Bond Principles. Michael now serves as a board member for Hannon Armstrong and as an adjunct and visiting professor at Columbia University and the University of Maryland, respectively. Michael discusses the history of the global clean energy financing space, the benefits of financing—rather than funding—renewable energy, what the Green Bond Principles offer the market, how today's clean energy financing models evolved, and more. Michael Eckhart BioAmerican Council on Renewable EnergyACORE Finance ForumInternational Capital Market Association Green Bond PrinciplesInternational Solar Energy SocietyEpisode recorded August 25, 2021 

In this episode, Nick and Cheryl discuss some of the key sustainable finance deals and transactions from the beginning of the year. Environmental Finance released its annual Sustainable Bonds Insights report, which highlights a record year for green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds with more than 602 billion in issuance in 2020. Also of note in the report is that Sustainalytics continues to be a market leader with more than 30% of market share among opinion providers (based on number of issuers).   Hosts: Nick Gandolfo, Director, Sustainable Finance Solutions Cheryl Tay, Senior Associate, Sustainable Finance Solutions Resources mentioned in this episode: Environmental Finance: Sustainable Bonds Insights 2021 CBI: Record $269.5bn green issuance for 2020 (includes themes for 2021) Sustainalytics: 2021 Outlook podcast episode BlackRock: Larry Fink 2021 letter to CEOs Pension Age: Cushon launches ‘world's first' Net Zero Now pension Portfolio Earth: Bankrolling Extinction Environmental Finance: Are green bonds funding the transition? Environmental Finance: Green Bond Funds – Impact Reporting Practices 2020 CBI & HSBC: Sovereign Green, Social and Sustainability Bond Survey Sustainalytics Country Risk Ratings Science-Based Targets: From Ambition to Impacts Sustainalytics Sustainability-Linked Bonds Hellenic Shipping News: The Poseidon Principles Disclosure Report is good, but the disclosure could have been better Responsible Investor: Experts question credibility of the world's first official transition bond despite high investor demand Sustainalytics SPOs: Central China Real Estate Limited Green Finance Framework BDO Sustainable Finance Framework Hudson Green Financing Framework Trinity Industries Leasing Company Green Financing Framework CSCDA Community Improvement Authority Social Bond Framework New World Development Green Finance Framework Seaspan Sustainability-Linked Bond More Episodes

Today we welcome back the always fiery Jelena Macura! For those who listened to last weeks episode with Sam you will hear us discuss exactly what both me and him saw in Jelena when we were all in university together and how sure we were that she would be absolutely unstoppable once unleashed upon the world.  Luckily for us she has chosen to conquer the EU first and every time I look on social media i see some new huge step forward Jelena has taken! I had hoped to get into more of what makes Jelena tick, but we ended up having a fascinating conversation on the latest and greatest of sustainable finance in the EU and exactly how Jelena is ushering in such a new concept into a traditionally slow moving area. We also discuss our vastly different university experiences and Jelena was able to show me a more positive side of the university experience that matched more of the vision I had in my head before first hand experience disillusioned me of that prospect.  I absolutely love talking to Jelena about anything and everything, she is so smart and always forces you to come with your best arguments or you risk being steam rolled and that type of conversation is exactly what moves us forward in my opinion.  My suggestion to everyone is to find that Jelena in your own life and if you cant (they are pretty rare) than hopefully everyone can listen in and borrow my Jelena until you can find your own!

Austin Thompson of the University of North Carolina's Environmental Finance Center joins us to discuss challenges with and innovations in small utility systems. Austin tackles the primary issues and challenges faced by smaller systems and informs us of some innovations taking place in smaller systems that are making a positive impact. In this session, you'll learn about: The primary challenges smaller systems face How small systems deal with big capital needs and a small customer base How small systems deal with water quality challenges How topography presents challenges for smaller systems How populations density impacts smaller systems Some of the strategies to address these challenges How water kiosks help small systems How topography challenges created an innovative energy production opportunity for a small system The role training plays in providing innovations to smaller systems Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include: Austin's bio page on the UNC EFC website UNC EFC's website Appalachian Regional Commission website TWV #047: The Ups and Downs of Environmental Finance with Jeff Hughes                            Thank You! Thanks to each of you for listening and spreading the word about The Water Values Podcast! Keep the emails coming and please rate and review The Water Values Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher if you haven't done so already. And don't forget to tell your friends about the podcast and whatever you do, don't forget to join The Water Values mailing list!

Austin Thompson of the University of North Carolina’s Environmental Finance Center joins us to discuss challenges with and innovations in small utility systems. Austin tackles the primary issues and challenges faced by smaller systems and informs us of some innovations taking place in smaller systems that are making a positive impact. In this session, you’ll learn about: The primary challenges smaller systems face How small systems deal with big capital needs and a small customer base How small systems deal with water quality challenges How topography presents challenges for smaller systems How populations density impacts smaller systems Some of the strategies to address these challenges How water kiosks help small systems How topography challenges created an innovative energy production opportunity for a small system The role training plays in providing innovations to smaller systems Resources and links mentioned in or relevant to this session include: Austin’s bio page on the UNC EFC website UNC EFC’s website Appalachian Regional Commission website TWV #047: The Ups and Downs of Environmental Finance with Jeff Hughes                            Thank You! Thanks to each of you for listening and spreading the word about The Water Values Podcast! Keep the emails coming and please rate and review The Water Values Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher if you haven’t done so already. And don’t forget to tell your friends about the podcast and whatever you do, don’t forget to join The Water Values mailing list!

New S&P ESG 500 products will promote sustainable investing and offer needed diversification for most ethical investors. Sustainable assets leap 34% to $30.7 trillion in 2 years globally. Green bond awards help ethical and sustainable investors find green fixed income products. Ethical investors avoid Lyft IPO and suspicious of social media companies with regulatory issues. Transcript & Links April 12, 2019 Hello, Ron Robins here. Welcome to my podcast Ethical & Sustainable Investing News to Profit By! Presented by Investing for the Soul, April 12, 2019. Now again, if any terms are unfamiliar to you, simply Google them! Also, you can find a full transcript, live links and sometimes bonus material at my podcast page located at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts News Now for the exciting news to profit by for ethical and sustainable investors! The first item I want to talk about is that with all the news concerning Facebook and Google regarding the regulatory pressures they’re facing around the world, it means that somehow, investors have to take into account the potential for severe disruption in their business models and possible negative impacts on their profitability and stock prices. So this post, titled, A regulatory lens when assessing ESG risks, by Sudhir Roc-Sennet, of Vontobel Asset Management, writing in Investment Europe, is truly pertinent. Sudhir says that and I quote, "Internally we look at sustainability through an ESG-R lens, which includes regulation alongside environmental, social and governance factors. Many of our investment companies have held leading industry positions and, as a result, regulation is one of the greatest risks they face." Close quote. You might be aware that your ESG portfolio is probably top heavy with tech and social media companies. So, a review of your holdings in light of regulatory risk might be warranted. Financial stocks too are often overweighted in our ESG portfolios. So, come the next recession – which two-thirds of American economists predict in the next two years – financial stocks could again become the subject of significant regulatory and financial risk. So be careful about overweighting in sectors that have potential regulatory risks. ------------------------------------------------------------- This next piece of news excites me. It’s title, S&P unveils ESG version of 'iconic' 500 index, by Chris Sloley at CityWire Selector. I quote, "S&P Dow Jones Indices has launched an ESG-centric version of its long-running S&P 500 index as part of plans to launch a wider family of responsibility-focused indices... The index has been developed to serve not only as a performance tracking tool but also as a building block for creating new ESG index-based investment products such as ETFs." Close quote. This is exciting news for ethical and sustainable investors. The S&P 500 index and financial products based on it, are among the most popular financial products to have ever been conceived. RobecoSAM will be creating the index. They also are responsible for the FTSE4Good index. I believe many large financial institutions and pension funds have been awaiting this development to make even greater investments in ESG related investment vehicles. For yourself as well, financial products arising from this could help resolve the problem I just mentioned. That is, not being overly invested in one market segment such as tech or social media. An S&P 500 ESG product will likely be quite diversified. However, I do say that though the components of this new index will be screened for ESG characteristics – you will inevitably be investing in some industries you don’t like. Thus, if this is a concern for you, take my quick and easy DIY Ethical-Sustainable Investing Pays Tutorial to learn how to create a diversified portfolio that truly reflects your values. ------------------------------------------------------------- Now the following is information that many of you will want to know about! What are the best green bonds around! Environmental Finance in London assembled a team of 24 top green bond experts to come up with the… Winners of Environmental Finance Bond Awards for 2019. These awards aren't about which green bonds made investors the most money, but, rather, included characteristics such as quality, innovativeness, best practices, etc. Nonetheless, if you're wanting to invest in, or add to your present green bond holdings, you might find some ideas among the winning green bonds here. Don’t forget, go to my podcast page at investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and go to this show date for links I’m mentioning today. ------------------------------------------------------------- Speaking about investing with your personal values, I know many ethical and sustainable investors wouldn’t touch oil fracking stocks. And a lot of it is because of the environmental costs posed by fracking. Unfortunately, as a Canadian report makes clear on David Suzuki’s site – the famed Canadian biologist-environmentalist – the impacts of fracking are still largely unknown and it’s the next generation who’ll feel these impacts! See the post, As fracking booms, report finds we know little about impacts. ------------------------------------------------------------- Now some great news about the growth of sustainable investing. There are two posts I want to talk about. The first, Global Sustainable Investments Rise 34 Percent to $30.7 Trillion, by Emily Chasan, Bloomberg, and the second Greenwashing purge sees sustainable funds lose share in Europe, by Siobhan Riding, of the Financial Times. Both stories reveal data from the same Global Sustainable Investment Alliance study released on April 1. On the one hand, we see a massive and continuing rise in sustainable investing globally. That’s terrific! However, on the other hand, in Europe, the actual rise in sustainable investment assets has been slower than the growth of the whole market. Now, Europe has for many years been the leader in sustainable assets under management, so it’s not a surprise to see it slowing down there. Here’s a quote from the latter article on this point, quote, “Holdings in sustainable funds made up 49 per cent of professionally managed assets in Europe at the start of 2018, compared with 53 per cent in 2016.” Close quote. So, why is it going down, again, quoting the same article, it says, “Sustainable investment funds have lost market share in Europe as a clampdown on greenwashing forces asset managers to reduce their assets in such strategies.” Close quote. And I say that’s a good thing! ------------------------------------------------------------- Hey, were you excited by Lyft’s IPO on March 29? Numerous ethical and sustainable investors weren’t. Why, because early evidence is that they’re putting more cars on the road and pulling people off public transit! Thus, adding to congestion. Also, people are tending to use these services instead of biking or walking. In short, Uber and Lyft seem to be adding to congestion, pollution, and a less healthy lifestyle. Furthermore, they are presently losing money on a grand scale. Annually, Lyft at around $900 million and Uber around $1.8 billion with little prospect of any profits from either of them soon! Lyft’s IPO stock price on March 29 was $72 and as of the time of recording this post, is in the $60 range. For a good read on them go to Environmental investors are calling Uber and Lyft's bluff when it comes to going green, by Ross Kerber & Heather Somerville of Reuters. ------------------------------------------------------------- Now, many of you listening to this podcast in the US have retirement savings accounts through your employer known as 401(k)s. But I bet you've wondered why there aren’t ethical/ESG options? Well, a recent survey by Natixis found that though, I quote, "61% of workers would increase their retirement savings if they could put their money in socially conscious investments… just 13% of workers have access to those kinds of impact investments." End quote. There appear to be several reasons why employers are reluctant to offer ethical/ESG investments in US 401(k) plans. Chief among them, according to the Natixis survey, is that employers don't feel it's right for them to "impose their morals on their employees’ investment choices." Personally, I think that answer is absurd since they're also offering many other options too, which when considered, are also 'moral choices!' In fact, I’d argue that every investment has a moral component! The second principal reason is due to the US Department of Labor making it clear that ESG couldn't be used as the main criteria for selecting investments. This, of course, reflects President's Trump's campaign to promote old and dirty industries – which usually score low on ESG measures. If you are in a situation where your employer isn’t offering the type of 401(k) investments you want to chat with your fellow employees, see how they feel too. If they’re with you, then go to your employer and make it known to them what you want in your investments. You might be surprised that they probably agree with you and just might take the actions necessary to get those ethical/ESG investment options you want! The information on this 401(k) situation is gleaned from an article titled, Workers want those hard-to-find socially responsible investments in their 401(k) plans: Survey, by Lorie Konish of CNBC. ------------------------------------------------------------- In my podcast of March 15, I discussed how some new ETFs were focusing on gender issues because more women in management seem to improve corporate financial performance. However, it seems that some of these funds don’t seriously advocate for women when it comes to stockholder resolutions concerning equal pay and pay equity disclosure, for instance. And that is rather odd. Therefore, if you invest in these funds and care about these issues, read the data gathered by Morningstar in the post Investing with equal pay in mind may be more difficult than you think, by Lorie Konish at CNBC. ------------------------------------------------------------- So, there we have it for this podcast! Again, to read the transcript and get all the links and additional information mentioned here, please go to investingforthesoul.com/podcasts and look for this edition. And remember, I’m here to help you grow in your investment success—and investing in opportunities that reflect your personal values! Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this podcast or anything else investment related. A big thank you for listening—and please click the share buttons to share this podcast with your friends and family. Come again! Bye for now! © 2019 Ron Robins, Investing for the Soul. All rights reserved.

Saskia Feast is VP of Western Region at Natural Capital Partners. Saskia works with companies in the Western Region of North America to ensure they have access to the right mix of market-based solutions to meet their sustainability objectives. Prior to joining Natural Capital Partners, she helped launch a new class of offset into the voluntary and compliance market at EOS Climate. Saskia has an MBA in sustainable management from the Presidio Graduate School, where she now serves as member of their Board of Directors. She also has a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Liverpool University.  Saskia Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: Carbon Offsets and Renewable Energy Purchasing carbon offsets to meet sustainability goals Global vs local carbon offset purchasing Sourcing carbon offset projects for Natural Capital Partners Carbon Neutral certification Advice and recommendations for sustainability leaders Saskia's Final Five Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? The one piece advice of advice that I would give to other sustainability professionals is to spend the time to talk to your colleagues in other business areas - operations, finance and sales. You really need to be able to tie your actions into helping them being successful. So you need to be making the business case. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? I am most excited about the push for 100 percent renewable energy globally and what that can mean in some of the countries outside of the western world. I think it's happening. It's going at different rates and different countries, but it's already happening. We're seeing the impacts of climate change already and policy leaders and business leaders in other countries are seeing those as well. So, this is a global move towards action. What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read? Well, this is not really directly a sustainability book, Turning to One Another by Margaret J. Weatley. I have found this to be a very helpful book and it's really about starting conversations for the future, sitting down, listening, talking to each other about different topics. She provides some guidelines in there. We're so busy these days and we're all rushing to achieve something. I think it's really important to spend the time talking and listening. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? Environmental Finance does the State of the Voluntary Carbon Market Report every year. The ICROA website, which is the best practices for the voluntary carbon market is very helpful. REBA, the Renewable Energy Buyer's Alliance is an amazing organization helping drive renewable energy through the world. As is RE100, this initiative that came from We Mean Business and CDP. I think these organizations and websites are really helpful. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work that you are leading at Natural Capital Partners? Naturalcapitalpartners.com. We have a lot of details about the projects. You can look at a global map, click on the little blue dots and find out more about those projects. We also have a YouTube channel - Natural Capital Partners. We host webinars regularly and you can contact me a sfeast@naturalcapitalpartners.com and connect with me on LinkedIn. I look forward to hearing from you. Contact Saskia: https://www.naturalcapitalpartners.com/  Contact Josh Prigge: https://www.sustridge.com/ 

Under the Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese government will provide hundreds of billions of dollars for thousands of projects across Asia, Europe and Africa.  This will include funding for power plants, transmission lines and other energy infrastructure.  The Chinese government has emphasized “green development” as an important feature of the Belt and Road Initiative, highlighting its commitment to environmental protection, low-carbon development and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.  CGEP hosted a discussion of the Belt and Road Initiative and its impacts on sustainable development. David Sandalow – Inaugural Fellow and Director, US-China Program for the Center on Global Energy Policy and Xu Qinhua from Renmin University moderated the discussion with the following group of experts: Fu Chengyu — former Chair, China National Offshore Oil Company and former Chair, Sinopec Li Junfeng — former Director-General, National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, NDRC Han Wenke — former Director, Energy Research Institute, NDRC Zhao Xijun, Renmin University Qinhua Xu — Director, Center for International Energy and Environment Strategy Studies, Renmin University  Michael Eckhart — Managing Director and Global Head of Environmental Finance of Citigroup & Adjunct Professor of Columbia University's School for International and Policy Affairs  Deborah Lehr — Vice Chairman, Paulson Institute Nobuo Tanaka — President of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and CGEP Fellow

How to turn nature from a charity case into a sustainable asset class.Environmental finance uses financial tools for the good of the environment, working to determine the right price for the use of environmental resources and who should pay for them What if we extended our outlook from the next quarterly results to the next few centuries? We would most likely find that the true cost of natural resources used in various commercial activities is not represented in most cost-benefit analyses of business plans.Which is why, unlike commercial banks, the European Investment Bank carries out separate assessments of potential projects to make sure the real, long-term impact on the environment is mitigated or at least that compensation is made for it.Besides introducing safeguards for projects that might not involve the environment, the bank also finances projects that have a positive environmental impact at the heart of their plans, such as conservation. One recent example is Rewilding Europe, a program that capitalizes on the commercial value of the natural environment by organizing safari tours, providing cabins for nature photography enthusiasts and offering other services that could generate cash to be reinvested into projects that protect pristine ecosystems.But such financing is not just about the wild outdoors: environmental finance can also involve investment in the decontamination of a polluted industrial site in a city so it can be used for a real estate project. Taking care of the urban environment has surprising upsides – with increased urbanization, there will be more space available for nature to flourish outside of those cities.Environmental finance tries to tackle difficult questions, such as who owns natural assets, how to measure social, economic and financial returns on those assets, and who should own those returns. We also learn how environmental finance relates to climate finance, and we are told that the ‘blue economy' is not always green. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Solar O&M Insider, the first podcast series dedicated to solar PV operations, maintenance and asset management. This series is brought to you by Alectris, a global solar asset care innovation firm and is hosted by Glenna Wiseman of Identity3. The role of software in solar performance management is a hot topic in the industry. At the recent Intersolar Solar Asset Management Summit organized by The SunSpec Alliance, software and its critical role in asset management was a central theme. In this episode, we’re joined by a panel who contributed to the Intersolar North America event to dive into the role of software in solar portfolio management. Episode guests include Joe Cunningham, Director of Operations at Sunny Energy LLC; Jon Previtali, VP Environmental Finance at Wells Fargo and Laks Sampath, US and LATAM Country Manager at Alectris. This episode of the Solar O&M Insider features: •Siloed Software and Disparate Platforms •Managing the Wells Fargo Solar and Wind Portfolio •Data Implications of the Orange Button Initiative •Deploying the Orange Button Taxonomy to Streamline Reporting and Create Standardization •Using Orange Button to Get DER Reporting Right from the Beginning  

I talk to Austin-based GT Environmental Finance about carbon pricing, getting cooperation on state and international levels, and what it really means for our wallets. For pictures from our visit and additional info, visit http://www.energy-cast.com/8-gt.html.

Jeff Hughes of the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina joins The Water Values Podcast for an in-depth discussion about environmental finance. Environmental finance concerns how to pay for programs that provide environmental services. Jeff guides us from traditional rate-making to several more creative approaches to implementing water rates and explores some of the obstacles to getting these more creative rate design mechanism adopted and implemented.

Jeff Hughes of the Environmental Finance Center at the University of North Carolina joins The Water Values Podcast for an in-depth discussion about environmental finance. Environmental finance concerns how to pay for programs that provide environmental services. Jeff guides us from traditional rate-making to several more creative approaches to implementing water rates and explores some of the obstacles to getting these more creative rate design mechanism adopted and implemented.

Defining environmental finance is tricky as there's no widely agreed upon definition. Instead, there are a variety of certifications, standards and attributes that can be used to help identify greener businesses. Wells Fargo set a goal of providing $30 billion in environmental finance by 2020, and is asking for public feedback on the categories they have established for environmental financing. Today we will talk about the environmental impact of the projects Wells Fargo is currently funding, and what may be on the horizon. Our guests are Wells Fargo's VP of Environmental Affairs, Stephanie Rico, and VP, Environmental Finance, Dustin Kahler. To give your input, visit: Wells Fargo Environmental Forum

Defining environmental finance is tricky as there's no widely agreed upon definition. Instead, there are a variety of certifications, standards and attributes that can be used to help identify greener businesses. Wells Fargo set a goal of providing $30 billion in environmental finance by 2020, and is asking for public feedback on the categories they have established for environmental financing. Today we will talk about the environmental impact of the projects Wells Fargo is currently funding, and what may be on the horizon. Our guests are Wells Fargo's VP of Environmental Affairs, Stephanie Rico, and VP, Environmental Finance, Dustin Kahler. To give your input, visit: Wells Fargo Environmental Forum

Richard Sandor explains his view on how financial innovation and derivatives can have a positive impact in areas of global importance. Contrary to the current popular stigma, Dr. Richard Sandor argues that financial derivatives and market based practices can in fact be a force for good in addressing global issues, particularly with regard to the environment.

As part of PERC's Free Market Environmentalism Workshop, "Financial Contracting, Transaction Costs, and Environmental Amenities," Jonathan Klick of the University of Pennsylvania Law School offers a summary of the conference and closing remarks on the future of environmental finance.

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. Richard Sandor, Lecturer in the University of Chicago Law School, presents a lecture titled "Good Derivatives," at the University of Chicago Center in Beijing on May 30, 2012. Sandor speaks on his first-hand experiences in the development of new markets and financial instruments and defends good derivatives as effective elements of the world economy. The event was sponsored by Alumni Education. Sandor is also the Chairman and CEO of Environmental Financial Products LLC and a Distinguished Professor of Environmental Finance at the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University. The event was a collaboration between the Paulson Institute at the University of Chicago and the University's Center in Beijing.

Richard Sandor wants to make it clear that "derivative" is not a dirty word. It's one motivation behind his latest book, "Good Derivatives: A Story of Financial and Environmental Innovation." It's a case that Sandor is well-equipped to make. As a young economist at the Chicago Board of Trade, he helped create interest rate futures-derivatives that revolutionized worldwide finance. Later, he pioneered the use of emissions trading to reduce acid rain and greenhouse gases, creating the Chicago Climate Exchange and affiliated exchanges in Europe and China. At this Milken Institute Forum, Sandor will discuss how financial innovation has been a force for good in the last 40 years and how its vast potential can address environmental, health and social challenges in the next 40 years. "This book represents the work of one of the world's most brilliant, inquisitive, and visionary minds," according to Clayton Yeutter, former USDA secretary and U.S. trade representative. "Richard Sandor knows this subject as an economist, a trader, an executive, an entrepreneur, but most of all, as a teacher. No one else in the world could have written this book." Sandor is chairman and CEO of Environmental Financial Products LLC, which specializes in inventing, designing, and developing new financial markets with a special emphasis on investment advisory services. EFP was established in 1998 and was the predecessor company and incubator to the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the European Climate Exchange (ECX), and the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange (CCFE). Sandor was honored by the city of Chicago for his contributions, and he was one of Time's "Heroes of the Environment" in 2007. A Milken Institute senior fellow, Sandor is a Distinguished Professor of Environmental Finance at Guanghua School of Management at Peking University and a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.