Climate-focused philanthropy has increased significantly in recent years, but it’s still insufficient relative to the size and urgency of the challenge. Randall Kempner is a senior advisor at the Energy and Environment Program of The Aspen Institute, and a global leader in advancing policy solutions for critical issues. He joins me today to discuss why less than two percent of global philanthropy is focused on climate-related giving, while 85 percent of all U.S. foundation funders stated in a recent report that climate change was a top three issue. Nevertheless, only one third reported they were “open to considering funding efforts” to address climate change.

More successful employees create financial value for their employers and career opportunities for themselves. Our focus in today’s episode is how Ownership Works supports increasing prosperity through shared ownership, and that’s the mission of this non-profit organization. Executive Director, Anna-Lisa Miller joins me and Gloria Mirrione, Executive Director, and Head of Sustainable Finance & Impact Investing at Acre, Americas. Anna-Lisa will share with us how her firm supports the creation of a culture of ownership that aligns an entire workforce around a common purpose, values and goals to maximize shared wealth creation.

In his role as General Manager of Sustainability Solutions at Microsoft, Mark Kroese leads a team that drives product, customer and market development solutions that help Microsoft realize its goals of becoming a Carbon Negative company. Mark Fischel is the Carbon Product Lead at Novata. They are their launching their brand new tool, the Novata Carbon Navigator in January to radically improve the carbon reporting experience for Novata’s private company platform partners. Both Marks have joined this third episode of the SFP / Novata series on “Demystifying ESG” to help our sustainability-focused investor audience and their companies follow the pathway to decarbonization.

The Climate Bonds Initiative has identified five Hallmarks of a credible climate mitigation transition for companies. Today the SFP is fortunate to have Sean Kidney, CEO at Climate Bonds Initiative, as our guest to update our followers on how companies are using these Hallmarks and what climate mitigation action investors and their financial advisors can expect from companies in various sectors of the global economy between now and 2030. We’re also going to talk about what choices investors can make to support companies in achieving their Net Zero near-term objectives.

“Policies and institutions that open opportunities for focus on people of color are not racist. They are not even an attempt to “level the playing field” after centuries of systemic racism. They are an effort to bring Black people onto the playing field of economic mobility after centuries of being locked out…” I’m quoting from a Forbes article published on Oct. 12th and written by Lenwood V. Long, Sr., President & CEO, African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs, my guest for today’s SFP conversation. Lenwood joins me to tell us the story behind the article.

Companies in every sector of the global economy are discovering that the full spectrum of sustainability-focused challenges are more than their own and must be solved in collaboration with their partners in other businesses. My guest is this episode of the SFP is Karthik Balakrishnan, Co-Founder and President of Actual, which has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes and Business Insider among many other publications for it’s Sustainability Transformation Platform, a single place for firms to collaboratively study impact, minimize risk and maximize ROI while meeting strategic priorities.

Open the BrightTalk Episode 238 Attachments tab for links to ACTUAL newsletters providing detailed research.

I’ve had the privilege to work with both of today’s podcast guests as leaders of their company, the first to launch a Responsible Investment fund and still a leader in the field. Calvert Research and Management is part of Morgan Stanley Investment Management today and traces its roots to Calvert Investments, which was founded in 1976. The SFP is privileged to welcome Emily Chew and Anthony Eames to this episode and we’re going back in time to begin today’s conversation. Responsible Investing was first given official status as an industry concept by the UN Principles for Responsible Investment in 2006, however, Calvert's history in the field stretches back many years before that.

Climate Aligned is building the world's first human-led, AI-assisted platform with the ability to analyze any bond issuer, borrower, bond or loan against any standard, framework, taxonomy or expert opinion in a fully customizable way, thanks to Generative AI. I’m excited to have Krista Tukiainen, Climate Aligned’s Chief Commercial Officer as my guest for this episode of the SFP. Building on the new generation of Large Language Models and tools, Climate Aligned is on a mission to change investor and capital provider workflows for the better and for good. Krista believes there is enough money in the world to solve the climate crisis, and much of it is funneled through debt capital markets.
Congratulation to the ClimateAligned team for being recognized by Business Insider Tech as a leading climate tech startup! - http://www.businessinsider.com/sai

My guests today are coming down on the side of a more positive outcome for a sustainable climate transition rather than the doomsday opinions we read in the media daily. Anthony Hobley, Senior Strategic Advisor and Jakob Thomae, Project Director launched the IPR Forecast Policy Scenario (FPS) 2023 during Climate Week in NYC. IPR, the Inevitable Policy Response (IPR), is a climate transition forecasting consortium commissioned by the PRI. The findings give reason for optimism if we accelerate current approaches, however these policy responses will be increasingly forceful, abrupt, and disorderly. Our program today will be helpful not only to investors navigating the financial markets, but also for governments, policy makers and NGOs.

Today's podcast guests are a trio of leaders engaged in community economic development. John Holdsclaw IV, Gloria Mirrione and Harold Pettigrew, Jr. are on a mission to lift the banner of "Capital Meets Purpose". I will ask Harold and John to share their thoughts on this theme for the upcoming 39th annual Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) conference next month. Followers of The Sustainable Finance Podcast will be glad to know that John, President and CEO of Rochdale Capital and Harold, President and CEO at OFN joined this episode at Gloria and Acre's request to clarify the important role CDFIs are playing in ESG and Sustainability-Focused economic development.

A new regime in financial policy and market behavior is unfolding and the patterns of the past decade are facing a period of adjustment. Schroders Asset Management believes this new regime will be driven by several themes, including decarbonization, deglobalization and demographic change. In today’s Episode Three of this Schroders and SFP series we’re going to zero in on the impact deglobalization and demographic change are having on sustainability-focused investment strategies. Our guests from Schroders include Angus Bauer, Head of Sustainable Investment Research and Lazaro Tiant, Sustainable Investment Analyst. Let's begin by identifying Schroders’ sustainability considerations related to deglobalization and demographic change.

A new study, released today by Cornell University’s Global Labor Institute (GLI) and Schroders, reveals extreme heat and flooding are threatening key apparel production hubs. See the attachments tab for the link.

Motivated by a lack of adequate and safe mobility systems and the potential of smart mobility to drastically reduce carbon emissions in emerging markets, Tonderai Njowera has embarked on a journey to catalyze investments in renewable energy and smart mobility in the South African and other emerging markets. Tonderai is a certified expert in sustainable finance as well as a civil and water engineer. He recently founded Mosi Partners, an ESG Consultant to private equity, family offices, microfinance institutions and mid-market companies in Africa. The SFP is excited to feature Tonderai’s story for our growing global audience.

Chrissa Pagitsas has been a leader in sustainable finance industry and product development for twenty years. She launched the Fannie Mae Green Financing Business which, under her leadership, issued over $51 billion in Green Bonds, becoming the largest issuer globally. Chrissa is a trusted board member to non-profit and for-profit companies and a sought-after speaker on catalyzing business transformation through ESG, sustainability and green financing. Our second guest for this Acre sponsored Episode 4 is Gloria Mirrione of Acre Americas. We’ll begin this episode with a discussion of leadership, drawing on Chrissa’s recently published and best-selling book, Chief Sustainability Officers at Work and Gloria’s recent appointment as Executive Director and Head of Sustainable Finance & Impact Investing for Acre Americas.

See the BrightTalk Attachments tab for more details on "Chief Sustainability Officers at Work".

Why should VC firms require the entrepreneurs they fund to track ESG metrics from day one and for the long-term? We’re excited to bring you Part 2 of our series with Novata, the platform built to empower private companies and investors to collect, analyze and report relevant ESG data. Our guests are Elizabeth Meyer, Chief Legal Officer at Novata and Rosalind Bazany, Partner and Head of ESG and Impact at Antler, the VC/PE firm that launches and scales high potential startups across six continents.

Open the BrightTalk Attachments tab of this episode for links to Novata's 2022 Sustainability Report and other Novata and Antler publications on the value-add to private market companies intent on leading the way in ESG data measurement, reporting and verificaiton.

Today we’re going to learn why the German federal state of Baden-Wurttemberg passed a law on sustainable investing that blacklisted US Treasury Bonds as a portfolio holding. My SFP guest is Arnim Emrich, head of treasury in Baden-Wurttemberg. Emrich and his team manage 35Billion Euros of capital market debt and the state’s 10Billion Euros sovereign fund for future pension obligations. They also launched the state’s green bond programme in 2021 and Emrich has authored a law on sustainable investing defining a common standard for any state entity investing in stocks, bonds or other financial instruments.

My first conversation with Helene Huby, Co-founder and CEO at The Exploration Company, was “out of this world.” Huby’s company is creating a reusable space vehicle with amazing possibilities. The Nyx will be modular, reusable and in-orbit refuellable, carrying cargo and, in the longer run, humans. The first prototype will launch in 2024, and Huby plans to be servicing the international space station by 2027. In today’s program, Huby joins me to share her journey to develop, manufacture and operate Nyx sustainably, with the goal of democratizing space exploration.

Building a global capital market that accelerates universal access to safe water and sanitation is WaterEquity’s mission and is at the core of global sustainable development. In addition to being a key determinant of improved health outcomes, gender equality and resilience to climate change, it is also a driver of overall economic growth. I’m very pleased to have Paul O’Connell, President of WaterEquity and Gloria Mirrione, Head of Sustainable Finance & Impact Investing, Acre Americas as my guests for this episode of the Sustainable Finance Podcast (SFP). They are joining me to discuss how WaterEquity is using the capital markets to tackle UNSDG #6, ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Dr. Selin Calik published “The Renaissance of Smart Energy: The Nexus of COVID 19 and Green Energy” in 2022, which describes the connection between Covid-19 and Climate Change with an emphasis on research in the field of clean and green energy. Calik is a Climate Change Scientist and Green Energy Observer for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. She is also an active member of the UK’s Institute of Directors, providing professional development, networking and expert advice for business leaders. Today we’re going to speak about Post-Pandemic energy transition issues, which are top-of-mind for every senior executive in every energy sector company.

Open the Attachments link in the BrightTALK / SFP channel to read the study "Women for Sustainable Energy", published by GWNET - Global Women's Network for the Energy Transition

In April of 2023 the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched the Finance for Net Zero (FiNZ) Action Plan to catalyze Asia’s net zero transition and decarbonization activities. My guest today is Helge Muenkel, CSO at DBS Bank, and we’re going to talk about why establishing a roadmap for sustainability reporting by key financial institutions is a critical part of the (FiNZ). Helge and I will discuss why credible green and transition financing solutions are needed to support decarbonization efforts and climate risk mitigation. And the good news is that DBS is a global finance industry leader in the tracking and reporting of financed emissions as well as offering retail banking initiatives that support sustainable investment strategies and clean energy climate transition practices at the household level.

This is the second program in a series the Sustainable Finance Podcast (SFP) is doing with Schroders. We’re taking an in-depth look at what Schroders is calling a global reset in the markets and the emergence of a new regime in financial policy and market behavior. My guests today are Mark Lacey, Head of Global Resource Equities, and Carol Storey, Active Ownership Manager. In the first program, Episode 213, we covered the big picture: decarbonization, deglobalization and demographic change. In today’s episode we’re zeroing in on decarbonization, and how a hybrid approach to energy investing, with a focus on careful selection and long-term investment strategy, together with active ownership, are the critical factors in successfully transforming the energy sector.

Gravitas Infinitum / Carbotura was among the world’s top 50 most innovative new companies in 2021. It uses industrial-scale modular facilities to eliminate Municipal Solid Waste and create renewable fuels, carbon sequestering critical minerals, and nano-biomaterials. In the process it delivers highly efficient, large scale carbon capture for positive environmental impact. Tyler Wood is a Director at Gravitas Infinitum / Carbotura, and he is going to tell us about this closed loop system that generates multiple circular and regenerative economic benefits.

Open the BrightTALK channel attachments tab for a Carbotura Economic Impact Report.

Grain Ecosystem is a venture backed business spun out of Schneider Electric for the purpose of generating a high-quality carbon offset supply. The firm aims to support project developers in sequestering as much carbon as possible, which means bringing together the funding and stakeholders needed to drive projects forward with a focus on biochar. Today I’m excited to have Jason Dodier, Co-Founder of Grain Ecosystem and Brando Crespi, Co-Founder at Global Biochar, join me to discuss the crucial role that financing plays in scaling up carbon projects and the attention that Biochar has gained as a potential carbon removal technology.

My guests today exemplify an extraordinary partnership in the ESG landscape. Hamilton Lane, a private markets investment management firm with nearly $857 billion in AUM and AUA has a long track record of review and consideration of ESG factors. In 2021 Hamilton Lane joined a consortium of non-profit and for-profit partners to help found Novata, a software platform with the goal to make it easy and practical for the private markets to collect, manage, and act on the ESG metrics. In June 2023, Novata expanded their offering to include the private markets’ broadest collection of ESG benchmarks — enabling its clients to see how their data compares against industry peers. Joining me today to help demystify this complex topic is Lorraine Spradley Wilson, CSO at Novata, and Paul Yett, Director of ESG and Sustainability at Hamilton Lane.

Hello everyone and welcome to today’s episode. Many of you listening in today might be hearing the term Nature Based Solutions for sustainable investing and wondering what that means or thinking “I’m a finance person, not a scientist.” In today’s episode you’re going to learn how bringing science into your investment strategies will help you take your business to the next level. Our panel of experts includes Gloria Mirrione, ED & Head of Sustainable Finance & Impact Investing, Acre Americas. I’m excited to have Gloria return for episode #2 in the SFP / Acre sponsorship series. Gloria and I are joined today by two experts in Nature Based Solutions that address the impacts of climate change around the world like floods, wildfires and droughts. Charlotte Kaiser is Head of Impact Finance at BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group and Chris Larson is CIO, Alder Point Capital Management.