The Social Economist Season 3 continues! We're continuing with our second mini-series where we're tackling one of the most present and challenging topics of the day for the social economy: defence.

In Episode 5, host Toby Gazeley from Euclid Network is joined by Andrea Baranes from Banca Etica to discuss the long-standing position of ethical finance on defence investments and the implications of including defence in sustainable finance frameworks.

Andrea and Toby examine the concerning trend of diluting sustainable finance definitions to include sectors like defence, fossil fuels, and nuclear energy. The conversation also explores the risks posed by the EU's shift toward competitiveness over sustainability, the importance of "banking biodiversity," and the challenges facing both ethical finance and the social economy in this changing policy landscape.

Andrea was kind enough to recommend a website and information resource rather than a podcast: valori.it - a platform providing critical information on ethical finance, sustainable finance, and the social economy, primarily in Italian with some content in Spanish and English.

Please do get in touch to [email protected] with questions and comments.

A special thanks to our producer Jan Kiszowara and the European Commission for making The Social Economist possible.

Our theme music is 'another twelve' by Mikel Patrick Avery at Music for Podcasts.