Finance plays a critical role in addressing climate change, but the current approach is seen as insufficient. In this episode of the Bloomberg Intelligence ESG Currents podcast, Executive Vice President and Head of CDPQ Global and Global Head of Sustainability Marc-André Blanchard joins Eric Kane, BI’s director of ESG research, at the Bloomberg Sustainable Finance Forum in Toronto to discuss how sustainable finance should be done differently. They also talk about sustainability at CDPQ, the role of engagement, the importance of blended finance, incentives vs. penalties and the need to use all the tools at our disposal to address the climate challenge. Register here for BI ESG’s June 4 virtual conference, COP 28.5: Looking Back on Dubai, Looking Ahead to Baku.

This episode was recorded on May 7. 

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Technology’s role in decarbonization is evolving, with many developments still in the making. In this episode of the ESG Currents podcast, Shaheen Contractor, Bloomberg Intelligence’s senior ESG analyst, interviews Daniel Hanna, head of Sustainable Finance at Barclays, Kelly Becker, president of Schneider Electric UK & Ireland, Mikkel Bülow-Lehnsby, co-founder and chairman of Urban Partners and Chris Dodwell, global head of Policy & Advocacy at Impax Asset Management, at the Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summit in London. They discuss how climate tech can be deployed and the risks and opportunities ahead. 

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In her new book “H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z,” Elizabeth Kolbert writes that “to say amazing work is being done to combat climate change and to say that almost no progress has been made is not a contradiction. It’s a simple statement of fact.” In this episode of ESG Currents, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author joins Bloomberg Intelligence Director of ESG Research Eric Kane to talk about this paradox, why she was drawn to writing about climate change and biodiversity, the timeline of earth’s history, whether we can reach net zero when we keep inventing new ways to consume energy and much more.

This episode was recorded on April 22.

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The New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF) is working to reach net-zero carbon emissions in its investment portfolio by 2040. To achieve this goal, NYSIF focuses on four tenants: internal and external engagement, investment and divestment. In this episode of ESG Currents, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Eric Kane and Shaheen Contractor talk with Rajith Sebastian, Head of ESG and Sustainable Investing for NYSIF about the fund’s approach to net zero, minimizing risk and maximizing impact, the need for more intentionally impactful and evidence-based investment products and more.This episode was recorded on April 3. 

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As ESG has shifted from a niche investment strategy to the mainstream, it has become a hot-button political issue among top-level state and national officials. That includes laws banning ESG on one side of the aisle and mandating exclusionary screens on the other, and the trend may accelerate heading into the US elections. On this week’s episode of ESG Currents, BI Senior ESG Analyst Rob Du Boff is joined by Ropes & Gray partners Michael Littenberg, Josh Lichtenstein and Rob Skinner, who have extensive experience representing corporate and asset-management clients facing legal, compliance and regulatory issues around ESG. 

This episode was recorded on April 10.

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Climate opportunities extend beyond clean-energy fuels and into a broad diffusion of business models, including areas such as efficiency and infrastructure. Join Senior BI analysts Shaheen Contractor and Andrew Stevenson as they speak with Sarah Wilson, managing director and head of climate strategy at Nuveen, to discuss the state of play in ESG asset gathering, strategies that are gaining steam and datasets to help portfolio managers make better ESG-related investment decisions.

This episode was recorded on April 2.

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Engagement plays an important role for managers to ensure the companies they invest in are managing ESG factors to maximize long-term value. But what happens when this engagement just doesn’t cut it? When the carrot doesn’t work, sometimes you need the stick. On this episode of ESG Currents, BI Senior ESG Analyst Rob Du Boff chats with NYS Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. They discuss the recent announcement that the New York State Common Retirement Fund, one of the largest public pensions in the US, will restrict investment in eight oil and gas companies it deemed not ready for the carbon transition, including Exxon Mobil. This episode was recorded on March 26.

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About 50% of global GDP is at least moderately dependent on nature, according to the World Bank. Increasing recognition of this dependency has fueled new biodiversity-related disclosure frameworks, regulations, and investor action. In this episode of ESG Currents, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Eric Kane and Melanie Rua are joined by David Craig, co-chair of the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) to discuss how climate and biodiversity are interrelated, how the TNFD framework fits in with other disclosure guidelines, hopes for COP 16 in Colombia, why nature risk is financial risk, and much more.

This episode was recorded on Mar. 18. 

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Nearly 80% of the world’s 150 top CO2-emitting companies have stated net-zero ambitions for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2050 or sooner, according to Climate Action 100+’s recent Net Zero Company Benchmark 2.0 report. However, the same study finds only 24% of companies assessed have short-term targets aligned with a 1.5-degree Celsius trajectory. On this episode of the ESG Currents podcast, Francois Humbert, Climate Action 100+’s (CA 100+) global investor representative and current Steering Committee Chair, joins Eric Kane, Bloomberg Intelligence’s director of ESG research, to discuss how the CA100+ has influenced company progress and investor behavior, and why we need to move to actions from words.

This conversation was recorded on Nov. 23, 2023. 

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ESG has become an important part of the investment landscape. But some critics say the term may be overly broad, conflating a number of topics that may or may not be financially material for different issuers. In this episode of ESG Currents, BI analysts Eric Kane and Rob Du Boff are joined by Alex Edmans, a professor of finance at London Business School, who recently authored a paper advocating the concept of “Rational Sustainability” as a worthy replacement. This episode was recorded on Feb. 13.

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