5 years ago, not many people knew what ESG was, now it’s become a household phrase.

In this episode, Vis sits down with Eric Lee, Vice-President at Aligned Climate Capital, and discusses the emergence of the sustainability industry. Eric shares his thoughts on green bonds, Aligned’s decision to invest in ChargeNet, and how his original aspirations to become a doctor, led to a career in sustainability. Eric shares how Aligned Climate Capital’s investments are not just based on environmental outcomes, and how it is essential to consider an asset holistically.

Timestamps

(00:00) Introduction

(02:01) The development of ESG over the last 5 years

(03:15) Why did you choose to minor in business?

(05:45) How did you discover your passion in finance even though you studied biology?

(08:40) What was the climate capital landscape like in 2016 and how it has grown

(12:05) What made you decide to change from an industry-agnostic impact investing background into a more sustainability-focused fund?

(13:22) Eric’s role at Aligned Climate Capital

(15:12) What do you do to prevent greenwashing at Aligned Climate Capital?

(17:35) What is Aligned’s stance on climate infrastructure and how do you assess these assets?

(20:40) How do you take part in stewardship activities in these companies Aligned invests in?

(22:40) When evaluating companies, do you purely look at the environmental impact, or do you consider other aspects e.g. social governance?

(23:53) Investing in ChargeNet. Why did Aligned pick EV’s rather than other areas (e.g. hydrogen, wind and nuclear), and what are your thoughts on EV’s and how they are sourced?

(27:12) Overview of global ESG trends, and how these impact different parts of the world

(29:55) Eric’s thoughts on green bonds and social bonds

(31:32) What can young professionals concerned about sustainability do to help companies achieve these sustainable goals?

(34:00) Will sustainability be overshadowed by other topics like cryptocurrency?

(36:15) Speed round!

(40:34) Conclusion

Read our Natural Capital article but want to learn more? Then this episode is for you! Grab a drink, sit back, and join us as we chat with Alex and Rory, the Co-Founders of Cecil Earth. They’ll share their experience going from Boston Consulting Group and transitioning into the start-up sphere and emphasise resilience and problem-solving as essential skills for both roles.

Timestamps

(00:00) Introduction

(01:20) Alex and Rory’s origin stories

(08:26) Should start-up founders join big corporations?

(10:07) How did you end up deciding to leave a big corporation and go into start-ups? What are some of the transferrable skills that helped you?

(14:12) What was your start-up journey like?

(17:52) How did learning more about the carbon market shape Cecil Earth’s core values?

(20:07) What have been your key takeaways from your start-up experience?

(23:45) How did you value natural assets with your customer base?

(26:56) How would you envision the world in 10 years?

(30:45) What is a natural capital market?

(34:35) What are the market opportunities that Cecil has identified, and what climate problem are you trying to solve?

(39:25) Who are your customers?

(41:09) How do you incentivise your customers to reduce their carbon emissions?

Cecil Earth Links

Greenfluence Links

Welcome back to Greenfluence, and welcome to season 2! To kick start this season, Maya and Vis sat down with Camille Socquet-Clerc, a digital marketing professional on a mission to bring impact investing to all Australians. Join us as Camille shares what it was like to grow up in the French Alps, as well as entering the impact investing space coming from a digital marketing background, and how this has helped her succeed as an entrepreneur.

[00:00] Introduction

[02:20] What was it like growing up in the French Alps?

[03:42] Did you have any experience in the investment industry during university? Did you have any preconceived notions about the industry?

[05:18] Why did you decide to get into impact investing?

[09:58] What marketing skills have you used to build Bloom?

[12:20] What advice would you give to young people who are interested in impact investing but are coming from a non-finance background?

[16:00] What have been your highs and lows during your entrepreneurial journey?

[21:45] The lean startup methodology and how that helped build Bloom’s waitlist

[23:55] The different types of investors in Australia

[25:55] Questions from the community - Bloom’s strategies and investment framework

[34:40] How do you diversify Bloom’s portfolio to maximise impact both financially and on climate change?

[39:11] What are some misconceptions about the impact investing community?

[41:19] Why did you choose impact investing as the avenue to tackle climate change?

[44:00] What would be the main barrier stopping the widespread uptake of Bloom?

[48:15] What have you found to be most critical in gaining trust and reputation prior to launch? Have you found any partnerships to be critical to this?

[50:20] How do you measure impact? What metrics does Bloom use?

[52:40] What is Bloom’s vision for the future?

[54:20] Speed round!

[58:20] Conclusion

More Info

Camille’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/csocquetclerc/

Find out more about Bloom: https://www.bloom-impact.com/

Download the Bloom App: https://www.bloom-impact.com/our-app

Join the Bloom community: https://www.meetup.com/en-AU/Impact-Investing-Australia/

The wait is over! Presenting part 2 of our interview with Deen Rad. In this episode, Deen goes into further detail about his role at the New South Wales Treasury in the Office of Social Impact Investment and shares some golden nuggets that could help you find an impactful career.

This has been season 1 with Greenfluence. We hope you’ve enjoyed gaining deeper insights into the world of sustainability, and that you’ve found a way for you to make an impact. We are happy to share that season 2 is coming soon, with even more amazing guests! Remember to follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn or save this podcast to know when our new episodes get released.

Stay tuned, we’ll see you soon!

[00:00] Introduction

[01:40] What is Deen’s role at New South Wales Treasury in the Office of Social Impact Investment

[09:38] What drives your passion? How is this role different from what you’ve done in the past?

[17:00] How can companies avoid greenwashing?

[23:45] Why are fresh talent seeking more impactful and meaningful careers? What trends have you observed in the social impact sector?

[29:23] What has the transition been from the private to public sector? Which sector do you think young people can make a bigger impact?

[33:50] Speed round!

[49:05] Conclusion

And for the final guest of the season, introducing Deen Rad! A Macquarie University Alumni, Deen is on a mission to ensure that his career combines passion, purpose, and profit, and aims to use his knowledge and skills in finance to change the world for the better. The first episode of our 2-part interview chronicles his past experience. Going into depth with how his extracurricular activities shaped his career choices and shed light on the highly progressive family-focused culture at Macquarie Group.

We hope this leaves you wanting more, but have no fear part 2 is near!

[00:00] Introduction

[01:33] What got you into finance?

[08:55] How have your extracurricular experiences helped shape your future career path?

[13:45] How did you discover a passion for measuring impact and ESG’s?

[17:52] Shoutout to Prashan Karunaratne and Macquarie University’s newly introduced Capstone Unit

[18:42] Deen’s early corporate experiences and how it impacted his view of finance

[23:05] Deen’s advice for university students, and unpaid internships

[24:38] His experience with Macquarie Group

[29:50] His experience with PwC

[34:23] In your opinion, which sectors are making the most impact? How can we encourage large corporations to focus on purpose?

[38:57] How did you end up as the Chief Financial Officer for the John Mac Foundation?

[44:32] Conclusion

Deen’s Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/deen-rad/

As we head closer to the end of season 1, we can say that the the finish line is definitely within sight! This week we speak with Professor Tom Smith, the Head of the Department of Applied Finance at Macquarie University, as well as a member of the Centre for Corporate Sustainability and Environmental Finance. In this episode, we gain a deeper understanding of the work undertaken by the Centre for Corporate Sustainability and Environmental Finance, as well as Professor Smith’s observation of the integration and intersection between the financial industry with contemporary ESG concerns.

Tune into this episode to gain a deeper understanding into the future of finance, and the industry’s attempt to assign a dollar value to sustainability.

Timestamps

[00:00] Introduction

[02:02] Working for the Centre of Corporate Sustainability and Environmental Finance

[04:15] The evolution of finance into sustainability and ESG

[06:32] Integrating ESG with finance theory and how can we get standardisation in the industry?

[09:40] Background on the global environmental crisis and how can we apply the Rockstrom Planetary Boundaries to preserve the planet?

[12:50] Findings or frameworks relating to the social side of ESG

[17:30] Frameworks Australia should adopt to transition into an economy powered by clean energy

[27:50] Effectiveness of a $1 billion grant towards assisting the clean energy transition, or carbon taxes and other strategies

[31:23] Why is Australia trailing behind in the race towards transitioning into clean energy?

[38:39] Opportunities for graduates in clean energy

[43:37] Speed round!

[53:27] Outro

Professor Tom Smith’s Links

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-smith-6802059/

Centre of Corporate and Sustainability and Environmental Finance: https://www.mq.edu.au/research/research-centres-groups-and-facilities/centres/centre-for-corporate-sustainability-and-environmental-finance

We bring you a special conversation with the Principal Commercial of Fortescue Future Industries! If you haven't heard, they are the Australian leader in Green Hydrogen innovation. Tamahra Kierath discusses her career change from commercial law into mining, as well as why green hydrogen is the way of the future energy industry! 

Dive deeper into understanding the commercialisation of green hydrogen, including why it is preferable over batteries and electric power, and what this means for the future of energy and power. 

[00:00] Introduction

[00:58] Career journey, the energy and mining industry, Fortescue and the green hydrogen industry

[08:08] About Fortescue Future Industries (FFI)

[09:46] Why green hydrogen?

[12:53] What is green hydrogen? What are the other “colours of the rainbow hydrogen”?

[15:24] The technology needed to make green hydrogen commercially viable

[18:12] Green hydrogen in residential and domestic settings

[20:30] Climate, politics, and the Coalition for Conservation

[23:00] Australia’s climate change policy challenges, and how this affects FFI

[27:30] Why not transition to blue hydrogen before jumping to green hydrogen? What is the key ingredient to making green hydrogen commercially viable from a cost perspective?

[34:15] Speed round!

[36:21] Outro

Not many of us have the time or technical background to interpret scientific data about climate change. That’s where data visualisation comes in! In this episode, Harim Jung, a climate change data visualisation expert, chats with us about it. She also shares with us why ‘grit’ is her favourite work and her insights on the future of nuclear energy!

Timestamps:

[2:09] The Power of Grit

[5:01] Sustainability and Climate Change in South Korea

[8:55] How Data Visualisation Helps Us Understand Climate Change

[10:12] The Future of Nuclear Energy and Renewables

[12:45] Harim’s Professional Background and Impacts

[16:54] Experiences of the International Atomic Energy Agency

[20:15] How to Encourage Renewable Practices

[24:12] Work at Seabury Solutions

[27:00] How to Work in Climate Change with an Engineering Background

[29:54] Motivation Behind Greenfluence

[32:42] Data Skills and Software to Upskill

[36:27] Book Recommendation

[36:46] Advice for Younger Self

[37:07] Keeping Governments Accountable

[38:00] Getting Involved

[39:00] Three Wishes for the Planet

Harim’s Links

Greenfluence Links

Please get in touch and If you’d like to be in the know about future episodes please subscribe to wherever you get your podcasts!

In today's episode we speak to Laure Legros, Program Manager at Work for Climate and Country Lead & Facilitator at Climate Fresk. Laure talked to us about her journey in getting into the climate change space, barriers in the sustainability space, renewable energy and importantly how individuals can create climate action within their companies! Be sure to listen and get ready to feel empowered! 

We speak to Shane Nichols, the CEO of Good Return. You will learn about the power of microfinance loans in making a macro impact and eradicating poverty [14:00]. Shane also discusses a vision for an inclusive financial system  [22:00] and how to invest with the purpose of making an impact [34:00].

Meet Shane Nichols

Good Return is a non-profit which works to break the cycle of poverty through access to responsible finance. Shane's experience in microfinance and enterprise development spans two decades, having worked with dozens of financial service providers and social enterprises across the Asia Pacific region. Prior to joining Good Return, Shane worked on rural and economic development programs in China and Mongolia for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He also serves as Non-Executive Director of the Australian Council for International Development, and Palmera Projects.

Quick Links

Chapters

[4:00] Career journey in government, non-profit and microfinance sector

[9:00] Eye-opening experience working in Asia

[14:00] Becoming the CEO of Good Return

[17:00] What is microfinance?

[22:00] Vision for an inclusive financial system

[28:00] The Good Return Impact Investment Fund

[34:00] What is impact investing?

[40:00] Book recommendation "Impact"

[41:00] Advice to younger self

[42:00] Being a responsible Board Member