We’re switching things up today with an episode from one of our other podcasts, Hedge Fund Huddle.

Are we scared of emotions? Or can they be harnessed for good in stressful trading situations? In this episode we speak to two long-time experts in the field of psychology who work with traders to help them optimize performance on the desk and off. Dr. Richard Peterson is a psychiatrist and the CEO of MarketPsych and Dr. Alden Cass is a licensed clinical psychologist and trading performance coach. Listen in as we learn how to achieve better performance during stressful times.

How can we improve efficiency and upscale carbon offsetting to meet sustainability goals? In this episode, we chat to Sheri Hickok, the CEO of Climate Impact Partners, about how they connect companies with carbon offset projects and climate solutions. Sheri explains the process and scale of carbon offsetting and talks about how diverse these projects can be. She also discusses the hurdles we need to overcome to halve carbon emissions and for Climate Impact Partners to meet their goal to reduce a billion tonnes of CO2 by 2030.

Why is climate change a systematic risk, and how could it impact investors? In this episode, we speak to Stephanie Pfeifer, CEO of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) about IIGCC’s current role, mission and journey, as well as how Climate Action 100+ has catalysed the shift from target setting to implementation by engaging with companies. Stephanie also explains how IIGCC enables investors to address and manage climate risks, how much progress has been made in the past two decades, and the importance of detecting and combatting policy barriers that are stopping progress.

As the first of its kind, what does the future hold for London Stock Exchange’s new Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) framework, and how does it work? In this episode, we are joined by Richard Kelly, Co-founder of the Foresight Sustainable Forestry Company, and Claire Dorrian, Head of Sustainable Finance for the Capital Markets and Post-Trade Divisions of LSEG. Richard and Claire define what voluntary carbon market designations are, its main objectives, how the credibility of these carbon credits is verified, and what feedback the VCM designation has received. Claire also tells us how funds getting this designation may change in the future, and Richard explains how afforestation portfolios can create these credits and enhance biodiversity in the process.

What is really meant by “green” and what is a “green taxonomy”? Who determines what is a green product or service and what isn’t? And is it ever possible that we’ll get to a single global green taxonomy? You can’t have a conversation about sustainable finance and investing these days without understanding green taxonomy, so we’re lucky in this episode to be joined by Lily Dai, Senior Research Lead on the Sustainable Investment Research team at LSEG. Lily helps us unpack the answers to each of these questions, where the conversation on green finance really started, and where it needs to go from here.

Today, we’re chatting with Jenn-Hui Tan, Global Head of Stewardship and Sustainable Investing at Fidelity International. Over the course of his 15 year tenure at Fidelity, he’s watched as the definition of fiduciary duty has expanded as investors have begun to realize that the boundary of responsibility should not stop at the door of capital allocation, but should also include value creation. This specifically comes into play with the climate transition, and he takes us through the principles of long termism, the materiality spectrum and the complete stewardship toolbox. He also explains how stewardship is just one piece of the systemic change needed to solve the climate crisis.

We’re back! Starting this year off with our very own Helena Fung, Head of Sustainable Investment in APAC for FTSE Russell. Jane & Helena get stuck into the nuances of SFI in the APAC region. Find out how sustainable investing is framed country by country and how we’ve partnered with China’s largest insurance company, Ping An to bring ESG scores for all Chinese companies into our market leading ‘China Index Series’.

This week on The Green Room, Jane is joined by Lisa Zelljadt, Analyst on the Carbon Research Team, LSEG.

A lot was covered at COP 27 this year, but something a little less known is the implications of The Paris Agreement’s, Article 6 on carbon trading. This article brings to light the issues of emission reductions being double counted. Find out what this means for countries, but also how this will impact organisations with their net zero plans.

Now that COP27 has wrapped up, we wanted to do a bit of a debrief. So, to help make sense of what took place, and more importantly where we go from here, today we’re speaking with Ibukun Adebayo, Head of Strategic Initiatives at LSEG & Wale Shonibare, a Director at the African Development Bank.

With over 600 million homes without electricity and making up less than 3% of global emissions. What does the ‘transition’ to clean energy or more importantly access to energy look like for Africa? What types of funding are we seeing, and where is it coming from? Tune in to find out.

Joining Keesa Schreane in the Green Room this week, logging on from Hong Kong, was Darrenth Hawken, Director of Global Infrastructure and Sustainable Finance at London Stock Exchange Group.  

Darrenth shared some of the findings of LSEG's latest 'Potholes on the Road to Sustainable Infrastructure' report, which highlights some of the major trends driving the current sustainable infrastructure investment marketplace, along with key data that will help refine the list of key players, flag the most important metrics to monitor and highlight the challenges looming for both investors and government sponsors.

A record US$627 billion in sustainable infrastructure projects in the renewable energy and nuclear sectors were announced globally in 2021, up from US$275 billion in 2020. A total of 1,521 renewable and nuclear infrastructure projects were announced, up from 1,365 in 2020 and more than 3.5 times the total number of projects launched a decade ago. Solar projects are leading the way with a total of 863 new projects announced in 2021, followed by wind, which saw 442 new initiatives launched last year.

Read the full report  https://www.refinitiv.com/en/infrastructure-investing/insights/sustainable-infrastructure/full-report