Sustainability Currents

One of the most controversial topics in sustainable finance is the voluntary carbon market. On paper, these offsets can match companies seeking to cut emissions with projects that can reduce carbon in the atmosphere. But the industry has faced allegations ranging from greenwashing to outright fraud. On this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast, BI Senior ESG Analyst Rob Du Boff discusses the future of this market with Tom Montag, who runs carbon-credit management firm Rubicon Carbon after a storied career on Wall Street. 

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Corporate sustainability takes many shapes and forms, and nothing articulates this better than looking through the lenses of a commercial fishing company and a credit reporting agency. On this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast BI’s director of ESG research Eric Kane talks with American Seafoods Chief Sustainability Officer Tim Fitzgerald and Cristina Banahan, the global head of citizenship and sustainability at TransUnion, at the recent Bloomberg Green Festival. They discuss broad topics, such as impact vs. materiality, and company-specific areas of focus including decarbonizing fishing fleets, protecting data privacy and more.

This episode was recorded on July 11.

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As sustainable fixed-income markets continue to develop, debt instruments can actively drive impact. On this week’s episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast Stephen Liberatore, head of ESG & Impact for Global Fixed Income at Nuveen, joins host Chris Ratti, BI ESG credit analyst, to discuss the state of green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds.

This episode was recorded on July 10.

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Climeworks began operations in May at its largest direct air capture and storage facility to date. The Iceland plant has capacity to remove 36,000 metric tons of CO2 from the air per year. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast, BI’s director of ESG research Eric Kane is joined by Climeworks CFO Andreas Aepli to discuss the company’s technology and how it plans to scale up to collect 1 million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere a year by 2030. They also talk about the energy requirements of direct air capture, how the cost of the technology is changing, the importance of removal credits for CO2 and more.

This episode was recorded on June 20.

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There’s a very clear green premium for new operationally net zero carbon buildings, says Tom Walker, co-head of global listed real assets at Schroder Property Investment. With buildings accounting for 40% of global emissions, real estate is under pressure to stay ahead of environmental legislation. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast, BI analyst Grace Osborne is joined by Walker and Vincent Van Bijleveld, the director of the Global Real Estate Engagement Network, to discuss the role of technology, relationships and capital spending in building a net zero world.
This conversation was recorded on July 2. 

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In his book “The End of Eden: Wild Nature in the Age of Climate Breakdown,” Adam Welz provides stunning examples of the devastating impact of climate change on the natural world. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast, the author joins BI director of ESG research Eric Kane to discuss why he prefers the term climate breakdown over climate change, how he selects species to focus on given the myriad examples, and why it’s important to look beyond the impact of climate change on humans.

This episode was recorded on July 3.

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Delta Air Lines aims to be net zero by 2050. Achieving this goal requires investment in technologies, strategic partnerships and the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In this episode of the ESG Currents podcast, BI analysts Eric Kane and Margot Wentzel are joined by Amelia DeLuca, chief sustainability officer at Delta, to discuss how airlines can transition to net zero by weaving sustainability into the fabric of the business. DeLuca emphasizes her focus on data analysis and allowing data to inform company carbon-reduction strategies, as well as using it to drive change inside and outside of Delta.

This episode was recorded on June 3.

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Given the array of new ESG funds and strategies over the past few years, along with the changing regulatory environment and shifts in demand, efforts to ensure strong management have taken on added importance. In this episode of ESG Currents, BI analyst Shaheen Contractor is joined by Mark Hays, director of sustainable & impact investing at Glenmede, to better understand all aspects of the manager-selection process. He discusses fees, performance and asset allocation, to tips and tricks in selecting capable managers. This episode was recorded on May 7.

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EDAP can treat prostate cancer by focusing ultrasound waves at just the target region, similar to how a magnify glass can focus light from the sun so intensely that it can burn a piece of paper, allowing it to eliminate the cancer while limiting side effects, CEO Ryan Rhodes explains to Bloomberg Intelligence. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Rhodes sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson to talk about his path from Intuitive Surgical to lead EDAP, how the Focal One robot uses high intensity focused ultrasound, or HIFU, to ablate prostate cancer without needing an incision or removing the whole prostate and how the HIFI Study shows that Focal One can be a viable alternative to radical prostatectomy. 

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Flood, fire and wind risks have begun migrating across the US, creating a need for better home insurance pricing and analytics. On this week’s episode of ESG Currents, BI senior analyst Andy Stevenson is joined by Dr. Jeremy Porter, chief scientist at First Street, to discuss ways of getting better climate data into the hands of consumers, companies and federal agencies.

This episode was recorded on June 3.

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