Sustainability Leaders

Sustainability Leaders host Jonathan Hackett and Scott Brison, BMO Vice-chair for Investment and Corporate Banking and a former member of parliament for Kings-Hants, Nova Scotia, speak to Robert Niven, CEO and founder of CarbonCure Technologies, a Nova Scotia company that manufacturers a technology that introduces recycled CO2 into fresh concrete to reduce its carbon footprint. Join us in this lively conversation about how key industries like concrete are taking action to fight climate change. For a transcript of this episode visit bmo.com/sustainabilityleaders.

In the U.S. alone, it is estimated that more than 130 people die each day from overdosing on opioids and millions more abuse prescription pain relievers every year. How did the use of opioids as a painkiller spiral into the addiction crisis it is today? And how can changes be made in the future to mitigate this crisis? Enter the Investors for Opioid and Pharmaceutical Accountability (IOPA). The group, which had 67 members with over $4 trillion in assets under management as of July 2020, uses investor engagement to make changes within the entire supply chain to hold companies accountable for their actions.

Meredith Miller joins BMO’s Catherine McCabe to discuss how IOPA was formed, how it engages with three main subgroups of the opioid supply chain, and their initiatives around corporate governance through 2021 and beyond. For a transcript of this episode visit bmo.com/sustainabilityleaders-podcast.

Michael Torrance is joined by Dr. Mark Johnston, Strategy Lead for Nature-based Solutions & Biodiversity at BP, and member of the newly formed working group TFND (Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosure), to discuss how biodiversity applies to everything in a natural world and the private sector role in delivering a sustainable working framework. For a transcript of this episode visit bmo.com/sustainabilityleaders-podcast.

Jonathan Hackett is joined by Derrick Emsley, CEO and Co-Founder of tentree, the Canadian lifestyle apparel brand whose first mission is to plant 10 trees for every product sold, in a discussion about carbon offsets, tree planting and how the way we look at sustainability is changing. For a transcript of this episode visit bmo.com/sustainabilityleaders-podcast.

John Uhren is joined by Chantale Després, Assistant Vice-President Sustainability, at CN, to discuss sustainability strategy at one of the world’s top transportation and logistics companies, starting with a freshly-inked $2 billion sustainability linked loan that was the largest in Canadian history. For a transcript of this episode please visit bmo.com/sustainabilityleaders-podcast

Maria Nsouli is joined by Alex Lazarow, a partner at the Global Venture Capital firm, Cathay Innovation, and and author of Out-Innovate: How Global Entrepreneurs - from Delhi to Detroit - Are Rewriting the Rules of Silicon Valley, David Lowish, a founder of Atlas Impact Partners, and Tania Carnegie, global lead for private equity and asset management at KPMG Impact, in a discussion about how impact investing has evolved over the last few years.

Jonathan Hackett is joined by Elizabeth Shirt, Managing Director from GLOBE Series, to talk about working towards a more sustainable, prosperous, and socially just future. In this interview, hear about how GLOBE Series is part of a group of organizations, each of which brings something different to the table, creating a powerful drive toward a common vision. For a transcript of this episode visit bmo.com/sustainabilityleaders-podcast.

Michael Torrance is joined by Eric Usher, who heads of the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) to discuss the Principles for Responsible Banking, the impacts of climate change and the transition to a lower-carbon economy. For a transcript of this episode please visit bmo.com/sustainabilityleaders

Dan Barclay is joined by Tom Butler, CEO for the International Council on Mining and Metals in a discussion on how ESG policy has evolved in the metals and mining space and how mining stepped up during the pandemic. Hear also about how the industry’s views and approaches to the issues like Climate Change, Water Stewardship and Biodiversity have radically changed over recent years, moving from “nice-to-have” policies to frameworks that are essential to miners’ license to operate and access to capital.

On the next episode of Sustainability Leaders, Darryl White, CEO, BMO Financial Group, leads a discussion with BMO experts and special guests Sean Cleary, Executive Director, Institute for Sustainable Finance Queen’s University and Eric Usher, Head, UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, on BMO’s climate ambition and on the role of financial institutions in achieving a net zero world. Visit bmo.com/sustainabilityleaders-podcast for a transcript of this episode.