The Greener Way

Our guest today has been a leading voice in the economic case for managing climate change since before net zero was a thing. In addition to authoring two landmark papers on climate change and Australia’s future in 2008 and 2011, Ross Garnaut was the principal economic adviser to Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke from 1983 to 1985, and Australian Ambassador to China from 1985 to 1988.

Now he and former ACCC chair Rod Sims have launched the Superpower Institute, which is designed to provide analysis to help Australia take advantage of the economic opportunities of the post-carbon world.

Ross Garnaut explains the mission of the Superpower Institute and why he still believes Australia isn’t a pissant country when it comes to managing climate change.

What’s on the sustainability agenda for Australia’s publicly listed companies? Every Year, Perennial Better Futures takes the temperature of a wide range of companies to answer just that question, and on this episode, we’re talking with Emilie O’Neill, co-head of ESG and equities analyst of the Perennial Better Future Trust on the results of their 2024 survey and how those results shape their conversations with companies.

In this episode brought to you by Igneo Infrastructure Partners, part of First Sentier Investors, we’re talking poles, wires and utilities – the infrastructure sector. Infrastructure is one of those asset classes that is heavily exposed to the risks of climate change, but which is also key to decarbonizing our global economy. Joining us to talk about what that means for an investment strategy is Niall Mills, Igneo’s managing partner and head of global infrastructure investments.

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We’re well into the beginning of 2024, so it’s a good time to look back at what happened in sustainability in 2023 and what the big events and trends will be this year. Joining us for this conversation is Julia Leske, senior consultant ESG strategy at ISS ESG. ISS STOXX is the owner of both ISS ESG and ISS Media, publisher of this podcast. 

On this episode, we’re going to do a deeper dive into how we measure sustainable finance, and how we value the dollar impact of financing emissions-intensive activities. This is a key discussion point particularly as we look at Australia’s sustainable finance strategy and net zero targets. Here to help us understand it all is Nishtha Aggarwal, financed emissions analyst at think tank Climate Energy Finance.

In this conversation, we’re talking about making gold a little more green. If noted commodities experts and rock group Smashmouth taught us anything, it’s hey now, all that glitters is gold. Now the World Gold Council is working to make gold more sustainable and traceable.

Link: https://www.gold.org/industry-standards/responsible-gold-mining

On this episode brought to you by First Sentier Investors, we’re talking responsible investment from the top down and the bottom up, and how an institutional investor builds its responsible investment strategy through an organisation. Joining us for this conversation is FSI global head of responsible investment Kate Turner, who is pretty much everywhere when it comes to the big discussions on responsible investment!

First Sentier Investors communicate and conduct business through different legal entities in different locations. This material is communicated in:

 •       Australia and New Zealand by First Sentier Investors (Australia) IM Ltd, authorised and regulated in Australia by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (AFSL 289017; ABN 89 114 194311).

•       European Economic Area by First Sentier Investors (Ireland) Limited, authorised and regulated in Ireland by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI reg no. C182306; reg office 70 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2, Ireland; reg company no. 629188).

 •       Hong Kong by First Sentier Investors (Hong Kong) Limited and has not been reviewed by the Securities & Futures Commission in Hong Kong. First Sentier Investors, FSSA Investment Managers, Stewart Investors, and Realindex Investments are the business names of First Sentier Investors (Hong Kong) Limited.

 •       Singapore by First Sentier Investors (Singapore) (reg company no. 196900420D) and this advertisement or material has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. First Sentier Investors (registration number 53236800B), FSSA Investment Managers (registration number 53314080C), Stewart Investors (registration number 53310114W) and Realindex Investments (registration number 53472532E) are the business divisions of First Sentier Investors (Singapore).

 •       Japan by First Sentier Investors (Japan) Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Service Agency (Director of Kanto Local Finance Bureau (Registered Financial Institutions) No.2611).

 •       United Kingdom by First Sentier Investors (UK) Funds Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (reg. no. 2294743; reg office Finsbury Circus House, 15 Finsbury Circus, London EC2M 7EB).

 •       United States by First Sentier Investors (US) LLC, authorised and regulated by the Securities Exchange Commission (RIA 801-93167).

•       other jurisdictions, where this document may lawfully be issued, by First Sentier Investors International IM Limited, authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA ref no. 122512; Registered office: 23 St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 1BB; Company no. SC079063).

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation is Australia’s green bank. Over the last 10 years, the CEFC has deployed more than ten billion dollars to invest in decarbonising Australia with an annualised cumulative return of 4.24%. But almost more importantly, because of their co-investment model,  each dollar of CEFC capital attracts just over five dollars of additional private capital to projects. 

CEFC Executive director Richard Lovell joins us for this conversation to talk about the past decade and the future of green investment in Australia.

Empirical evidence is clear: having a workforce that is diverse across a broad range of gender, cultural background and cognitive background results in better decision making. Here to talk about this topic is Raymone Jackson, head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at T. Rowe Price

As we’re now in peak summer season, we here at the Greener Way are reviewing our swimwear wardrobe with an eye as always on the intersection of fashion and ethics. Joining us is Charys Caldarella, founder of ethical swimwear line Styelle Swim to talk about how to build a sustainable fashion brand from the ground up.