In this episode of All Things Sustainable, we're exploring the role that private markets play in global supply chains.

We speak to Alex Friedman, Co-Founder and CEO of Novata, a sustainability data management platform for the private markets that partners with S&P Global.

In the interview, Alex explains the significance of small and medium-sized private companies in global supply chains — and why high-quality private markets data is important for understanding supply chain risks.

"Big public companies have been the ones that have been in the focus when it comes to sustainability," Alex says. "Yet a big public company can't figure out its overall sustainability footprint and how to improve things if they can't get their arms around their supply chain."

We also explore how private markets will evolve in 2026 in the face of advances in AI technology and a fragmented regulatory landscape.

"It's a multispeed story at the regulatory level," Alex says. "But big companies ... they work in so many jurisdictions that they have to collect information when it comes to sustainability. They have to make sense of it and you have to report on it. So that's not changing."

S&P Global is part of the consortium of organizations that supported Novata upon its launch in 2021.

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