2024 was the hottest year on record, and the first to officially breach the 1.5C global warming limit set by the Paris Agreement. As the climate crisis deepens, strong leadership is crucial to driving the systemic changes needed to protect our future. While each new generation of leaders face the growing impacts of climate change, they have the advantage of learning from, and building upon, the work of the trailblazers who’ve come before them. 

So, what can we do to ensure the next wave of climate leaders are ready to take on the biggest challenges of our time? Climate change is a global problem: no one state can fix it, no single action is enough. So how do you bring people with you? Where are the opportunities for collaboration, and where are the networks to tap into? How do you make your career the most impactful it can be? Climate change isn’t just a topic of conversation- it’s a call to action.

Guests: 

• Sherry Madera, CEO of CDP
• Anna Pot, Netherland’s National Coordinator for the UN Sustainable Development Goals
• Marina Antonopoulou, Chief Officer for Climate and Conservation, Emirates Nature-WWF. 

Hosted by: 

• Naomi Kerbel, Communications Director, SEC Newgate UK 

Finance is at the heart of all discussions around climate action, and it is thought of both as an opportunity and an expense. At COP29 an agreement was reached for rich countries to provide developing nations with $300 billion annually to help them decarbonise, through a mixture of government and private investment. As trillions of dollars are funnelled into climate action over the coming decades, how do we make sure this money is well spent? What are the principles that should direct these investments to ensure equitable climate action? What are the blocks to moving finance, and how do we make sure that the people most impacted receive the support they need?

In this episode, we delve into the complexities of sustainable finance with three trailblazing women, exploring the evolving ESG landscape and the critical role of financial institutions in driving decarbonisation. We address the challenges of balancing compliance with genuine commitment and examine the need for greater transparency and accountability. Our discussion highlights the progress being made in regions like the UAE, while also confronting the global policy shifts and the importance of a holistic approach to ESG, emphasising human rights and the impact on developing nations. We explore the idea that the transition to sustainable energy is not always a clean one, and that we must be aware of the impact of our choices on developing nations. We also explore the idea that business can play a much larger role in the transition, and that we need to move away from a system where everyone is pointing at each other, and towards a system where we are all working together.

Guests: 

-    Victoria Barron, Chief Sustainability Officer, GIB Asset Management 

-    Habiba Al Mar’ashi, President and CEO of Arabia CSR Network (ACSRN), the Co-Founder and Chairperson of Emirates Environmental Group

-    Avery Johnstone, Manager in KPMG’s Global Decarbonisation Hub 

Hosted by: 

• Naomi Kerbel, Communications Director, SEC Newgate UK

This year, the theme of the World Economic Forum in Davos was ‘Collaboration for the Intelligent Age’ acknowledging that we’re on the brink of a technological revolution that has the possibility to transform our approach to climate action. Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, AI and other groundbreaking technologies have exploded into the mainstream, reshaping industries and offering new tools to tackle climate change. But while these advances hold incredible promise, much of the world, especially the global south—has been left behind. In this episode we discuss what these new technologies mean for climate action in reality, asking if they will help or hinder the fight against climate change. Can the pace of innovation match the urgency of the climate crisis? And will it be worth the cost to move the dial faster? 

Guests: 

• Jane Burston, CEO of the Clean Air Fund
• Francesca Brady, Co-founder of AirRated. 

Hosted by:

• Naomi Kerbel, Communications Director, SEC Newgate UK

Gender-diverse teams excel in environmental reporting and governance while staying financially competitive and yet women remain underrepresented in leadership roles. So, what does it take to break through these barriers and drive meaningful change? 

This episode moves beyond talk and dives into proven action. We’ll uncover how leaders push ambitious sustainability goals from within massive corporations – implementing radical change top down and bottom up.

We’ll explore how company initiatives, personal action, and leveraging networks at scale is working. We’ll delve into how the legal profession is driving climate solutions — from boardroom negotiations to courtroom battles — and why vulnerability can be a leadership superpower at getting this done.

Our guests:

• Magali Anderson, Board Member, Former CSO of Holcim, Founder of S4
• Amanda Carpenter, CEO and founder, Achill Legal

Hosted by:

• Naomi Kerbel, Director, Communications, SEC Newgate UK

Women are more likely to be impacted by climate change around the globe, and in many countries show more commitment to climate action than men. Women and children are more likely to die in extreme weather events, comprising 80% of the people displaced by the impacts of climate change. Women in developing countries also produce up to 80% of food, have less access to productive farming resources and are often first responders in emergencies. Yet they are often ignored. How do we build coalitions between genders to speed climate action? How do we amplify the voices of women to make sure that the people most impacted by climate change are part of the decision-making process? And what can be done to reduce the impacts of climate change on women and girls?

Guests: 

• Kathy Baughman McLeod, CEO of Climate Resilience for All 
• Angelica Andrade, MPhil Student at the Sustainable Mining Institute, University of Queensland
• Rachel Kelly, Climate Editor at The National.

Hosted by:

• Naomi Kerbel, Director, Communications, SEC Newgate UK

AI will be the talk of the town at Davos 2025, and this year the summit is focused on ‘Collaboration for the Intelligent Age.’ Last year at Davos, climate change held centre stage, but significant headwinds now threaten the progress that’s been made. A climate-skeptic President has been elected in the US, promising to pull out of international climate negotiations; inaction at COP29 left many attendees despondent; and despite a rapidly expanding share of renewables, global emissions are still growing. 

When the tides seem to be turning against climate action, how are leaders responding? Are they justifying climate action in new ways and using different language to speak about it? How are they creating consensus for action now that climate consensus seems in doubt? What new narratives are unfolding around climate action and what are the blockers to doing more? For the first episode of the Women in Climate Podcast, GIB Asset Management, a sustainability-focused investment firm, will host a roundtable at Davos about how to maintain momentum on climate action, highlighting the voices of extraordinary women leaders in the climate space to discuss how they maintain momentum for climate action within their own industries. 

This panel discussion was recorded during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with the following guests:

• Katherine Garrett-Cox (CEO of GIB Asset Management)
• Marisa Drew (Chief Sustainability Officer at Standard Chartered Bank)
• Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas (CEO of the Green Finance Institute)
• Dr Manar Al Moneef (Chief Investment Officer at NEOM)

Hosted by: 

• Naomi Kerbel, Director of Communications at SEC Newgate UK

In this new podcast series from GIB Asset Management, we will meet exceptional women across business, government, media and not-for-profit who are driving climate action in their fields.

Women in Climate seeks to inspire current and future climate leaders by showcasing the innovative ways women are driving change in the fight against climate change. It will explore challenges from fresh perspectives and demonstrate how integral diverse collaboration is to finding novel solutions and stronger ideas to bring about a more sustainable world.