Private equity, blended finance, new regulations like the SFDR, lack of infrastructure, government instability: these are just some of the challenges investors face in financing and executing impact projects in emerging markets. My guest today, Paul Hailey, Head of Impact and ESG at responsAbility Investments AG, walks us through how the company’s projects in South America and North Africa are achieving competitive returns while making significant impacts on climate mitigation, healthcare, education, manufacturing, financial inclusion and quality jobs for the younger generation. Since its ince ..read more

As companies and investors continue to navigate the 3D-reset themes of decarbonization, deglobalization and demographic change, Schroders believes that it is important to consider the practical investment implications of these broad trends. In 2024, Schroders sees investors transitioning from simply thinking of ESG risk management and integration to an increasing focus on sustainable opportunities and themes to harness for value creation. To shed more light on this rich and exciting investment area, we have three portfolio managers with us today. Chris Damm is an Assistant PM on the US Multi-S ..read more

James Kench is Head of Insurance at Kita, the company that insures carbon. He is a global finance, (re)insurance & climate risk executive with a career spanning Europe, Asia & the Americas. Carbon insurance provided by Kita unlocks financing and de-risks projects in the carbon markets, a source of investment opportunity and potential liability when not insured. Carbon insurance contracts issued by Kita are backed by leading re-insurance companies like Lloyd’s of London. They swap the uncertainty of future losses with the certainty of insurance premiums to insure transfer of contracts ..read more

Bair Financial Planning has been offering investment and lifestyle financial advisory services to clients for 20 years! Initially focused on the LGBTQ community in San Diego, CA, Marci Bair broadened the scope of her firm's life planning and asset management advice when Victor Orozco joined the firm a decade ago. They now have clientele across multiple family generations and offers sustainable and ESG investment strategies as well as more traditional portfolio diversificaiton, and sometimes both to generations within the same family. We discussed the ever-changing list of acronyms and definiti ..read more

Courtney Thomas is a passionate advocate for social and economic justice. In her role as Senior Policy Analyst at HOPE Policy Institute, Courtney coordinates and leads public policy efforts to advance economic opportunities for working families in the Deep South. She uses research, outreach and advocacy to advance fair and equitable public policies that center on the experiences of black, brown and indigenous communities of color. Her research interests include fair lending, fair housing and transportation equity policies, where federal and state decisions can impact the allocation of resource ..read more

Craig Coulter has 12 years of experience with EY delivering strategy and advisory services to clients large and small with a focus on the environment and sustainability. In Episode 259 of The Sustainable Finance Podcast (SFP) he and I discuss his passion for building businesses, organizations and teams that incorporate sustainability to make it business as usual. Craig is currently responsible for Sustainability Services and Strategies in the advanced manufacturing and mobility sectors, paying special attention to decarbonization in manufacturing, sustainability in supply chains and procuremen ..read more

In 2023, FuelCell Energy commenced operations of the company’s Tri-gen system for Toyota North America at the Port of Long Beach, California, where neighboring communities have been significantly impacted by decades of emissions from the ships, trucks, locomotives, and cargo-handling equipment. Betsy Schaefer, FuelCell Energy’s Chief Marketing & Sustainability Officer joins me for this SFP episode to discuss how the Tri-gen system produces renewable electricity, renewable hydrogen, and water from directed biogas. This will allow a reduction of air pollution in the neighboring communities a ..read more

Alison Taylor, Clinical Professor at NYU Stern School of Business and one of the world’s most compelling experts on business ethics, has a new book, and after having read it, I recommend it to every executive, entrepreneur and student I speak to. In Higher Ground, with laser focus and insight, she lays out the reasons why businesses can no longer treat ethics as “a legal and reputational defense mechanism.” In our conversation today she walks us through her blueprint for how leaders can navigate our incredibly complex, messy, and volatile global business, social and political environment. Tayl ..read more

Today’s SFP guest believes that in the future energy will be clean, resilient, abundant, and free. Harnessing that energy will allow us to preserve wild places and protect the magic of our natural world, while propelling us to the far reaches of our solar system and beyond. Nick Davis, CEO at GridMarket.com, believes that we all have a role to play in the giant leaps that AI and energy abundance will produce for humanity. Nick also believes that harnessing the power of GridMarket’s subscription service in partnership with companies like GRP/Wegmanm will redefine clean energy projects, embracin ..read more

Today’s podcast guest loves to speak with investors and asset managers interested in the sustainable food space. She’s an adviser to companies that are optimizing logistics, reducing supply chain costs & emissions and fostering community engagement as sustainability goals they expect will produce greater ROI and profitability and help them become preferred companies to work for in their industry. Shila Wattamwar is a Fast Company Impact Council member and a contributing writer on sustainability themes. In a recent article Shila highlighted her framework that maps activities to positive act ..read more