ESG Currents – Details, episodes & analysis

Can financial markets help solve climate change, poverty and inequality on a worldwide scale? The UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment supports an international network of investor signatories looking to incorporate ESG factors into investment and ownership decisions. Launched in 2006, the PRI has grown to more than 5,300 signatories managing over $121 trillion. Ahead of this week’s 16th annual PRI in Person conference in Toronto, senior ESG analyst Rob Du Boff chatted with PRI Chief Sustainable Systems Officer Nathan Fabian and board member Wendy Cromwell, vice chair and head of sustainable investment for Wellington Management.

The episode was recorded on Sept. 23.

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The Inflation Reduction Act unleashed nearly half-a-trillion dollars in investment for projects to help meet climate goals. In this episode of the Bloomberg Intelligence ESG Currents podcast, BI senior analysts Gail Glazerman and Rob Du Boff are joined by Gina McCarthy, who as White House national climate advisor was a key backer of the legislation and as former head of the EPA, offers a unique perspective on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling overthrowing the long-standing Chevron doctrine. She shares her views on the outlook for the IRA in the context of the 2024 federal election and the search for energy to power AI.

This episode was recorded Sept. 23.

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Corporate sustainability takes many shapes and forms, and nothing articulates this better than looking through the lenses of a commercial fishing company and a credit reporting agency. On this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast BI’s director of ESG research Eric Kane talks with American Seafoods Chief Sustainability Officer Tim Fitzgerald and Cristina Banahan, the global head of citizenship and sustainability at TransUnion, at the recent Bloomberg Green Festival. They discuss broad topics, such as impact vs. materiality, and company-specific areas of focus including decarbonizing fishing fleets, protecting data privacy and more.

This episode was recorded on July 11.

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As sustainable fixed-income markets continue to develop, debt instruments can actively drive impact. On this week’s episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast Stephen Liberatore, head of ESG & Impact for Global Fixed Income at Nuveen, joins host Chris Ratti, BI ESG credit analyst, to discuss the state of green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds.

This episode was recorded on July 10.

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Climeworks began operations in May at its largest direct air capture and storage facility to date. The Iceland plant has capacity to remove 36,000 metric tons of CO2 from the air per year. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast, BI’s director of ESG research Eric Kane is joined by Climeworks CFO Andreas Aepli to discuss the company’s technology and how it plans to scale up to collect 1 million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere a year by 2030. They also talk about the energy requirements of direct air capture, how the cost of the technology is changing, the importance of removal credits for CO2 and more.

This episode was recorded on June 20.

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There’s a very clear green premium for new operationally net zero carbon buildings, says Tom Walker, co-head of global listed real assets at Schroder Property Investment. With buildings accounting for 40% of global emissions, real estate is under pressure to stay ahead of environmental legislation. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast, BI analyst Grace Osborne is joined by Walker and Vincent Van Bijleveld, the director of the Global Real Estate Engagement Network, to discuss the role of technology, relationships and capital spending in building a net zero world.
This conversation was recorded on July 2. 

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In his book “The End of Eden: Wild Nature in the Age of Climate Breakdown,” Adam Welz provides stunning examples of the devastating impact of climate change on the natural world. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast, the author joins BI director of ESG research Eric Kane to discuss why he prefers the term climate breakdown over climate change, how he selects species to focus on given the myriad examples, and why it’s important to look beyond the impact of climate change on humans.

This episode was recorded on July 3.

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Delta Air Lines aims to be net zero by 2050. Achieving this goal requires investment in technologies, strategic partnerships and the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In this episode of the ESG Currents podcast, BI analysts Eric Kane and Margot Wentzel are joined by Amelia DeLuca, chief sustainability officer at Delta, to discuss how airlines can transition to net zero by weaving sustainability into the fabric of the business. DeLuca emphasizes her focus on data analysis and allowing data to inform company carbon-reduction strategies, as well as using it to drive change inside and outside of Delta.

This episode was recorded on June 3.

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Given the array of new ESG funds and strategies over the past few years, along with the changing regulatory environment and shifts in demand, efforts to ensure strong management have taken on added importance. In this episode of ESG Currents, BI analyst Shaheen Contractor is joined by Mark Hays, director of sustainable & impact investing at Glenmede, to better understand all aspects of the manager-selection process. He discusses fees, performance and asset allocation, to tips and tricks in selecting capable managers. This episode was recorded on May 7.

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Flood, fire and wind risks have begun migrating across the US, creating a need for better home insurance pricing and analytics. On this week’s episode of ESG Currents, BI senior analyst Andy Stevenson is joined by Dr. Jeremy Porter, chief scientist at First Street, to discuss ways of getting better climate data into the hands of consumers, companies and federal agencies.

This episode was recorded on June 3.

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