Accelerating Net Zero

Energy companies face a dual challenge – they must decarbonise whilst managing increased demand from emerging and developing economies. In this podcast, ACWA Power’s Marco Arcelli, Petronas’ Charlotte Wolff-Bye and Standard Chartered’s Wan Thonh Chow share insights into how they are navigating the challenges and opportunities the energy transition presents.

How is seaweed farming making waves in sustainability and is there enough potential scale to have a material impact on reducing global warming? In this episode, Eugene Klerk (Global Head of ESG Research, Standard Chartered) and Hannah Jones, (CEO, The Earthshot Prize) share insights into the role that seaweed can play in the fight against climate change and the associated investment opportunities.

Financing innovative and breakthrough technologies is critical to transition to a net-zero future. In this podcast, GenZero’s May Liew, Air Products’ Sidd Manjeshwar and Standard Chartered’s Henrik Raber share insights into providing the right capital to the right project at the right time.

How to achieve net-zero emissions through climate innovation? Marisa Drew, Chief Sustainability Officer at Standard Chartered and Dr. Steve Howard, Vice Chairman for Sustainability at Temasek had an engaging discussion around this topic.  They also delved into the importance of partnerships between public and private sectors, financial investment strategies in carbon markets and the significant role of the Earthshot prize.

The Earthshot Prize – can human ingenuity save the planet? In this episode of the Industries in Transition podcast, Manisha Tank discusses the Earthshot Prize with Simon Cooper (CEO CCIB and CEO, Europe & the Americas, Standard Chartered) and Hannah Jones, (CEO, The Earthshot Prize). We also speak to 2022 EarthShot Prize winner, Kaushik Kappagantulu, Co-Founder and CEO of Kheyti, on how Kheyti’s Greenhouse-in-a-Box is enabling small-hold farmers in India to reduce climate risk and increase yields.

According to the IMF, in any given year since 2000, climate disasters have killed more than 2,600 people, affected 7 million others, and caused USD2 billion in direct material damage. This striking economic impact of climate change indicates a real commercial return on adaptation investment.

According to a report produced by Verisk Maplecroft in 2021, 99 of the top 100 cities most at risk to a range of environmental and climate-related threats are in Asia. This Industries in Transition podcast episode focuses on the urgent need for cities in Asia in particular, to fast track their green plans.

In May 2021, together with DBS Bank, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Temasek, we announced our intention to take climate action through a joint venture called Climate Impact X (CIX). CIX aims to be a global exchange and marketplace for high-quality carbon credits and will leverage satellite monitoring, machine learning and blockchain technology to enhance the transparency, integrity and quality of carbon credits that deliver tangible and lasting environmental impact. In this podcast, we gathered Daniel Hanna, Global Head of Sustainable Finance at Standard Chartered, Mikkel Larsen, Chief Sustainability Officer at DBS and interim CEO of CIX, Herry Cho, Head of Sustainability & Sustainable Finance at SGX and Neo Gim Huay, Managing Director, Climate Change Strategy at Temasek to discuss the fundamentals of carbon offsets, how CIX will work, the challenges, and the opportunities for companies to participate. They also share about their motivations for the partnership as well as what success would look like for this global exchange. This podcast is part of the Industries in Transition series.

America has re-joined the Paris Agreement on limiting global warming to one and a half degrees Celsius by 2030. Meanwhile, China, the world's biggest consumer of coal has committed to carbon neutrality by 2060. Many countries and corporations are on similar pathways, but even if everyone is headed in the same direction, are they on the fastest and most effective track? One of the ways to reduce carbon emissions is through carbon markets, by setting a price on emissions and enabling the trading of emission units. But how do carbon markets actually work? And are they the answer to the global drive to net zero?   In this podcast, Chris Leeds, Executive Director, Commodity Origination at Standard Chartered, explains the economics of carbon markets and discusses its impact in emerging markets and beyond. This podcast is part of the Industries in Transition series.

Turbulent. Chaotic. Disruptive. There are many ways that we’ll remember 2020, but according to Bill Winters, Group Chief Executive of Standard Chartered, one word captures it best: resilient. Few escaped the socioeconomic turmoil of Covid-19. While some were harder hit, most had to pivot to survive. Against this backdrop, businesses around the world had to re-examine their core values and decide what matters most. For Standard Chartered, a relentless focus on sustainability topped the list. In this podcast, Bill Winters discusses the lessons learnt in 2020 and Standard Chartered’s ambitions in the sustainable finance space. Through the challenges and opportunities, he explores what the future holds and how the bank has greater impetus than ever to make good on its commitment to close the sustainability gap in emerging markets and beyond. This podcast is part of the Industries in Transition series.

In this episode, Daniel Hanna, Global Head of Sustainable Finance at Standard Chartered, shares key highlights of Standard Chartered’s first Sustainable Finance Impact Report, which quantifies the impact of the EUR 500m Sustainability Bond of July 2019 and discloses the USD3.9bn of Sustainable Assets that are aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in our Sustainable Finance portfolio. These include loans to renewable energy, healthcare, education as well as microfinance and SME lending in low-income countries. Our network means that we are providing finance in emerging markets where the need for funding as a positive catalyst for change is greatest, for example, financing a solar project in India will help avoid more than seven times the CO2 from a similar-sized project in France, given the current sources of power on those countries’ grids. This podcast is part of the Industries in Transition series.

The private sector has played a vital role in addressing some of the biggest challenges stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic. Simon Cooper, CEO of Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking at Standard Chartered, discusses the bank’s USD1 billion not-for-profit financing commitment for companies to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the role that the private sector must play at this critical moment of need. Our clients, Dr Bildard Baguma from Joint Medical Store and CEO Christoph Michalski from Vinda Household Paper, share about how their partnerships with Standard Chartered have enabled them to make a meaningful contribution amid the pandemic. This podcast is part of the Industries in Transition series.