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ESG has become established as a key business theme as companies and investors seek to navigate the climate crisis, energy transition, social megatrends, mounting regulatory attention and pressure from other stakeholders. The rapidly evolving landscape has become inundated with acronyms, buzz words, and lingo and we aim to break these down with industry experts.
132 Episodes
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Mangroves are one of the most powerful natural tools for climate adaptation and resilience, protecting coastlines, stabilizing economies and strengthening ecosystems. On this episode of the ESG Currents podcast, Ignace Beguin Billecocq, executive director of the Mangrove Breakthrough, joins BI senior ESG credit analyst Chris Ratti. The Mangrove Breakthrough is a global initiative aiming to secure the future of 15 million hectares of mangroves by 2030 through a $4 billion investment to foster resilience, biodiversity and coastal protection. They discuss the materiality of mangroves and the importance of funding for expansion across a coalition of beneficiaries including governments, multilateral development banks, insurance companies and climate investors.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Can cutting methane leaks help fuel the rising energy demand from AI data centers? On this episode of the ESG Currents podcast, Carl Pope, former Sierra Club executive director, and Last Mile Production CEO Zach Wagner join BI climate analyst Andrew Stevenson to discuss how leaking and vented methane has the potential to help meet Texas’ surging power demand. Methane leaks are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, and capturing that lost gas could help ease rising US natural gas costs.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Blended finance uses catalytic capital from public or philanthropic sources to mobilize private investment toward sustainable development — but how are these vehicles structured, and what enables them to scale? On this week’s episode of the ESG Currents podcast, Timothee Jaulin, head of responsible investment development & advocacy at Amundi, joins Shaheen Contractor, senior ESG analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, to unpack how blended finance works in practice. The discussion breaks down how blended finance vehicles are structured — from the roles of DFIs and asset managers to tranche design, capital layering and the realities of deployment timelines. They also explore how risk is allocated and mitigated via credit enhancements, guarantees and political risk insurance — and who is driving demand today, from multilateral developmental banks to family offices, as Asia emerges as a key growth market.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The build-out of power-hungry data centers is coinciding with new roadblocks for solar and wind farms under the Trump administration, raising the risk of an electricity supply squeeze. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast, senior climate analyst Andrew John Stevenson speaks with Simcore Partners’ Dan Lee about the path forward for renewables beyond this year’s subsidy sunset amid rising AI-driven power demand. They discuss project-delay risks and grid-congestion concerns, and how renewables may continue to play a meaningful role in the coming years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Amid a wave of political pressure in recent years, investors have faced greater barriers to engaging with companies, particularly on environmental and social issues. But engagement remains an important tool for identifying and mitigating risks that could hurt long-term shareholder value. On this week’s edition of ESG Currents, senior ESG analyst Rob Du Boff speaks with Andrea Ranger, director of shareholder advocacy for Trillium Asset Management, a long-standing thought leader in ESG investing with around $5 billion in assets under management. They discuss the importance of investment stewardship, why it remains a critical fiduciary duty and how it can be done effectively. This episode was recorded on Dec. 15.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
AI can be a force for good in climate and technology, says Rama Variankaval, Global Head of Corporate Advisory at JPMorgan. In this episode of ESG Currents, Variankaval joins Bloomberg Intelligence Senior ESG Analyst Shaheen Contractor to examine the sustainability themes likely to shape corporate strategy in 2026 and beyond, including AI, energy, adaptation and food security. They discuss how boards are navigating green investments amid tighter capital conditions, changing risk perceptions and the collision between AI-driven growth and energy-system limits.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In Africa, sustainable finance is less about decarbonizing legacy assets and more about building resilient systems that make the continent bankable for decades to come. In this episode of ESG Currents, BI EMEA ESG Integration Analyst Grace Osborne speaks with Amal Benaissa, director of sustainability advocacy at Bank of Africa, on what it takes to effectively mobilize climate capital across emerging markets - and why this agenda is ultimately about macroeconomic stability, not just the environment. From energy efficiency and rooftop solar to food systems, SMEs and clean industrial exports, they explore how blended finance, local-currency lending and more flexible taxonomies can turn transition priorities into investable opportunities and unlock private capital at scale. This episode was recorded on Jan. 13.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Environmental sustainability is the “mega of all megatrends,” says Nino Tronchetti Provera, founder and managing partner of Ambienta, one of Europe’s largest sustainability-focused asset managers. In this episode of ESG Currents, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Eric Kane and Melanie Rua speak with him about how Ambienta’s engineering-led approach identifies real-economy environmental champions, and why scaling proven industrial solutions can drive both returns and measurable impact. The conversation covers biostimulants, industrial electrification, gaps between Green Deal ambition and reality and the shift from ESG slogans to science-based, financially material investing — a theme central to Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG 2.0 2026 Outlook. This episode was recorded on Dec. 15.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Delaware is the legal home of almost two-thirds of the S&P 500. But efforts are underway to change that, most notably Tesla’s approval last year from shareholders to reincorporate in Texas. Are we about to see a mass exodus of corporations, or are fears overblown? And where does that leave shareholder rights? On this week’s episode of ESG Currents, Senior ESG Analyst Rob Du Boff is joined by Ann Lipton of the University of Colorado Law School, an expert on corporate governance, to discuss the so-called DExit, the relationship between corporations and investors, and the broader role of corporations in society. This episode was recorded Dec 2, 2025.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
As ESG debates evolve and financial materiality moves to the forefront, the issues shaping company performance are becoming clearer — and more consequential. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast, BI’s director of ESG research Eric Kane is joined by the analysts who hosted the show throughout the year to break down the ESG forces most likely to influence markets in 2026. Grace Osborne, Rob Du Boff, Melanie Rua, Andy Stevenson, Gail Glazerman, Yasutake Homma, Chris Ratti, Conrad Tan and Shaheen Contractor discuss sustainable debt in emerging markets, shareholder activism, water scarcity, climate damages, the ESG implications of AI, carbon removal, sustainable funds and more.The episode was recorded on Dec. 9.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Achieving 2030 targets associated with the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals could cost trillions of dollars. The Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), founded in 2020 by then-Prince Charles, aims to mobilize capital markets toward these targets. On this episode of the ESG Currents podcast, Bloomberg Intelligence ESG analysts Gail Glazerman and Rob Du Boff speak with SMI CEO Jennifer Jordan-Saifi about the organization’s progress and the private-market shift from communicating ambitions to delivering. This episode was recorded Nov. 18.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How does good food shape global climate policy? And how has climate science evolved in the decade since the Paris Agreement? In this ESG Currents episode, Winston Chow, Professor of Urban Climate at Singapore Management University and Co-Chair of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II, joins Bloomberg Intelligence ESG Analyst Conrad Tan to discuss the art of building trust as a climate diplomat, why food is his secret weapon, and why the world's top climate body plans to add a chapter on finance in its upcoming reports. He also explains the use of shared socioeconomic pathways in climate modeling and how scientific assessments of climate impacts can help businesses distinguish signal from noise. This episode was recorded on Oct. 22. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nature capital has become a central theme in ESG investing, helping companies design strategies to boost economic growth while preserving the environment, with discussions at COP30 helping to increase global attention. Instant cup noodle producer Nissin Foods Holdings has been recognized by Japan’s Financial Services Agency as a leading firm in nature capital disclosure. In this episode, Kaya Tanii, head of sustainability strategy at Nissin Foods, speaks with Yasutake Homma, ESG analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, about the challenges behind its disclosure journey, and how nature capital has become financially material to its business. This episode was recorded on Nov. 6.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
From Coldplay to takeaways, Notpla is disrupting the single-use plastic epidemic. As global regulators tighten restrictions on plastic waste, innovation in natural materials is fast becoming an investment imperative. In this episode of ESG Currents, BI ESG analyst Grace Osborne speaks with Rodrigo García González, co-founder of Notpla, to explore how the company’s pioneering seaweed-based packaging is helping brands and investors transition toward a circular, regulation-ready future. Together, they discuss the evolution of product innovation, the shifting policy landscape, and how nature-based design can deliver both environmental and financial impact, as Notpla advances its bold goal to replace one billion units of plastic by 2030.This episode was recorded 31 October.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What does putting $100 billion toward climate solutions entail? On this week’s episode of the ESG Currents podcast, Peter Cashion, head of sustainable investing at CalPERS, joins Shaheen Contractor, senior ESG analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, to unpack how one of the world’s largest pension funds is translating climate ambition into investment decisions. Learn more about the practical aspects of putting this kind of plan into action, what mobilizing capital means in practice, how returns interface with impact and much more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Japan’s ESG and sustainable investing are entering a new stage – impact investing, which seeks to generate measurable social impact alongside financial returns. Government-led initiatives and working groups involving investors, asset managers, corporations and academia are working to establish the framework of new investing schemes and increase its scale in Japan. In this episode of ESG Currents, Yuka Ogasawara, Director of the Fujimura Research Institute and co-author of the book Impact Investing, speaks with Bloomberg Intelligence ESG analyst Yasutake Homma about how it differs from conventional ESG investing, and why it matters. This episode was recorded on October 23.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
PepsiCo’s food and beverage products depend on reliable access to agricultural commodities and water, driving the company’s sustainability strategy. On this episode of ESG Currents, BI senior ESG analyst Gail Glazerman is joined by Jim Andrew, PepsiCo’s chief sustainability officer. They discuss how sustainability intersects with PepsiCo’s business strategy, the company’s progress toward its goals and challenges such as fragmented global policy. The episode was recorded on Oct. 8.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Japan is emerging as a potential leader in carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) — and is developing another next-generation decarbonization technology: CO2-absorbing concrete. In this episode of the ESG Currents podcast, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Yasutake Homma speaks with Junichiro Miura, deputy director at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, about the current status of CCUS and CO2-absorbing concrete, as well as their future prospects. Why are these technologies critical for achieving a decarbonized society yet still not widely adopted? What are Japan’s plans for international expansion, and what implications could these developments have for industry? This episode was recorded on Oct. 15. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
As carbon “super sponges” and vital climate-resilience tools, mangroves highlight how nature underpins economic stability. With more than half of global GDP reliant on healthy ecosystems, nature loss poses substantial risks and opportunities. In this episode of ESG Currents, BI ESG analysts Grace Osborne and Chris Ratti speak with the WWF’s Global Lead of the Carbon Finance & Markets Taskforce, Rueban Manokara and John Morton, Executive Managing Director of Nature Finance and Investment, to explore the business case for nature, the temporal challenges of nature-based investments and the power of blended finance in helping to close the $700 billion nature-funding gap. This episode was recorded on Sept. 25.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Green bonds may have transformed the world by volume, but blue bonds are poised to change it by depth. In this episode of ESG Currents, BI EMEA ESG Integration Analyst Grace Osborne speaks with Shargiil Bashir, chief sustainability officer and executive Vice president at First Abu Dhabi Bank, discuss how blue bonds are mobilizing capital toward protection of critical marine ecosystems. They explore how the UAE is moving from ambition to action, leveraging blended finance and innovating to meet climate and water goals in one of the world’s driest regions. This episode was recorded on Sept. 16. Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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