Sustainability in Conversation

Featuring:  Leanne Clements, Head of Responsible Investment, People’s Pension  Margaret Stafford, Director of Product Management, Morningstar Indexes  Lindsey Stewart, Director, Institutional Investor Content Strategy, Morningstar  Catalina Secreteanu, Global Head of Market Development, Morningstar Sustainalytics  Melissa Chase, Senior Content Marketing Manager, Morningstar Sustainalytics On the Asset Owner’s Perspective  What are the world's largest asset owners prioritizing today? In this episode, we explore the evolving role of sustainability in investment decision-making with Leanne Clements of People's Pension, and review findings from Morningstar's 2026 Asset Owner Perspectives Survey. Our guests discuss asset owners’ approaches to climate transition readiness, ESG decision-making under uncertainty, the growing influence of AI-related risks, how they are managing sustainability data challenges, and rising interest in private markets.   Key Moments  00:00:00  Introduction  00:02:00  A conversation with Leanne Clements  00:25:09  A conversation with Maggie Stafford and Lindsey Stewart   00:45:30  Sign off  Links to Select Resources Asset Owner Perspectives Survey 2026: Quantitative Analysis

Featuring:  Hilary Wiek, Principal Analyst, Fund Strategies, PitchBook  Anikka Villegas, Senior Analyst, Fund Strategies and Sustainable Investing, PitchBook  Catalina Secreteanu, Global Head of Market Development, Morningstar Sustainalytics  Melissa Chase, Senior Content Marketing Manager, Morningstar Sustainalytics    On Where Sustainable Capital is Flowing Next  This episode of Sustainability in Conversation dives into the results of PitchBook’s 2026 Sustainable Investment Survey. The report’s co-authors Hilary Wiek, Principal Analyst, Fund Strategies and Anikka Villegas, Senior Analyst, Fund Strategies and Sustainable Investing, share insights from the survey and discuss the persistence of sustainable investing among private market investors, despite headlines to the contrary. They also explore emerging opportunities in infrastructure, energy transition, and water, as well as how investors are navigating the opportunities and challenges presented by artificial intelligence. In the long run, they see successful strategies as those that connect sustainability themes directly to risk management, resilience, and investment opportunities, while also responding to evolving geopolitical and technological realities.   Key Moments 00:00:00 Introduction and highlights from Climate Week NYC 00:05:27 A conversation with Hilary Wiek and Anikka Villegas, authors of Pitchbook’s 2026 Sustainable Investment Survey report 00:33:29 Sign off Share Your Feedback Please take a moment to share your thoughts on Sustainability in Conversation. You can email us at [email protected].    Links to Select Resources  2026 Sustainable Investment Survey   Asset Owner Perspectives Survey 2026 – Quantitative Analysis  Sustainable Investment Forum at PRI in Person

Host: Melissa Chase, Senior Content Marketing Manager, Morningstar Sustainalytics Guest: Agnes Grouc, Co-head Sustainable Capital Markets Solutions, BNP Paribas Begum Gursoy, Director, Market Development, Morningstar Sustainalytics On the Next Phase of Sustainable Finance This episode of Sustainability in Conversation explores how the sustainable debt markets are maturing as investors and issuers shift their focus from commitments and frameworks to evidence, delivery and long-term credibility. Agnes Gourc, Co-Head of Sustainable Capital Market Solutions at BNP Paribas, joins Begum Gusoy, Director, Market Development at Morningstar Sustainalytics, to discuss evolving investor expectations, the continued role of labeled bonds in capital markets, and why capital allocation and transition planning have become critical indicators of a credible sustainability strategy. Their conversation examines the integration of sustainable finance across debt markets and what that means for issuers, banks, and investors navigating the next phase of market development. Share Your Feedback Please take a moment to share your thoughts on Sustainability in Conversation. You can email us at [email protected]. Key Moments 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:17 A conversation with Agnes Gourc 00:04:34 How are sustainable fixed income transactions being discussed today? 00:09:34 How are investors assessing the cost/benefits of issuing labeled debt? 00:16:27 How is the greater focus on climate credibility showing up in use of proceed bond issuances? 00:20:40 What are some challenges in surfacing the entity-level transition story in issuances? 00:28:55 How do you see the sustainable debt market evolving? 00:34:48 Sign off   Links to Select Resources Global Sustainable Fund Flows: Q2 2026 in Review

Episode Summary Host: Catalina Secreteanu, Managing Director, ESG Solutions, Europe, Sustainalytics Melissa Chase, Senior Content Marketing Manager, Morningstar Sustainalytics Guest: Tom Gosling, Professor in Practice, Financial Markets Group, London School of Economics Lindsey Stewart, Director, Institutional Investor Content Strategist, Morningstar On Investors’ True Impact on Sustainability In this episode of Sustainability in Conversation, we are delighted to share an intriguing and insightful conversation direct from London Climate Action Week. Friend of the show and former host, Lindsey Stewart, sat down with Tom Gosling, Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics, to discuss the investor’s role in climate transition. The conversation points toward a more pragmatic phase of sustainable investing — one centered on fiduciary duty, policy engagement, investor agency, and asset-owner leadership, rather than ambitious but difficult-to-deliver climate commitments. Additionally, Catalina shares why she’s feeling energized and inspired following a week of climate conversations with peers in London and talks about Morningstar Sustainalytics’ recently announced collaboration with XDI and Veridion to bring enhanced asset-level physical climate data to the market.   Share Your Feedback Please take a moment to share your thoughts on Sustainability in Conversation. You can email us at [email protected]. Key Moments 00:00:00 Introduction 00:03:36 A conversation with Lindsey Stewart 00:07:32 A conversation with Tom Gosling 00:30:38 Sign off

Host:  Catalina Secreteanu, Managing Director, ESG Solutions, Europe, Sustainalytics  Melissa Chase, Senior Content Marketing Manager, Morningstar Sustainalytics  Guest:  Thomas Hohne-Sparborth, Head of Sustainability Research, Lombard Odier  Alex Osborne-Saponja, Director, ESG Methodology  On Aligning Capital With Climate Outcomes  This episode of Sustainability in Conversation focuses on investors and climate transition. We start with an insightful conversation with Thomas Hohne-Sparborth, Head of Sustainability Research at Lombard Odier. He discusses how the asset management firm’s systems-level view of climate transition informs their investment strategy, and shares what that looks like in practice.   Next, we hear from Alex Osborne-Saponja, Director of ESG Methodology at Sustainalytics and co-author of Transition or Illusion? What Capital Flows Reveal About Net Zero Credibility. Alex shares insights from the report, which examines capital expenditures as a key signal of corporate climate transition credibility. She details why capex is an important indicator and highlights a “mosaic approach” to analysis, combining multiple indicators to infer transition direction.   Share Your Feedback   Please take a moment to share your thoughts on Sustainability in Conversation. You can email us at [email protected].  Key Moments   00:00:00  Introduction  00:03:38  A conversation with Thomas Hohne-Sparborth  00:17:14  A conversation with Alex Osborne-Saponja  00:34:00  Sign off     Links to Select Resources  What Capital Flows Reveal About Net Zero Credibility Climate Transition Toolkit