Sustainability and the need for practicality over ideology

Stephen Kotkin, Professor in History and International Affairs, Princeton University warned that the sustainability debate needs to become less ideological and more practical. He added that policy on a carbon price would do more to counter climate change than Biden’s huge infrastructure spend.

Unprecedented opportunity ahead

The climate challenge requires new investment on a staggering scale: new generating capacity, the electrification of everything, emissions-free fuel, carbon capture and sequestration, new supply chains and infrastructure, plus the building of negative emissions technologies. Stanford’s Dr Arun Majumdar explores the opportunities for new investment, the risk return trade-off and how investors should approach the opportunities.

Implementing net zero

What does it really mean to achieve a net zero strategy? As more investors make pledges for net zero, they need to set a strategy to achieve it. Investors leading the pack – ABP, Church Commissioners for England and CalSTRS – discuss the behaviour changes that are needed and how to allocate.

Poor disclosure is now a systemic risk

Poor corporate sustainability disclosure and the absence of global standards is now a systemic risk for investors, said panellists at Sustainability in Practice which included chief governance and compliance officer at Norges Bank, Carine Smith Ihencho.

ESG needs better data, better ratings and better products

Mass PRIM is involved in an MIT initiative to improve ESG with better data, ratings and ultimately products. Executive director and CIO, Michael Trotsky, explains how the ambiguity around ESG ratings creates acute challenges for investors trying to achieve both financial and social return.