A Sustainable Future

How is the Iran conflict redrawing the energy map? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Cecilia Tam, IEA Head of Energy Investment Unit, about why energy security has become one of the most powerful drivers of the clean energy transition; how electrification, grids, nuclear, emerging-market investment, and AI-driven power demand are reshaping the global energy system, and what it’ll take to conve...

Climate adaptation has moved to the mainstream, but are financial systems evolving fast enough to treat resilience as key to stability? Professor Nicola Ranger, London School of Economics, explains why markets struggle to price climate risk, how investment horizons misalign with exposure, and how to close adaptation blind spots.

What if climate change isn’t an alpha problem but a beta problem? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Simon Hallett, Cambridge Associates Head of Climate Strategy,; what investors, consultants, and asset owners can do to move beyond performative alignment toward capital allocation that actually accelerates the transition, and how investors should course correct without losing momentum or giving...

What are the key drivers reshaping the development finance landscape Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Andrew McDowell, EIB Global Director General, the forces that are reshaping European development finance at a moment of geopolitical and climate-driven upheaval and how EIB Global is redefining its tools to fill gaps that markets and multilateral development banks aren’t addressing.

How can investing balance risk, return, and sustainability? PGGM's Sander van Stijn and Colin Tissen discuss moving beyond index tracking to a more intentional approach, sharing how early ideas shaped a formal, scalable framework for sustainable investing.

How efficient are markets at pricing climate risk? Bob Litterman, Kepos Capital, explores advances in climate risk thinking, evolving market and policy signals, the true cost of climate uncertainty, and why reduced regulation and net zero pullbacks may drive a sharper focus on understanding rather than reporting climate risk.

What role do central banks play in addressing climate change? Dr Kevin Stiroh, former Federal Reserve and now at Resources for the Future, examines how to frame climate change as a systemic financial risk, what’s at stake, and why evolving macroprudential and microprudential frameworks is essential.

What's at stake in climate modelling? Professor Tapio Schneider, CalTech, discusses how computational science improves understanding of tail risks and extreme events; why small-scale processes are critical for accurate models; and how finance can better integrate climate data into investments.

What does the retreat from global climate initiatives mean and how are investors are still driving the energy transition outside of them?  Heather Zichal, JPMorgan Chase Global Head of Sustainability, talks about the role of finance in addressing climate change; why an increasing emphasis on climate adaptation makes sense; and how JP Morgan Chase is capacity building in the sustainability space.  

Are there climate risks we shouldn’t be insuring anymore? Dr. Carolyn Kousky, Associate Vice President for Economics and Policy, discusses how climate change is reshaping insurance, what’s at stake if insurance markets begin to break down, and who ultimately bears the financial burden when the private market pulls back.

How could recent legal opinions shift state and private sector climate change obligations? Maurits Dolmans, Cleary Gottlieb, discusses how to rethink the obligations of fiduciary duty relative to climate action; why it may be the key to solving the climate prisoner’s dilemma; and what a legal framework for impact could look like.

What could a nuclear renaissance look like? Professor Katy Huff, former Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, discusses how to frame nuclear energy in a net zero context where nuclear fits into the US energy mix over the next several decades and why US nuclear innovation today is different from the false starts of the past.

How are asset owners emerging to drive the sustainable finance agenda? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Daan Spaargaren, PME Senior Strategist for Responsible Investment, about how PME is evolving its investment approach to include more active, sustainability-driven strategies; what that means functionally in the asset allocation process; and why it’s great to see asset owners like PME take o...

What trade-offs will we need to make to achieve net zero? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Alex Grant, Equinor UK Country Manager, about the state of the energy transition, the trade-offs that we are increasingly facing between security of supply, affordability and decarbonisation; and emerging energy technologies.

How economically grounded is the UK’s net zero commitment? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Sir Dieter Helm, University of Oxford, about what new forces and factors are reshaping net zero ambitions; how the UK should think about optimal climate policy; and why a realist approach is critical for navigating the political economy factors of climate action.

How have politics and geoeconomics turned rare earths and critical minerals into pressure points in the expanding global trade conflict? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Saleem Ali, University of Delaware, about what the energy transition means in the context of environmental security; how multilateral initiatives and increasingly national efforts are working to reshape supply and d...

What happens if access to US climate data becomes more limited? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Benjamin Horton, Director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, about what the political changes in the US could mean for the international scientific community; how that impact translates into access and availability of critical climate datasets; and why some climate scientists are alr...

How are asset owners reallocating towards sustainability? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Dan Mikulskis, People’s Partnership CIO, about how the People’s Partnership is doing to evolve its investment strategy; what that means functionally for in a responsible investment context; and why asset owners like People’s Partnership are taking on a bigger leadership role in sustainable finance.

What does 2025 hold for sustainable investing? Jason Mitchell talks to Hortense Bioy, Morningstar Head of Research, about how sustainable investing has reshaped asset flows over the last several years; what the suspension of the net zero initiatives could mean for investors; and why sustainable investing can survive Trump 2.0.

Will investors reset, recalibrate, or retreat from net zero in 2025? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Tom Gosling, London School of Economics, about how to think about the exits among climate initiatives; what the future of net zero commitments could look like; and why, investors—despite their limitations in driving climate outcomes—are still able to have a material effect on climat...

Is sustainable investing facing its own replication crisis? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Andrew King, Boston University, about what the replication crisis represents for sustainable finance; how to think about the incentive problems impacting academic research; and why academic journals and the academic-practitioner community need to be more open to the replication and challenge...

How do neighbourhoods shape economic opportunities for children? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Stefanie Deluca, Johns Hopkins University, about why neighbourhoods matter for creating social mobility; some of the outcomes and challenges in her recent paper, “Creating Moves to Opportunity”; and what it takes to create more high-opportunity zones, so families don’t have to continual...

What’s at stake for climate and nature in the current political environment? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Paul Bodnar, Bezos Earth Fund, about the vital role of philanthropic capital; the mission of the Bezos Earth Fund; and how its thinks about funding efforts across mitigation and adaptation as well as the Global North and Global South.   Note: This episode was recorded prior to the rec...

What grade does the finance industry deserve in terms of pricing climate risk? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Chief Scientist Dr. Sarah Kapnick, about the scope of NOAA’s mission; NOAA’s billion-dollar Weather and Climate Disasters dataset and what it means for weather attribution; and why NOAA itself represents a remarkable value to th...

Is ESG a “hopeless muddle”? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, about free markets and free minds; climate and ESG disclosures; the implications of Loper Bright on the Chevron Doctrine and agency authority; and the merits of financial innovation in crypto versus ESG. Commissioner Hester Peirce was appointed by President Donald Trump to the U.S. Securities and Exch...