Sustainability Leaders

Three experts discuss the science of how climate change is impacting permafrost, the trends, and risk of permafrost, and how permafrost is fundamentally linked to all of us through environmental systems. Join George Sutherland, Climate Change and Sustainability Advisor in BMO's Climate Institute, Dr. Fabrice Calmels, Permafrost and Geoscience Research Chair at the Yukon University Research Center,...

Join George Sutherland, Climate Change and Sustainability Advisor at the BMO's Climate Institute and Blair Feltmate, Professor and Head of Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at University of Waterloo, in part one of our Impacts of a Changing Climate series as they discuss how (and why) flooding has accelerated at an increasing rate, and how it’s become not only an environmental issue, but a press...

“Working together, you can tap the lowest cost opportunities in any given place. And as you're pursuing net zero, you can tap into the opportunities for carbon capture and storage or nature-based removals. You can get to the goal faster and cheaper than if each country acts in isolation,” says Dirk Forrister, CEO, International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) Join Susan McGeachie, Head of the...

Join BMO’s Camilla Sutton, MD in Equity Research, and Doug Morrow, Director of ESG at BMO Capital Markets, in this special episode from BMO’s IN Tune Podcast. IN Tune features Equity Research analysts from BMO Capital Markets and explores key emerging themes, trends, and important issues to our institutional clients globally. Listen to our two experts as they take a deep dive into the ESG landscap...

Join Paulette Jagers, Managing Director of Strategic Talent Initiatives at BMO, Jason Brommet, Head of Modern Work and Security Business at Microsoft, and Leslie Anderson, Global Head of Employee Tech Experience and U.S. Chief Technology, Resiliency and Experience Operations Officer for BMO Financial Group.  in a conversation about why it is essential for employers to come from a place of empathy...

Affordable and accessible housing continues to be top of mind for Canadians, with prices reaching historic heights and demand far outpacing supply. Join BMO’s Dan Adams and Justin Marchand, Chief Executive Officer at Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services (OAHS), as they discuss the housing crisis facing Indigenous communities as well as individuals in rural and urban areas, and the critical role tha...

BMO recently hosted a Thinktank event to provide seven young people from Plan International Canada’s “Girl’s Belong Here” program an opportunity to consult and share unique perspectives on sustainability-related issues. The event was facilitated by BMO’s Sustainability team and framed around a 3-part discussion on sustainability and just transition topics. Listen what today’s youth had to say.

The lack of common sustainability reporting standards across jurisdictions is a critical challenge for businesses and the financial sector in supporting the global shift to a more sustainable world, and it's an issue that concerns all of us, from climate change leaders to governments and regulators. Join BMO's Jean-Simon Farrah, Director, Canadian Government Relations, Charles Antoine St-Jean, CEO...

In this second installment of our two-part series on Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, BMO’s Kona Goulet and Dr. Sinclair discuss the history of the residential schools system and its true impact on Canada’s indigenous.

“We still have that story today. That story today is still very much one that came from residential schools, which is that Indigenous peoples don't matter. So that may be shocking for Canadians, but it's something that people need to hear in order to get to the truth, because we cannot get to reconciliation without understanding what's happened,” says Sustainability Leaders guest Dr. Niigaan Sincl...

Over the past year and a half, we've seen the business community step up and speak out about diversity and equity like never before. But achieving economic equity not only requires moving beyond meaningful dialogue to taking real action. We recently convened a panel of esteemed business leaders to share their unique perspectives and concrete ideas on how businesses can support efforts to close the...

"Investing in housing for all Canadians means removing barriers that exclude so many from a better life," said Sharon Haward-Laird, General Counsel and Co-Chair of BMO's Sustainability Council, BMO Financial Group. BMO recently announced a commitment to finance affordable housing over a ten-year period in support of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's (CMHC) aspiration that all Canadians...

This year’s proxy voting season brought a clear message: Investors want to see greater ambition on climate change. This was especially apparent within the oil and gas sector, where three large companies were mandated to do more to accelerate change. Andrew Logan, Senior Director, Oil and Gas at Ceres, joins Sustainability Leaders host Nalini Feuilloley in a discussion that recaps the recent outcom...

Sustainability Leaders host Whitney McWade, is joined by Maria Theofilaktidis and Larry Leva, from the IFRS Foundation, and Katie Schmitz Eulitt, with Value Reporting Foundation (formerly Sustainability Accounting Standards Board) to discuss the evolution of corporate reporting in a world where corporations are increasingly expected to manage their businesses in the interest of a wide array of sta...

Sustainability Leaders host Jonathan Hackett, is joined by Alec Cheng, who serves as Vice President and Treasurer at Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and John Mauti, OPG's Chief Financial Officer in a conversation about sustainability and the role of nuclear energy as OPG, one of the largest, most diverse low-cost power generators in North America, strides toward a post-carbon economy. For a transcr...

Michael Torrance, Chief Sustainability Officer with BMO Financial Group, speaks with Christian Heller, CEO of the Value Balancing Alliance, a not-for-profit group of 16 international companies that focuses on the development and standardization of a management accounting model to protect and create long-term value. Tune in for this discussion about how using better methodologies to assess and inco...

Guest host Kona Goulet, Head, Indigenous Equity and Inclusion, BMO and Cree-Métis originally from La Ronge in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada, speaks to Dr. Bob Kayseas, Interim President and Vice President Academic of First Nations University of Canada, who specializes in Indigenous Business and Public Administration. As we reflect on the tragic discovery of the remains of an estimated 215 children...

In this special episode of Sustainability Leaders, Dan Barclay, CEO of BMO Capital Markets, moderates a discussion on trends across the food and agriculture value chain with takeaways from BMO’s 16th Annual Farm to Market Conference. BMO experts include Joel Jackson, Fertilizers and Chemicals Analyst; Kelly Bania, Food Retail Analyst; and Ken Zaslow, Food and Agribusiness Analyst. Dan and the thre...

BMO hosted a discussion in conjunction with Suncor and the Milken Institute, on streamlining and financing the business transition to a lower-carbon future. Moderated by Dan Barclay, Chief Executive Officer, BMO Capital Markets, a panel of experts looked at how the industry is mapping the march toward net zero and banks’ roles in financing the transition. For a transcript of this episode visit bmo...

Slavery is not a relic of the past, but something that is still a problem today. In fact, it is estimated that over 40 million people are living in slavery around the world. Investors and companies are getting more and more aware of the need to understand their exposure to forced labor and modern slavery and to act in some way to eradicate these practices.  Rosey Hurst joins the podcast to discuss...

Sustainability Leaders host Jonathan Hackett and Scott Brison, BMO Vice-chair for Investment and Corporate Banking and a former member of parliament for Kings-Hants, Nova Scotia, speak to Robert Niven, CEO and founder of CarbonCure Technologies, a Nova Scotia company that manufacturers a technology that introduces recycled CO2 into fresh concrete to reduce its carbon footprint. Join us in this liv...

In the U.S. alone, it is estimated that more than 130 people die each day from overdosing on opioids and millions more abuse prescription pain relievers every year. How did the use of opioids as a painkiller spiral into the addiction crisis it is today? And how can changes be made in the future to mitigate this crisis? Enter the Investors for Opioid and Pharmaceutical Accountability (IOPA). The gr...

Michael Torrance is joined by Dr. Mark Johnston, Strategy Lead for Nature-based Solutions & Biodiversity at BP, and member of the newly formed working group TFND (Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosure), to discuss how biodiversity applies to everything in a natural world and the private sector role in delivering a sustainable working framework. For a transcript of this episode visit bm...

Jonathan Hackett is joined by Derrick Emsley, CEO and Co-Founder of tentree, the Canadian lifestyle apparel brand whose first mission is to plant 10 trees for every product sold, in a discussion about carbon offsets, tree planting and how the way we look at sustainability is changing. For a transcript of this episode visit bmo.com/sustainabilityleaders-podcast.

John Uhren is joined by Chantale Després, Assistant Vice-President Sustainability, at CN, to discuss sustainability strategy at one of the world’s top transportation and logistics companies, starting with a freshly-inked $2 billion sustainability linked loan that was the largest in Canadian history. For a transcript of this episode please visit bmo.com/sustainabilityleaders-podcast