Sustainability Now

Artificial intelligence is rolling out in a big way across different industries and sectors. With much to lose and much to gain from this new trend, investors will be looking to boards that ask good questions and get good answers – even if that means letting AI into the boardroom.  Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research Guests: Tanya Matanda & Harlan Tufford, MSCI ESG Research Producer: SK Ki...

Commodities like palm oil, beef and cocoa are intertwined with deforestation. The EU wants to change this. We talk about the bloc’s latest law and how it’s going to ask food companies to take supply chain due diligence and traceability to a whole new level.   Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research Guest: Cole Martin, MSCI ESG Research [Cole Martin would like to thank Marc Lieberman for his contri...

Airlines have been offering customers with the option to purchase carbon credits or to support sustainable aviation fuel as they are buying a plane ticket. The airlines claim in doing so, the customer can lower the emissions of their trip and thereby lessen its impact on climate change. Sounds great! But, is that true? Are your emissions really lowered by those carbon credits? And can airlines use...

User privacy on internet platforms is sliding higher up the “to do” list of the EU’s regulators. Five years after a trailblazing law was passed – the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – we’re starting to see its enforcement moving up a notch. For big tech companies that rely on personalized advertising, like Meta and Alphabet, their future in the EU is starting to look a little more compli...

Our planet’s hottest days on record were recorded July 3 to July 5. Global average temperatures rose to a new high of 62.9 Fahrenheit. And even as the days get less sweltering, we all seem to be collectively looking around wondering what might happen next month. It is a collective fear that doesn’t seem to have rattled the market. Even so, today we discuss what the ever increasing temperatures mea...

The EU is ironing out the final details of its Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. We look at what it could mean for how companies identify, mitigate and report on their impacts on human rights. It’s a pioneering step that not only stands to affect European companies, but global ones that earn revenue in the EU market. Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research Guests: Aura Toader &...

Part of proxy season is over, so we take a look at the landscape of shareholder proposals. And it is well known for to those who are closely watching shareholder proposals that ESG proposals have pretty much plummeted this year vs. last year and previous years – but why is that? Are ESG shareholder proposals losing steam and momentum? Or is that maybe too simple of a reading of the data? We also d...

Semiconductors are used in ev-er-y-thing. But semiconductor manufacturers have a high greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions footprint. Since they are so ubiquitous in our economy, will they get a free pass and not be pressured to lower their GHG emissions? Or will the expanding industry be pushed to lower their emissions a la the oil and gas industry? These questions and more are answered on this week&ap...

Under pressure from wildfires and inflation, State Farm has stopped issuing new homeowner policies in California. We get to the bottom of how physical climate hazards may change the future shape of the insurance industry. And then we ask why the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance is a little different from the other alliances that fall under the GFANZ.  Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research Guests: Cod...

There are a number of looming carbon emission regulations set to hit the commercial real estate sector in the coming years. These regulations would require building managers to retrofit their asset’s with emissions reducing technology else face hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of fines. We discuss what these regulations mean for the long-term sustainability of the commercial real-estate sect...

Are you aware of how much progress we are making on addressing climate change? There are all-these-pledges and all-these-plans made by companies, but have those plans been useful? Are they actually making progress on cutting emissions or are they just saying, “yeah we care about it, and we will do….something.” And what are those “somethings?” Are they far away technologies that can suck the bad st...

NGOs have filed a lawsuit against BNP Paribas, arguing that bank has failed in its “Duty of Care”, under French law. As climate-related litigation escalates, we take a closer look at BNP’s financed emissions. And then, lawmakers have mandated the inclusion of female executives on the management boards of large German companies. We look at how things have shifted at this early stage and what that m...

To meet net-zero ambitions, it looks like we’re going to need a whole lot of solar energy, and fast. And a complex value chain is bracing for soaring demand. In this episode, we work through the risks and opportunities for investors and companies (and not only the ones you’re expecting). Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research Guest: Mathew Lee, MSCI ESG Research

There is a considerate environmental cost to e-cigarettes. The critical metals that make up their batteries are more likely to be found in landfills than recycling facilities. Not only does this pose a problem for the environment but regulators are starting to take notice. In this episode, we discuss the environmental problem of e-cigarettes and what may be done to address it. Then, we discuss the...

This week we discuss why air pollution is a topic that investors may want to take greater interest in. It is not only a macro-economic burden, but also affects every company operating in polluted areas. Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG Research  Guests: Simon Albrecht and Jurgita Balaisyte, MSCI ESG Research

The Colorado river is shrinking and the tens of millions of Americans that rely on the water source are having to deal with the possibility of imposed water cuts. The urban sprawls that have peppered the desert are also in competition with the industries that operate in the area and use the water from the Colorado river: agriculture, semiconductors, and energy. In this week’s episode we discuss wh...

This week we discuss the new anti-obesity drugs that many have claimed could spell an end to the world’s obesity epidemic. But ESG and diseases are not so straight forward. For example, we include diabetes medication but not obesity medication in our access to healthcare key issue. Why is that? We explore the topic in this week’s episode. Host: Mike Disabato, MSCI ESG Research Guest: Namita Nair,...

From being a go-to bank for US tech start-ups, SVB’s collapse was swift and chaotic. As investors and regulators pick through the wreckage, we look at how much of this story was actually about ESG. And we draw a bold line between financially relevant ESG risks and financially relevant financial risks.  Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research Guest: Harlan Tufford, MSCI ESG Research

South Korea’s government has proposed a change to laws governing working hours. We look at why the proposal has not been well received by key stakeholders and what it could mean for how companies manage their workforces in future. And then we look at how shareholders’ approach to climate engagement might be changing, but also staying the same. Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research Guests: SK Kim...

ESG has always been different things to different people. But some of its newest critics suggest that ESG investing is being used to impose liberal ideologies on companies, their investors and their employees. We take a closer look at this backlash in the US, including proposed legislation. Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research Guest: Meggin Eastman, Head of New ESG Research Solutions, MSCI ESG...

A Japanese publishing company allegedly bribed an Olympic committee member to become an official sponsor of the Tokyo Games. As Kadokawa Corp picks up the pieces, we ask what governance factors may have led to this point. And then we look at why doing the “right thing” by sourcing slavery-free cocoa is becoming a regulatory imperative, even for ice cream makers. Host : Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Res...

The derailment of a train carrying possibly hazardous materials near East Palestine, Ohio on February 3 has prompted environmental concerns and chemical fears for residents. They have returned home but even as state officials work to reassure them, many remained concerned. The curious thing about all this is Norfolk Southern, the company that operated the train, did not have to label the rail cars...

There have been over 70,000 people laid off from their jobs in the tech industry – an amount unseen since the dot.com bubble burst. Layoffs are an inevitable part of a capitalist system and, so, come with the territory for companies. But what is not inevitable is the reaction the surviving employees have to seeing their friends and colleagues let go: will they be angry at the company they still wo...

Gautam Adani, whose empire the Adani Group, was rising along with India’s economy. Then a little known US short seller perhaps aptly named Hindenburg released a report that accused the Group of some pretty damaging business practices. Adani said the report was bogus, the market reached anyway, and now one of the most important companies in India is fighting investor perception. But how did this ha...

The US central bank wants climate data from the country’s “big six” banks. It’s a telling shift and one that is echoed across several jurisdictions. We look at what this means for both banks and their investors. Then we jump into the mosh pit of ticket sales to figure out why Live Nation and Ticketmaster keep landing in the headlines. Host: Bentley Kaplan, MSCI ESG Research Guests: Carrie Wang, Si...