The climate transition is expected to require significant capital expenditures, with private equity being an important vehicle. In this episode of the ESG Currents podcast, Vikram Raju, head of Private Equity Climate Investing for Morgan Stanley Investment Management, joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s senior ESG analyst Shaheen Contractor. They discuss the financial viability and risks of climate-focused investments, the complexities of measuring impact, investment themes with untapped potential and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Danny Rice on Role of Nat Gas in Energy Transition
Natural gas is often referred to as a bridge fuel. Though some see it as a lower-carbon alternative to coal and oil for reliable electricity, others regard it as a methane-loaded detour to a zero-carbon future. In this week’s episode of ESG Currents, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior ESG Analyst Rob Du Boff sits down with Danny Rice, co-founder of Rice Energy and CEO of Net Power, a company that aims to generate cleaner power from natural gas. They discuss the challenges of finding clean, reliable and affordable energy, the importance of complementing renewables with baseload power sources, and the impact of AI on electricity demand.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Using AI to Dissect Sustainability Regulations
How can AI help navigate the complex, varied and piecemeal world of ESG regulations? In this episode of the ESG Currents podcast, Irena Vodenska, professor of finance and director of finance programs at Boston University’s Metropolitan College, joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s senior ESG analysts Shaheen Contractor and Rob Du Boff. They discuss a study that uses the power of AI to help dissect sustainability regulations. Learn more about key findings, including most-regulated themes, countries with the highest number of regulations and the superiority of AI vs. keyword-based models. The episode was recorded on June 18.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Malaysia's CIMB Seeks to Reshape Global Palm Oil
"Exiting or reducing financing for palm oil is something we're absolutely not trying to do. Instead we're trying to support sustainable palm oil, without deforestation and planting on peat or exploitation," says Luanne Sieh, group chief sustainability officer at Malaysia's CIMB Group. On this ESG Currents episode, Sieh and Conrad Tan, Bloomberg Intelligence ESG integration analyst for APAC, explore the bank's efforts guided by science to curb destructive practices and bad actors in the palm industry while supporting its key role in providing jobs, food security and dietary access in the developing world. They also discuss the importance of uplifting smallholders at risk of being cut out of global supply chains. This episode was recorded on May 30, 2025.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Detours Around Challenges to California Standards
California has long led the US in tackling air emissions, but Congress recently voted to block a key tool employed by the state to accomplish its goals. In this episode of ESG Currents, BI senior ESG analysts Gail Glazerman and Rob Du Boff are joined by Mary Nichols, distinguished counsel for the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA, who previously served as chair of the California Air Resources Board. They discuss implications of the auto-emissions waiver repeal, ways the state could still push emissions improvements and how companies may respond to the rollback in federal ambitions. This episode was recorded on June 5.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
ESG has become established as a key business theme as companies and investors seek to navigate the climate crisis, energy transition, social megatrends, mounting regulatory attention and pressure from other stakeholders. The rapidly evolving landscape has become inundated with acronyms, buzz words, and lingo and we aim to break these down with industry experts.
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