The Responsible Investor Podcast

Investors increasingly agree that tackling systemic risks such as climate change, nature loss and AI requires policy engagement – but what does effective engagement look like, who should do it and who pays for it?

In this episode, editor-in-chief Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker speaks to Steve Waygood, former chief sustainable finance officer at Aviva Investors and now CEO of the Finance Transition Centre. Waygood shares lessons from nearly 20 years leading one of the industry’s most respected policy engagement programmes, including helping create the World Benchmarking Alliance.

He explains why policy engagement must be grounded in the investment process, why asset managers as well as owners have a role and how the industry’s free-rider problem could be fixed. He also discusses the difference between engagement and lobbying, the impact of US politics and where engagement could have most impact now.

Governments and stakeholders meet in Yerevan, Armenia, this week for the UN COP17 summit on biodiversity, where they will review progress on the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

Designed to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, the GBF has generated unprecedented engagement and action but current efforts fall well short, a UN report has said – especially on finance.

Investors appreciate the need to engage the policy and regulatory environment, but where should they get started?

In this episode, our nature reporter Gina Gambetta sits down with Ben Allen, senior nature and environment lead at the Principles for Responsible Investment.

Allen digs into key policy areas that investors can focus on, as well as examples of work already underway. He also discusses how nature can be integrated into climate resilience and adaptation.

The AI boom is reshaping the global economy, dominating market discussions and taking over the internet. Not to mention the outside chance it could result in the end of humanity.

On this episode, we speak to Parnassus Investments about how investors are thinking about responsible AI, and how they are engaging on the topic.

Senior reporter Dominic Webb is joined by Marion Macindoe, Parnassus' managing director for sustainable investment strategy, and Krishna Chintalapalli, portfolio manager of the $5.4 billion Parnassus Value Equity Fund and the Parnassus Value Select ETF.

Topics range from AI stewardship to data centre construction and the social licence of AI firms. The episode also explores the use of AI in defence and national security, and how the negative externalities of AI are showing up in Parnassus portfolios.

Climate action is facing headwinds in North America but Canada’s big pension funds are staying the course.

That’s the message from Bertrand Millot, head of sustainability at La Caisse. The $550 billion manager of Quebec’s public pension funds set its first climate strategy in 2017, and by the end of last year, it had $164 billion allocated to “climate action investments”.

In this episode, he explains the evolution of La Caisse’s approach to climate investment over the past decade to RI editor-in-chief Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker.

As well as setting out what La Caisse wants to see from corporates – board-level climate capabilities, credible transition plans and relevant disclosures – Millot makes the case for asset owner involvement in policy engagement, stresses the power of collective action, and looks at the opportunities for investment in climate adaptation.

In the era of president Donald Trump and the ESG backlash, climate diplomats have choppy waters to navigate. Countries are reeling from yet another year of extreme weather as investors look to build resilience into their portfolios.

In this episode, deputy editor Jack Graham talks to Rachel Kyte, the UK special representative for climate, about her role under the UK's new prime minister Andy Burnham, how she interacts with investors and what the world must do to respond to climate extremes.

Topics include how the government is engaging with Trump's United States on energy issues, China's potential hosting of the UN COP33 summit, and her work on changing the risk perception of emerging markets.