All Things Sustainable (formerly ESG Insider)

Welcome to the latest episode in the Terra Carta Series of the All Things Sustainable podcast, a collaboration with the Sustainable Markets Initiative. Throughout 2025, we’ll be interviewing SMI member CEOs across industries and around the world about how they’re approaching sustainability challenges and opportunities.   In this episode, we’re talking with Brennan Spellacy, founder and CEO of Patch, a climate technology company that helps companies manage, sell and buy carbon credits. Brennan says interest in carbon markets is growing as a tool for companies to achieve their climate targets, even amid a challenging current environment.  "Even though the tactics might evolve in the short term, almost every [Chief Sustainability Officer] that I've seen is upping their investments in 2025 and 2026, not cutting them. But how you deploy and how you talk about that deployment is going to obviously evolve," Brennan says.  He outlines how Patch works to drive the integrity of carbon markets by providing companies with a universal framework for evaluating projects across a wide range of technologies on an apples-to-apples basis.  "The core theory of change at Patch is that it's incredibly difficult to understand this market," Brennan says. "And the way we're going to drive scaling within this ecosystem today is to remove the friction to understanding."  About the Terra Carta Podcast Series: The SMI is a network of over 250 global CEOs across finance and industry. It facilitates private sector diplomacy with the ambition of making sustainability the driving force of global markets and value creation. S&P Global is a proud SMI member.  We’re calling this the Terra Carta Series based on the SMI’s Terra Carta mandate. This is the guiding mandate for the SMI and sets out ambitious and practical actions to help the private sector accelerate progress toward a sustainable future. The name Terra Carta is a play on the historic Magna Carta.   Learn more about the S&P Global Sustainable1 Summit [https://www.spglobal.com/esg/events/sustainable1-summit-2025?utm_source=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast&utm_medium=libsyn&utm_campaign=Patch+CEO&utm_id=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast] in Singapore June 26, 2025.  Listen to our first episode [https://www.spglobal.com/esg/podcasts/how-the-sustainable-markets-initiative-convenes-the-public-and-private-sectors-to-drive-solutions?utm_source=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast&utm_medium=libsyn&utm_campaign=Patch+CEO&utm_id=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast] in the Terra Carta series featuring Sustainable Markets Initiative CEO Jennifer Jordan-Saifi.   Listen to our podcast episode [https://podcast%20episode/] about what’s ahead for carbon markets.   Learn about the S&P Global Sustianable1's Energy Transition data [https://energy%20transition%20data/].  This piece was published by S&P Global Sustainable1 and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.     Copyright ©2025 by S&P Global            DISCLAIMER      By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in this Podcast. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice. Unless specifically stated otherwise, S&P GLOBAL does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this Podcast, and information from this Podcast should not be referenced in any way to imply such approval or endorsement. The third party materials or content of any third party site referenced in this Podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of S&P GLOBAL. S&P GLOBAL assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of the content contained in third party materials or on third party sites referenced in this Podcast or the compliance with applicable laws of such materials and/or links referenced herein. Moreover, S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty that this Podcast, or the server that makes it available, is free of viruses, worms, or other elements or codes that manifest contaminating or destructive properties.       S&P GLOBAL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ANY INDIVIDUAL'S USE OF, REFERENCE TO, RELIANCE ON, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS PODCAST OR THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PODCAST.

In the current landscape of geopolitical volatility and policy uncertainty, we’re hearing stakeholders use the term “back to basics” to describe their approach to sustainability. In this episode of the All Things Sustainable podcast, we bring you interviews with three speakers from the annual S&P Global Sustainable1 Summit who describe how businesses are navigating this environment.   We sit down with Jessica Fries, executive chair of accounting for Sustainability (A4S), a not-for-profit that works with finance leaders to drive resilient business models and achieve a sustainable economy. She explains how financial decisionmakers are balancing near-term financial pressures with longer-term sustainability goals.   “We don't see business leaders and finance leaders backing down from those long-term goals. I think everyone is very clear of the consequences of a failure to act with the kind of scale and speed that we need on climate and nature,” she says.  We talk to Min Guan about how some companies are taking a pragmatic approach to balancing different energy sources and supply chains in the transition to a low-carbon economy. Min is head of systems insights at the Energy Transitions Commission, a global coalition of leaders across business, finance and the NGO space committed to reaching net-zero by 2050. She is also a director at sustainability consultancy and investment firm Systemiq.  And we hear directly from an energy company grappling with this balancing act in an interview with Alex Grant, UK country manager for Norway-based Equinor. The company is the largest supplier of energy to Europe and has a portfolio that includes oil and gas, renewables and low-carbon solutions. Alex calls net-zero by 2050 the company’s “guiding star” but says the path won’t be straightforward.    “The energy transition is going to be bumpy,” he says. “What does that mean in practicalities? It means investing across the energy space.”  Listen to podcast coverage of the 2025 CERAWeek conference hosted by S&P Global here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/podcasts/energy-transition-discussions-shift-to-pragmatism-amid-policy-uncertainty [https://www.spglobal.com/esg/podcasts/energy-transition-discussions-shift-to-pragmatism-amid-policy-uncertainty]   Learn more about the S&P Global Sustainable1 Summit in Singapore June 26, 2025: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/events/sustainable1-summit-2025 [https://www.spglobal.com/esg/events/sustainable1-summit-2025]     Learn more about S&P Global’s Energy Transition data here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/solutions/energy-transition?utm_source=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast&utm_medium=libsyn&utm_campaign=HSBCS1Summit&utm_id=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast [https://www.spglobal.com/esg/solutions/energy-transition?utm_source=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast&utm_medium=libsyn&utm_campaign=HSBCS1Summit&utm_id=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast]   This piece was published by S&P Global Sustainable1 and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.    Copyright ©2025 by S&P Global           DISCLAIMER     By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in this Podcast. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice. Unless specifically stated otherwise, S&P GLOBAL does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this Podcast, and information from this Podcast should not be referenced in any way to imply such approval or endorsement. The third party materials or content of any third party site referenced in this Podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of S&P GLOBAL. S&P GLOBAL assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of the content contained in third party materials or on third party sites referenced in this Podcast or the compliance with applicable laws of such materials and/or links referenced herein. Moreover, S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty that this Podcast, or the server that makes it available, is free of viruses, worms, or other elements or codes that manifest contaminating or destructive properties.     S&P GLOBAL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ANY INDIVIDUAL'S USE OF, REFERENCE TO, RELIANCE ON, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS PODCAST OR THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PODCAST.

The transition to a low-carbon economy will require significant investment in energy infrastructure — for everything from building wind, solar and nuclear facilities to electricity grids to charging stations for electric vehicles. In this week’s episode of the All Things Sustainable podcast, we talk to the Chief Executive of HSBC’s Infrastructure Finance and Sustainability unit, Sir Danny Alexander.   Danny was the keynote speaker at the annual summit that S&P Global Sustainable1 hosted in London April 30. We sit down on the sidelines of the event to hear how HSBC, one of the world’s largest banks, approaches financing for energy infrastructure.    "We see the commercial opportunities that come from net-zero transition and the infrastructure that's needed to deliver that, but also that's coming from digital transformation from datacenters," he says. "[W]e are going to substantially increase our business in that space."  Prior to joining HSBC, Danny was a Vice President at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the Beijing-headquartered multilateral development bank. He was also formerly a politician in the UK. In the interview, he explains why infrastructure investment is a theme that resonates around the world. “We need infrastructure to live our daily lives, to grow our economies, to achieve all kinds of both public and private goals that countries and companies and individuals have,” Danny says. “[F]or all the sustainable investment, the core is the commercial opportunity. And so driving infrastructure investment that is commercially viable, that will lead us to many of the sustainable solutions that we're discussing today.”  Learn more about the S&P Global Sustainable1 Summit in Singapore June 26, 2025: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/events/sustainable1-summit-2025 [https://www.spglobal.com/esg/events/sustainable1-summit-2025]    Read the latest research on climate physical risk from S&P Global Sustainable here: For the world’s largest companies, climate physical risks have a $1.2 trillion annual price tag by the 2050s | S&P Global [https://www.spglobal.com/esg/insights/featured/special-editorial/ceraweek-physical-risk?utm_source=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast&utm_medium=libsyn&utm_campaign=HSBCS1Summit&utm_id=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast]    Learn more about S&P Global's Energy Transition data here: Sustainable1 Solutions: Energy Transition | S&P Global [https://www.spglobal.com/esg/solutions/energy-transition?utm_source=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast&utm_medium=libsyn&utm_campaign=HSBCS1Summit&utm_id=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast]  This piece was published by S&P Global Sustainable1, a part of S&P Global.            Copyright ©2025 by S&P Global            DISCLAIMER      By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in this Podcast. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice. Unless specifically stated otherwise, S&P GLOBAL does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this Podcast, and information from this Podcast should not be referenced in any way to imply such approval or endorsement. The third party materials or content of any third party site referenced in this Podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of S&P GLOBAL. S&P GLOBAL assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of the content contained in third party materials or on third party sites referenced in this Podcast or the compliance with applicable laws of such materials and/or links referenced herein. Moreover, S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty that this Podcast, or the server that makes it available, is free of viruses, worms, or other elements or codes that manifest contaminating or destructive properties.      S&P GLOBAL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ANY INDIVIDUAL'S USE OF, REFERENCE TO, RELIANCE ON, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS PODCAST OR THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PODCAST. lib

In recent episodes of the All Things Sustainable podcast, we've heard how some of the biggest companies across sectors are navigating the changing sustainability landscape. In today’s episode, we sit down with one of the world’s largest chemical and plastic production companies, Dow.  “Sustainability used to be something nice to have, but now it’s a key part of the business strategy,” Han Zhang, Ph.D., Dow’s Global Sustainability Director, Packaging and Specialty Plastics, tells us during S&P Global's CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. This is due to regulations, commitments from brand owners, and consumer demand, he says. “All of this creates a lot of opportunities to companies who can develop those sustainable solutions.”  Dow has sustainability targets related to climate change, transforming waste, and advancing a circular economy where products are reused or recycled. Han says the company sees decarbonization and circularity as interconnected issues that can’t be treated in silos.  "We cannot decarbonize the society without circular plastic, and we cannot achieve a circular economy” with higher carbon emissions, Han says. “At Dow as a company, we’re tackling both in the same lens and I highly encourage the industry to do the same.”  Listen to our episode, What's at stake in UN plastic pollution treaty talks [https://www.spglobal.com/esg/podcasts/what-s-at-stake-in-un-plastic-pollution-treaty-talks?utm_source=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast&utm_medium=libsyn&utm_campaign=DowChemical&utm_id=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast] Listen to our episode, What companies are doing to address the plastic pollution problem [https://www.spglobal.com/esg/podcasts/what-companies-are-doing-to-address-the-plastic-pollution-problem?utm_source=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast&utm_medium=libsyn&utm_campaign=DowChemical&utm_id=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast] Learn more about S&P Global's Energy Transition data [https://www.spglobal.com/esg/solutions/energy-transition?utm_source=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast&utm_medium=libsyn&utm_campaign=DowChemical&utm_id=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast]  This piece was published by S&P Global Sustainable1, a part of S&P Global.           Copyright ©2025 by S&P Global           DISCLAIMER     By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in this Podcast. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice. Unless specifically stated otherwise, S&P GLOBAL does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this Podcast, and information from this Podcast should not be referenced in any way to imply such approval or endorsement. The third party materials or content of any third party site referenced in this Podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of S&P GLOBAL. S&P GLOBAL assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of the content contained in third party materials or on third party sites referenced in this Podcast or the compliance with applicable laws of such materials and/or links referenced herein. Moreover, S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty that this Podcast, or the server that makes it available, is free of viruses, worms, or other elements or codes that manifest contaminating or destructive properties.     S&P GLOBAL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ANY INDIVIDUAL'S USE OF, REFERENCE TO, RELIANCE ON, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS PODCAST OR THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PODCAST.

Building out the infrastructure needed for the low-carbon energy transition will require a substantial increase in the production of critical minerals and metals such as copper, nickel, zinc and lithium. These minerals are needed for many different technologies including electric vehicles and battery storage, clean hydrogen, geothermal, wind, solar and electricity networks.   In this episode of the All Things Sustainable podcast, we'll hear how one of the biggest producers of critical minerals, Vale Base Metals, is approaching this increased demand. And we'll explore how the company thinks about balancing those demands with other sustainability issues including community engagement, biodiversity, waste management, and physical climate risks.  We sit down with Vale Base Metals  Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer Emily Olson on the sidelines of S&P Global’s CERAWeek energy conference. Vale Base Metals is a subsidiary of mining company Vale SA with operations in Canada, the UK, Brazil, Japan and Indonesia.  Emily says Vale Base Metals factors sustainability into its operations from the start. “You cannot be a miner without having sustainability in all of its elements integrated into how you run your operations," she says. “It's a big operation — we impact the land, we impact communities. And so for us, your social license and how you are willing to create that mutual and shared value, that's the first stop.”  Emily also discusses how the company is navigating current market uncertainty from tariffs and the potential impacts on the company’s supply chains. “Policy aside, mining needs dependable supply chains,” she says. “We are a long life, long lead business. Having dependable diversified supply chains is really important.”  Read S&P Global Sustainable1 research: Rocks and hard places: The ecosystem risks of mining for energy transition minerals [https://www.spglobal.com/esg/insights/featured/special-editorial/rocks-and-hard-places-the-ecosystem-risks-of-mining-for-energy-transition-minerals?utm_source=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast&utm_medium=libsyn&utm_campaign=ValeBaseMetals&utm_id=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast]  Learn more about the S&P Global Sustainable1 Nature & Biodiversity Risk dataset [https://www.spglobal.com/esg/solutions/nature?utm_source=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast&utm_medium=libsyn&utm_campaign=ValeBaseMetals&utm_id=All+Things+Sustainable+podcast]. This piece was published by S&P Global Sustainable1, a part of S&P Global.           Copyright ©2025 by S&P Global DISCLAIMER     By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in this Podcast. The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice. Unless specifically stated otherwise, S&P GLOBAL does not endorse, approve, recommend, or certify any information, product, process, service, or organization presented or mentioned in this Podcast, and information from this Podcast should not be referenced in any way to imply such approval or endorsement. The third party materials or content of any third party site referenced in this Podcast do not necessarily reflect the opinions, standards or policies of S&P GLOBAL. S&P GLOBAL assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy or completeness of the content contained in third party materials or on third party sites referenced in this Podcast or the compliance with applicable laws of such materials and/or links referenced herein. Moreover, S&P GLOBAL makes no warranty that this Podcast, or the server that makes it available, is free of viruses, worms, or other elements or codes that manifest contaminating or destructive properties.     S&P GLOBAL EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ANY INDIVIDUAL'S USE OF, REFERENCE TO, RELIANCE ON, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS PODCAST OR THE INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PODCAST.