Inside Impact Investing

Joop Hessels and Jeroen van Herwaarden - Does the EU Green Bond Standard deliver on its promise?

In this episode, Rosl Veltmeijer discusses first experiences applying the EU Green Bond Standard in practice with Joop Hessels, Executive Director and Head of Sustainable Markets at ABN-Amro and Jeroen van Herwaarden, fund manager of the Triodos Euro Bond Impact Fund. The EU Green Bond Standard is a new standard for use-of-proceeds bonds. Like any other bond label, it is a voluntary standard introduced by the European Commission as part of the broader EU Action Plan. Launched in December 2024 with the purpose of stimulating green investments, it has been tested for almost a year now. A good moment to evaluate how it works in practice with two specialists. Joop Hessels looks at the EU GBS from an issuer perspective whereas Jeroen van Herwaarden approaches the topic from the investor angle.   This episode is a follow-up on a previous podcast we did on the EU Taxonomy and the EU Green Bond Standard: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4lOww9NohwzUmIN9wH2faS?si=yKCkdUL3Qv-kkNIXKGt5bw ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Matt Goodwin and Sjoerd Rozing - Why Child Lens Investing matters

In this episode, Rosl Veltmeijer sits down with Matt Goodwin, Head of Sustainable Investing at the Global Child Forum, and Sjoerd Rozing, portfolio manager Future Generations at Triodos Investment Management, to explore the concept of Child Lens Investing from the perspective of online safety for children.   Children are our future - future consumers, workers, innovators and caregivers. Yet, despite their significance, their interests are often overlooked in economic and financial decision-making. Investors play a crucial role in shaping the world that future generations will inherit. By applying a child lens to investing, they can move beyond short-term returns and focus on building a sustainable, inclusive and thriving global economy. Read more about the concept of Child Lens Investing in this handbook: Investor Handbook Child-Lens Investing [https://www.triodos-im.com/articles/2025/investor-handbook-child-lens-investing] More about Global Child Forum can be found on their website: globalchildforum.org [https://globalchildforum.org/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

David Kuijper and Judith Santbergen - Understanding the impact potential of blended finance

In this episode, Karel Nierop explores the intriguing landscape of blended finance with David Kuijper, CEO of The Association of European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI) [https://edfi.eu/] and Judith Santbergen, Fund Manager of the Hivos-Triodos Fonds, a blended finance instrument avant-la-lettre. Kuijper explains what blended finance entails and how it is needed to get important transitions going, especially in emerging markets. Santbergen elaborates on Hivos-Triodos Fonds' ability to do smaller transactions, focusing on SMEs in high impact sectors in emerging markets. Tailored to meet investors’ requirements - be it fiduciary or regulatory - blended finance can open new markets and offer diversification.   Despite the difficulties in scaling up, both guests see strong opportunities for blended finance. Given the demographic developments with Europe ageing and declining in population while the global south is young and growing, combined with Europe’s enormous amount of pension savings, there is an urgent need to transition European private capital to emerging markets. Blended finance facilities can help change the direction of private capital flows, for example in sectors where blended finance has proven to work like renewable energy and resilient infrastructure. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Kayoko Lyons and Tim Crijns - Investing in financial inclusion

In this episode Karel Nierop sits down with Kayoko Lyons, Director of Investments at the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart and Tim Crijns, Portfolio Manager Financial Inclusion at Triodos Investment Management to explore the world of financial inclusion.   Tim explains how microfinance works, why the actual risks are often lower than perceived, and how local economies show strong resilience. Kayoko shares her investment journey, highlighting the crucial role of financial services in economic development and encouraging new investors to be bold, start small and do something. Together, they discuss future trends, the role of technology, and the importance of maintaining a strong impact mission. The episode closes with practical insights into how investors can contribute responsibly to expanding global financial access. More information about the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart: Welcome to the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus | Bringing Christ's love to the world [https://www.mothercabrini.org/] More information about the benefits of backing financial services in emerging markets: The benefits of backing financial services in emerging markets [https://www.preqin.com/insights/research/blogs/the-benefits-of-backing-financial-services-in-emerging-markets] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Lewis Johnston and Joeri de Wilde - Could the ESG backlash kill sustainable investing?

The geopolitical storm we are in has accelerated a development that was already visible for some years: a fierce backlash on ESG. In this podcast, Rosl Veltmeijer discusses the implications of this backlash with Lewis Johnston, director of policy at ShareAction and Triodos economist Joeri de Wilde. Together they analyse the events and circumstances that led to the ESG backlash and try to answer the question if we are witnessing a structural shift away from ESG investing or only a temporary setback. Read Joeri's column 'No shift away from sustainability' here: BlackRock never really had sustainable ambitions, more and more citizens do [https://www.triodos-im.com/articles/2025/column-joeri-de-wilde---blackrock-never-really-had-sustainable-ambitions-more-and-more-citizens-do] Find out more about the activities of ShareAction here: ShareAction | Harness the power of investment [https://shareaction.org/]   ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.