Sustainability Leaders

In this episode of Sustainability Leaders, John Uhren, Managing Director, Sustainable Finance, BMO Capital Markets, moderates a conversation with a group of institutional investors in Canada about the current state and future of sustainable finance. Joining as guests to discuss the challenges they encounter, sense of optimism for the investment category, and important work ahead are: * Elizabeth Wallace, Senior Manager Funding, Ontario Financing Authority; * Barbara Zvan, President & CEO, University Pension Plan; * Simon Senecal, Portfolio Manager, Responsible Investment, Partner, AlphaFixe Capital.

How can companies leverage sustainable strategies as a potential source of competitive advantage? In this episode of Sustainability Leaders, James Burrow, Director, Sustainable Finance at BMO is joined by a panel of experts to explore how incorporating social and environmental considerations could help drive efficiencies and unlock growth opportunities. The panel includes Aysu Katun, VP of Sustainability, Greif; Tim Faveri, VP of Global Sustainability, Nutrien Inc; and Torsten Lichtenau, Partner and Global Head of Carbon Transition Practice, Bain & Company.

The U.S. is a net importer of organic food, and demand for certified organic products represents an opportunity for domestic agricultural businesses. That was one of the main points to come from the latest episode of Sustainability Leaders, hosted by Emily Hobbs, Senior Advisor, BMO Climate Institute, and featuring Jessy Beckett Parr, Chief Program Officer, California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF).   "There is a strong and growing demand for certified organic products here in the United States. It's being driven by Millennials and Gen Z, but it's across all categories of age, demographic, geography," said Parr. "We have the power and the potential in American producers here domestically to meet the demand for organic.”

Renewable energy generation continues to grow and increase the need to store energy efficiently and economically for longer durations of time. In the latest episode of Sustainability Leaders, Jayen Veerapen, Senior Advisor with the BMO Climate Institute, explores how zinc-based batteries and storage assets could be an interesting alternative to lithium-ion battery chemistries. His guest is James Larsen, CEO of e-Zinc, an energy storage technology developer with projects in Canada and the US.   “At the stage we're at right now, the modest amount of renewable energy we actually have on the grid, it only really necessitates energy storage assets that have the ability to discharge energy for a few hours. But if you extrapolate out the curve and really think about what does 2030 look like, what does 2040 look like, and beyond, and think about the volume of renewable energy that's coming on line, it's going to create more and more significant imbalances between that supply and demand,” Larsen said.

In his New York Times-Bestselling book Cheaper, Faster, Better, Tom Steyer reframes climate change not as a crisis to fear, but as a once-in-a-century opportunity to build something better. In the latest episode of Sustainability Leaders, Melissa Fifield, Head of the BMO Climate Institute, and Grégoire Baillargeon, Vice-Chair BMO Climate Institute, sit down with Tom Steyer, Co-Executive Chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions, to discuss his thoughts on investment opportunities and climate change.