What does the retreat from global climate initiatives mean and how are investors are still driving the energy transition outside of them?  Heather Zichal, JPMorgan Chase Global Head of Sustainability, talks about the role of finance in addressing climate change; why an increasing emphasis on climate adaptation makes sense; and how JP Morgan Chase is capacity building in the sustainability space.  

Are there climate risks we shouldn’t be insuring anymore? Dr. Carolyn Kousky, Associate Vice President for Economics and Policy, discusses how climate change is reshaping insurance, what’s at stake if insurance markets begin to break down, and who ultimately bears the financial burden when the private market pulls back.

How could recent legal opinions shift state and private sector climate change obligations? Maurits Dolmans, Cleary Gottlieb, discusses how to rethink the obligations of fiduciary duty relative to climate action; why it may be the key to solving the climate prisoner’s dilemma; and what a legal framework for impact could look like.

What could a nuclear renaissance look like? Professor Katy Huff, former Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, discusses how to frame nuclear energy in a net zero context where nuclear fits into the US energy mix over the next several decades and why US nuclear innovation today is different from the false starts of the past.

How are asset owners emerging to drive the sustainable finance agenda? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Daan Spaargaren, PME Senior Strategist for Responsible Investment, about how PME is evolving its investment approach to include more active, sustainability-driven strategies; what that means functionally in the asset allocation process; and why it’s great to see asset owners like PME take on a bigger leadership role in the sustainable finance ecosystem.

What trade-offs will we need to make to achieve net zero? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Alex Grant, Equinor UK Country Manager, about the state of the energy transition, the trade-offs that we are increasingly facing between security of supply, affordability and decarbonisation; and emerging energy technologies.

How economically grounded is the UK’s net zero commitment? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Sir Dieter Helm, University of Oxford, about what new forces and factors are reshaping net zero ambitions; how the UK should think about optimal climate policy; and why a realist approach is critical for navigating the political economy factors of climate action.

How have politics and geoeconomics turned rare earths and critical minerals into pressure points in the expanding global trade conflict? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Saleem Ali, University of Delaware, about what the energy transition means in the context of environmental security; how multilateral initiatives and increasingly national efforts are working to reshape supply and demand dynamics; and why it’s critical we continue to rethink ways to diversify and secure global critical mineral supply chains.

What happens if access to US climate data becomes more limited? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Benjamin Horton, Director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, about what the political changes in the US could mean for the international scientific community; how that impact translates into access and availability of critical climate datasets; and why some climate scientists are already thinking about substitutes plans and worst case scenarios.

How are asset owners reallocating towards sustainability? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Dan Mikulskis, People’s Partnership CIO, about how the People’s Partnership is doing to evolve its investment strategy; what that means functionally for in a responsible investment context; and why asset owners like People’s Partnership are taking on a bigger leadership role in sustainable finance.

What does 2025 hold for sustainable investing? Jason Mitchell talks to Hortense Bioy, Morningstar Head of Research, about how sustainable investing has reshaped asset flows over the last several years; what the suspension of the net zero initiatives could mean for investors; and why sustainable investing can survive Trump 2.0.

Will investors reset, recalibrate, or retreat from net zero in 2025? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Tom Gosling, London School of Economics, about how to think about the exits among climate initiatives; what the future of net zero commitments could look like; and why, investors—despite their limitations in driving climate outcomes—are still able to have a material effect on climate policy development.

Is sustainable investing facing its own replication crisis? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Andrew King, Boston University, about what the replication crisis represents for sustainable finance; how to think about the incentive problems impacting academic research; and why academic journals and the academic-practitioner community need to be more open to the replication and challenge of existing studies.

How do neighbourhoods shape economic opportunities for children? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Stefanie Deluca, Johns Hopkins University, about why neighbourhoods matter for creating social mobility; some of the outcomes and challenges in her recent paper, “Creating Moves to Opportunity”; and what it takes to create more high-opportunity zones, so families don’t have to continually uproot and move. Professor Stefanie DeLuca is the James Coleman Professor of Sociology and Social Policy at the Johns Hopkins University, director of the Poverty and Inequality Research Lab, and Research Principal at Opportunity Insights at Harvard University. She is one of the foremost qualitative mixed methods researchers on housing and higher education policy. Professor DeLuca co-authored Coming of Age in the Other America, which was named an Outstanding Academic Title from the American Library Association, and won the William F. Goode Award from the American Sociological Association. Stefanie has also been awarded a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Fellowship and a William T. Grant Foundation Scholars Award. She serves on a Federal Research Advisory Commission at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and was named Scholar of the Year by the National Alliance of Resident Services in Assisted and Affordable Housing.

What’s at stake for climate and nature in the current political environment? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Paul Bodnar, Bezos Earth Fund, about the vital role of philanthropic capital; the mission of the Bezos Earth Fund; and how its thinks about funding efforts across mitigation and adaptation as well as the Global North and Global South.   Note: This episode was recorded prior to the recent US election. Paul Bodnar is the Director of Sustainable Finance, Industry, and Diplomacy at the Bezos Earth Fund. He most recently served as Global Head of Sustainable Investing at BlackRock, where he helped build the firm's $500 billion sustainable funds business. Prior to Blackrock, Paul was Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Council member at RMI (formerly Rocky Mountain Institute), where he founded the Center for Climate-Aligned Finance. Paul served in the Obama White House as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Energy and Climate Change at the National Security Council. Prior to that, Paul served at the State Department as US lead negotiator for climate finance.

What grade does the finance industry deserve in terms of pricing climate risk? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Chief Scientist Dr. Sarah Kapnick, about the scope of NOAA’s mission; NOAA’s billion-dollar Weather and Climate Disasters dataset and what it means for weather attribution; and why NOAA itself represents a remarkable value to the US people as an argument against dismantling or privatising it. Dr. Sarah Kapnick is Chief Scientist at NOAA, which plays a critical role in understanding and predicting changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts. Bringing a unique mix of science and finance to NOAA, Dr. Kapnick's background includes serving as a senior climate scientist at JP Morgan Chase, a leadership role at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, and an early career in investment banking. Note: This episode was recorded prior to Dr. Kapnick’s departure from NOAA.

Is ESG a “hopeless muddle”? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, about free markets and free minds; climate and ESG disclosures; the implications of Loper Bright on the Chevron Doctrine and agency authority; and the merits of financial innovation in crypto versus ESG. Commissioner Hester Peirce was appointed by President Donald Trump to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2018. Before joining the SEC, Commissioner Peirce conducted research on the regulation of financial markets at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She was a Senior Counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where she advised Ranking Member Richard Shelby and other members of the Committee on securities issues. Commissioner Peirce served as counsel to SEC Commissioner Paul S. Atkins. She also worked as a Staff Attorney in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management.

Can human capital drive portfolio returns? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Dan Ariely, Duke University, about what a human capital factor looks like; how incentives and the basic idea of “feeling valued “are fundamental drivers behind employee motivation; and why human capital can represent an overlooked source of alpha. Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of psychology and behavioural economics at Duke University. He is a serial entrepreneur, co-founding several companies implementing insights from behavioural science including BEwork, Genie, Irrational Labs, Timeful, and Irrational Capital. Dan has written many books, including three New York Times best-selling books: Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, and The Honest Truth about Dishonesty. His most recent book is Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things. Irrational Capital applies workplace behavioural science, financial acumen, and deep data science to capture the powerful connection between human capital and stock performance. It is the first firm to quantitatively capture the lift that strong corporate culture has on a company’s stock price in an investable way.

What’s the role of an influencer in the effort to address climate change? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Assaad Razzouk, CEO of Gurīn Energy, about what’s at stake in the fight for climate action, how to think about the energy transition in the context of this year’s global electoral cycle, and, of course, why we need more angry clean energy people.

How is the Loan Programs Office providing unprecedented amounts of capital for clean energy innovations? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Jigar Shah, US Department of Energy Loan Programs Office Director, his $215 billion mandate in commercialising clean energy innovations, how these technologies align with US energy security goals and climate commitments, and what the multiplier effect of LPO financing could mean for private sector investment. Jigar Shah is the Director for the Loan Programs Office (LPO) at the US Department of Energy where he leads and directs the organisation's considerable loan authority within manufacturing, innovative project finance, and tribal energy. With more than 25 years of experience in clean energy, he is an expert in project finance, clean technology, and entrepreneurship, as well as a visionary leader and innovator in the field of sustainable infrastructure. Prior to joining the DOE, Jigar co-founded and served as the President of Generate Capital, the leading investment and operating platform for distributed energy storage, microgrids, fuel cells, electric vehicles, and organic waste management. He also founded SunEdison, the inventor of the modern solar-as-a-service industry, and served as the founding CEO of the Carbon War Room, a global non-profit founded by Sir Richard Branson to help entrepreneurs address climate change. Jigar is the author of Creating Climate Wealth: Unlocking the Impact Economy, a book that outlines his mission to scale the transition to a global clean energy economy.