Perspectives in Business Juan Carlos Giraldo

There is currently political polarization in the United States regarding Sustainable Investing and the environmental, social, and governance metrics, also well-known as ESG. My guest for this episode is Urban Larson. Urban is a Sustainable Finance Advisor at White Pine Advisory and a professor of Sustainable Investing at Duke University. Visit: www.whitepineadvisory.com We discuss why ESG metrics have become politicized these days and the critical aspects of his interesting article: “ESG Backlash: Why Politicians Attack Sustainable Investing?”  

Un pilar fundamental que puede ayudar a las empresas a tomar decisiones más informadas y diseñar estrategias adecuadas para avanzar en su camino a la sostenibilidad es el Life Cycle Assessment o LCA. El LCA nos va a ayudar a identificar el impacto ambiental en todo el proceso de vida de un producto. En este episodio me acompaña desde Londres, el Reino Unido, Adrian Garyacochea, un analista que conoce muy bien el Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) con el cual conversamos acerca del concepto, beneficios, retos y etapas y mas acerca del LCA. Contacta con Adrian Garaycochea su perfil de LinkedIn  https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-garaycochea-3530b1117/

The energy transition faces many challenges, and mining companies play an essential role in this energy transition with the need for critical minerals. Mining companies have an excellent opportunity to contribute to the energy transition by providing many raw materials. Implementing best practices in ESG (environmental, social, and governance) is crucial in this essential industry. The goal of having responsible mining also represents risks and challenges, but, at the same time, many opportunities today and in the years to come. To discuss these topics, my guest in this episode is Melissa Barbanell. Melissa Barbanell, is the Director of International Engagement US for the World Resources Institute, has over 20 years of experience in environmental policy, government affairs, climate advocacy, and responsible mining.

I read an interesting article published by Deloitte titled "Economic Uncertainty Puts Pressure on Sustainable Behavior Change." Discussing this article with some of my colleagues would be a great opportunity. In this episode, my guests are from Denmark. Josephine Piplits is the founder and CEO of TripDoodler. Tripodoodler is a company with one purpose: to make it easier for travelers to make more sustainable choices through sustainability information for their travel choices. My other guest is Douglas Marett, director of GH Sustainability. GH Sustainability provides companies worldwide with innovative results in sustainable solutions, climate change, energy, and the environment. As a co-host, I have Giorgos Papagianakis from Athens, Greece. Giorgos is an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Peloponnese in Greece. He is interested in Corporate Sustainability and Innovation and studies why and how organizations incorporate socio-environmental perspectives into their decisions and strategies. For this episode, we will analyze parts of the Deloitte article and provide our perspective on consumer behavior and interest, as well as how the economic aspect could be a factor in changing behavior toward the consumption of sustainable products. As a previous note, this episode's participants, including myself, have no business relationship with Deloitte, and our opinions are based on our analysis of the article. Visit:  

ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) is a very broad field of expertise with many challenges ranging from diversity, investments, and the impact on the environment that any organization has, and even many of these companies are redesigning their business models to adjust themselves to these challenges. However, one of the pillars of ESG is the ratings. In this episode, my guest is Florian Berg. Florian Berg is a research scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management; his research interests cover sustainable investing with a focus on ESG ratings, the disagreement between different rating agencies, and how it affects investors, firms, and academic research.  What is the definition of ESG rating, and why are they important for organizations?  How can we identify if a company has good performance in ESG ratings? What would be a good ESG rating? Is rating ESG rating agencies the solution for this task? What industries have more challenges measuring ESG ratings?

Nowadays, sustainable finance is growing every day. How important is it to invest in companies that positively impact the world? In this episode, I talk with Bertrand Gacon, the founder and CEO of Impaakt a company based on Geneva, Switzerland. Impaakt is a collaborative platform relying on collective intelligence to produce research and assessments of companies' social and environmental impact. Its mission is to bring impact analysis to the heart of all investment decisions so that capital can be directed to businesses with the best possible impact on the planet and society.