Climate Risk Podcast GARP

Hear from Catherine Howarth OBE, CEO of ShareAction, as we dive into the world of shareholder activism and how it can be used to guide institutional investors towards sustainable behaviours.
Moving away from fossil fuels is unambiguously the most crucial step in the transition to a sustainable net-zero world. And yet, governments and institutional investors worldwide continue to heavily subsidise and invest in the fossil fuel industry. The longer we delay the transition, the greater the risks that we face. So, how can we break this cycle?
Today’s guest has been focused on this and other sustainability issues throughout her career. That’s why in this episode, we’ll be exploring her world of shareholder activism, discussing:
The toolkit for influencing institutional investors, including naming and shaming the worst performers;

The different challenges when engaging with banks, insurers, and asset managers;

And how shareholder activism can go beyond climate to create a more sustainable future for us all. To find out more about the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR®) Certificate, follow this link: https://www.garp.org/scr
For more information on climate risk, visit GARP’s Global Sustainability and Climate Risk Resource Center: https://www.garp.org/sustainability-climate
If you have any questions, thoughts, or feedback regarding this podcast series, we would love to hear from you at: climateriskpodcast@garp.com

Links from today’s discussion:
ShareAction’s homepage - https://shareaction.org/ Living Wage Foundation’s homepage - https://www.livingwage.org.uk/
  Speaker’s Bio(s) Catherine Howarth OBE, CEO of ShareAction
Catherine has been Chief Executive of ShareAction since July 2008. ShareAction is the leading civil society organisation in Europe promoting responsible investment, transparency and good governance by institutional investors. Catherine is a board member of the Scott Trust, owner of the Guardian Media Group, and a member of HM Treasury’s task force on asset management.
She was a Member Nominated Trustee of The Pensions Trust (the multi-employer pension scheme for the UK’s not-for-profit sector) for five years, where she served on the Investment Committee of this £7bn fund. In 2011, Catherine was named a ‘Rising Star of Corporate Governance’ by Yale University’s Millstein Center, and in 2014 she was recognised by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader in 2014.
Catherine holds a First Class BA in Modern History from Oxford University and an MSc in Industrial Relations from the London School of Economics.

Hear from David Carlin, Head of Risk at the UNEP Finance Initiative, as we dive into their latest reports covering the climate risk tool landscape, the use of AI in disclosures, and 1.5 degree warming scenarios.
As the world’s leading authority on the environment, the United Nations Environment Programme (or UNEP), has a mission to inspire, inform, and enable nations and peoples to improve their quality of life, without compromising that of future generations. And, they recognise the critical role of the financial system in achieving this goal. Through UNEP FI – their Financial Initiative – they convene networks of banks, insurers and investors to help accelerate sustainable development, as well as manage the associated risks. 
Today’s guest is an energetic part of this network, helping financial firms tackle issues such as climate scenario analysis, climate risk assessments, and navigating the world of sustainability regulation. In this episode, we’ll explore some key insights from his work, including:
·       How the landscape of climate risk tools and analytics providers is changing, for example with the increased use of Machine learning and AI;
·       The challenges of translating the science of climate change to actionable insights for financial practitioners.
·       And our guests’ secrets for reaching 100,000 followers on LinkedIn to help drive awareness of these vitally important topics.
To find out more about the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR®) Certificate, follow this link: https://www.garp.org/scr
For more information on climate risk, visit GARP’s Global Sustainability and Climate Risk Resource Center: https://www.garp.org/sustainability-climate
If you have any questions, thoughts, or feedback regarding this podcast series, we would love to hear from you at: climateriskpodcast@garp.com

Links from today’s discussion:
UNEPFI homepage – https://www.unepfi.org/ UNEPFI’s 2024 Climate Risk Landscape Report – https://www.unepfi.org/themes/climate-change/2024-climate-risk-landscape/ David Carlin’s LinkedIn page - https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-carlin7/

Speaker’s Bio David Carlin, Head of Risk, United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEPFI)
David and his team support financial actors across the world to develop best practices for managing environmental risks and identifying environmental opportunities.
Alongside his current role, David advises the Task Force on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) and is the founder of Cambium Global Solutions, which helps governments, corporations, and financial institutions address environmental challenges. Prior to his current role, David worked as a Principal in Finance, Risk, and Public Policy for Oliver Wyman.

Hear from George Marshall, Author of “Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired To Ignore Climate Change,” as we dive into the psychology of climate change.
If you follow this podcast, you probably already have a good understanding of the nature of climate change, the risks it poses and why we need to act decisively and with urgency. But many people don’t listen to the podcast, and even if they did, they might think it was a lot of nonsense. Depending on people’s worldview, values, and socio-cultural background, the same message can be interpreted in many ways. That’s why in today’s episode, we’re focusing on the psychology of climate change. We’ll be exploring questions such as:
·       What is it about the human brain that makes it so hard for us to accept the reality of climate change and take steps to address it?
·       How is it possible that, when presented with overwhelming evidence of climate change, even the evidence of our own eyes, we can still choose to ignore it?
·       And given our biases and shortcomings, how can we still find effective ways to communicate the dangers of climate change to audiences that are typically closed off to receiving those messages?
To find out more about the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR®) Certificate, follow this link: https://www.garp.org/scr
For more information on climate risk, visit GARP’s Global Sustainability and Climate Risk Resource Center: https://www.garp.org/sustainability-climate
If you have any questions, thoughts, or feedback regarding this podcast series, we would love to hear from you at: climateriskpodcast@garp.com


Speaker’s Bio George Marshall, Author and Climate Change Communication Expert
George is a consultant in the public communication of climate change, and the psychological obstacles to attitude and behaviour change. His key interest is the design of narratives that can build a consensus for climate action across the whole of society. His insights draw on hundreds of focus groups and structured interviews listening to people expressing their hopes, fears and doubts about climate change. 
His book “Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change”, explores the social and psychological obstacles to climate action. It is currently on its seventh printing and was listed by Esquire as one of the ‘15 essential books on climate change.’

Hear from Simon Sharpe, Director of Economics at the UNFCCC Climate Champions, as we explore three key problems that are impeding the transition to net-zero and how to address them.
We know that reaching net zero emissions quickly enough to avoid the worst impacts of climate change will be very challenging. But are we making it even more difficult than it needs to be?
Today’s guest thinks so, particularly when it comes to climate science, economics, and climate diplomacy. That’s why in today’s episode, we’ll be looking at how we could make all three work more effectively.  We’ll explore:
·       How climate science must change in order to generate meaningful action within our political institutions;
·       How economists became overly fixated on carbon pricing, while missing other policies that would be even more impactful in accelerating the transition to net zero;
·       And how the current model of climate diplomacy could be altered to allow for faster net zero negotiations.
To find out more about the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR®) Certificate, follow this link: https://www.garp.org/scr
For more information on climate risk, visit GARP’s Global Sustainability and Climate Risk Resource Center: https://www.garp.org/sustainability-climate
If you have any questions, thoughts, or feedback regarding this podcast series, we would love to hear from you at: climateriskpodcast@garp.com
 
Speaker’s Bio Simon Sharpe, Director of Economics, UNFCCC Climate Champions
Simon took up his current role in early 2022, having previously held several senior positions in the UK government, including as Deputy Director of the COP26 Unit, and as Head of Climate Change Strategy for both the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
In 2013-15, he created an international climate change risk assessment project, working with experts from the UK, USA, China, India, and other countries. In addition to influencing the understanding and assessment of climate change risk in its partner countries, its findings were extensively cited by the Scientific Advisory Board of the UN Secretary General. It also inspired new thinking in the academic community, with a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change using it to argue that ‘climate science needs to take risk assessment much more seriously’. More recently, he has worked with partners in the UK, China, India and Brazil to create the world’s first government-backed project to apply complexity economics to climate change. His paper on economic tipping points, ‘Upward-scaling tipping cascades to meet climate goals: plausible grounds for hope’, was the most downloaded paper in Climate Policy journal in 2021.
Simon has published influential reports and created ground-breaking international projects in climate change risk assessment, economics, and diplomacy. His recent book, “Five Times Faster,”  draws from Simon’s ten years’ experience at the forefront of climate change policy and diplomacy.

Hear from Dr. Jakob Thomae, Project Director for the Inevitable Policy Response, as we discuss their latest forecast and what it means for the transition to net-zero.
Scenario analysis is the natural tool for anyone wanting to understand how climate-related risks might evolve over coming decades. The vast majority of climate scenarios, regardless of who produced them or what level of warming they predict, tend to report similar levels of physical risk over the next couple of decades or so. However, predictions about transition risk tend to be quite different between scenarios.
This episode focuses in on the transition, and in particular the extraordinary work being done by the Inevitable Policy Response (IPR) to figure out the most likely course of the transition to net zero. We’ll explore:
·         The IPR’s surprisingly optimistic forecast, and they believe the world might look like by the end of the century;
·         The methodology behind their forecast, and how it differs from the scenarios produced by other groups; and
·         What this forecast means for risk and finance professionals.

To find out more about the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR®) Certificate, follow this link: https://www.garp.org/scr
For more information on climate risk, visit GARP’s Global Sustainability and Climate Risk Resource Center: https://www.garp.org/sustainability-climate
If you have any questions, thoughts, or feedback regarding this podcast series, we would love to hear from you at: climateriskpodcast@garp.com
Links from today’s discussion:
The Inevitable Policy Response: https://ipr.transitionmonitor.com/ Theia Finance Labs (formerly known as the 2° Investing Initiative): https://theiafinance.org/ Jakob’s first book, ‘The Kill Score: On the Trail of Our Ecological and Social Footprint’: https://rb.gy/ydnxvu Paris Agreement Capital Transition Assessment (PACTA): https://pacta.rmi.org/ The International Energy Agency (IEA): https://www.iea.org/ How Bad are Bananas? by Mike Berners-Lee: https://howbadarebananas.com/ Jakob’s second book, ‘The Little Book of Big Risks: From Atomic Bombs to a Zombie Apocalypse’: https://rb.gy/8lk1no  
Speaker’s Bio Dr. Jakob Thomae, Project Director, Inevitable Policy Response
Jakob Thomae is one of the leading global experts on sustainable finance and long-term risks. In June 2023, Jakob was appointed Project Director for the Inevitable Policy Response (IPR), a climate transition forecasting consortium commissioned by the Principles for Responsible Investment. The IPR helps investors navigate the risks and opportunities arising from climate policy acceleration, volatility and transition.
Jakob is the co-founder of Theia Finance Labs (formerly known as the 2° Investing Initiative) where he currently serves as Research Director. Jakob is also Professor in Practice at SOAS, University of London, where he teaches a Green Finance course. His recent book "The Kill Score” explores the impact of sustainability on human lives.
Jakob has served as advisor to central banks around the world including the Japanese Financial Services Agency, the Brazilian Central Bank, the Bank of Thailand, the Bank of England, the Bundesbank, the Dutch Central Bank, and EIOPA. He holds a PhD in Finance from the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers.

Hear from Thomas Vaassen, Co-Founder and CEO of Meridia, to learn how the EU Deforestation Directive is changing the nature of data required across supply chains.
Supply chains are becoming an ever-greater focus for risk professionals. Firms increasingly want to measure the carbon footprint of their suppliers, or better understand their resilience, in the face of increasingly severe weather shocks. We are also seeing legislation driving greater transparency, which hinges on our ability to get accurate data.
Although often taken for granted in the developed world, having good quality data on property rights is not a given in many parts of the world and this, in turn, makes analysis of complex and often remote components of supply chains very challenging.
That’s why today’s episode will focus on:
How legislation, such as the European Deforestation regulation, is changing the data landscape for firms; The practical challenges for obtaining good quality property rights data in remote locations; and
How the world of data might change over coming years, with advances in technology and data collection.  To find out more about the Sustainability and Climate Risk (SCR®) Certificate, follow this link: https://www.garp.org/scr
For more information on climate risk, visit GARP’s Global Sustainability and Climate Risk Resource Center: https://www.garp.org/sustainability-climate
If you have any questions, thoughts, or feedback regarding this podcast series, we would love to hear from you at: climateriskpodcast@garp.com



Speaker’s bio Thomas Vaassen, Co-Founder and CEO of Meridia
Thomas is currently the CEO of Meridia, a data partner that focuses on traceability and transparency, living income, and regenerative agriculture. Prior to this role, he was the Founder and CTO of Meridia, where they provided affordable land documentation to smallholder farmers. Thomas also served as the Program Director of the Investment Ready Program NL, where he helped green ventures prepare for investment and growth. Thomas has a background in managing social and sustainable initiatives, as Managing Director of Impact Hub Amsterdam, and the Chairman of the Board for Impact Hub Association. Additionally, he co-founded Blik-Opener, an organization that offers career coaching and development programs. Thomas also has experience in consulting, as a Founding Partner of Realize!, a consulting company that specializes in organizing for fast growth.