The sustainability podcast Credit Suisse

Shocking ocean plastic statistics in the headlines, plastic bottles floating in rivers, shopping bags in the street – we’ve all witnessed plastic pollution in one form or another. But while plastic pollution is a global problem, plastic itself is a useful and effective material. So how bad are plastics for the environment and how can we reduce their impact? Find out in this month’s sustainability podcast.

Guests: Rob Kaplan, Founder and CEO of Circulate Capital, Dominic Charles, Deputy Director of Plastics, Minderoo Foundation, Livia Heinzmann, Head of Sustainable Investment Framework Classifications, Credit Suisse, Sina Dorner-Muller, Head of Sustainable Investment Framework Methodologies, Credit Suisse

Host: James Gifford, Head of Sustainable & Impact Advisory, Credit Suisse

Read more: Credit Suisse: Plastic pollution: Pathways to net zero https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/assets/corporate/docs/news-and-expertise/articles/2023/06/plastic-pollution-pathways-to-net-zero-report-en.pdf

As the world presses ahead with its net zero targets, there will be a huge increase in demand for green technologies. But the construction of these technologies requires the mining of significantly more minerals than we are mining today. Do we have enough critical minerals for the clean energy transition and how can they be mined in a sustainable way?

Guests: Prof. Dr. Stephan Pfister, Institute of Environmental Engineering (https://ifu.ethz.ch/), Dr. Laura Sonter, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland (https://sees.uq.edu.au/), Dirk Hoozemans, Portfolio Manager at Credit Suisse, Jens Zimmermann, Equity Research Analyst at Credit Suisse

Host: James Gifford, Head of Sustainable & Impact Advisory at Credit Suisse.

Read more: Nature Communications: Renewable energy production will exacerbate mining threats to biodiversity https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17928-5, International Energy Agency: The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions https://www.iea.org/reports/the-role-of-critical-minerals-in-clean-energy-transitions

Globally, 1.4 billion adults do not have access to banking services. This means they live in a cash-only world where they cannot save for their future, take out loans to support their business and family, or buy insurance. We speak with Accion and StepChange, two non-profit organizations doing their part to educate people about financial services and create a more financially inclusive world for all.

Guests: Michael Schlein, President and CEO of Accion (https://www.accion.org/), Vanessa Northam, Head of Charity Development at StepChange (https://www.stepchange.org/)

Hosts: Andrina Schwartz, Head of the Financial Inclusion Initiative at Credit Suisse, Catherine McLean, Investment Writer at Credit Suisse

Further reading: Global Findex Database 2021 https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/globalfindex/Report, Crisis UK article
https://www.crisis.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/uk-government-failing-britain-s-poorest-households-crisis-warns/

Thousands of companies are developing innovations that can help move the world towards a more sustainable economy. And while innovations in areas such as electricity production are crucial to achieving climate goals, other sectors and technologies with significant emissions should not be overlooked. Agriculture, for example. We discuss how cultivated meat, treeless wood and fertilizer replacement can lead to a more sustainable future.

Guests: Amy Chen, COO of Upside Foods (https://upsidefoods.com/), Karsten Temme, CEO and Co-founder of Pivot Bio (https://www.pivotbio.com/), Ashley Beckwith, CEO and Founder of Foray Bioscience (https://www.foraybio.com/)

Host: James Gifford, Head of Sustainable and Impact Advisory at Credit Suisse

Cities and regions are facing increasingly severe weather patterns and natural disasters as a result of climate change, with some populations more vulnerable to the effects than others. In the second of this special three-part series, we explore some lesser-known climate adaptation innovations that could help communities adjust to the current and expected effects of climate change.

Guests: Francesco Benedetti, Co-founder and CEO of Osmoses (https://osmoses.com/), Daniel Betts, Co-founder and CEO of Blue Frontier (https://bluefrontierac.com/), Lukky Ahmed, Co-founder and CEO of Climate X (https://www.climate-x.com/), Angela Saxby, Senior Sustainable Investment Analyst at Credit Suisse

Host: James Gifford, Head of Sustainable and Impact Advisory at Credit Suisse

When we talk about the energy transition, we tend to think of solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles. But these technologies alone are not enough to get the world to “net zero”. In this special three-part podcast series, we discuss emerging technologies – probably unbeknown to most – that could make a really big difference in addressing climate change.

Guests: Kevin Bonebrake, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Quaise Energy (https://www.quaise.energy/), Ted Wiley, Co-founder, President and COO at Form Energy (https://formenergy.com/), Gregg Dixon, CEO at Voltus (https://www.voltus.co/), Michael van der Meer, Head of Sustainable Investment Analysts at Credit Suisse

Host: James Gifford, Head of Sustainable and Impact Advisory at Credit Suisse