Financing Impact

SciFi - Societal Impact Financing Initiative @ ESMT Berlin
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Financing Impact is a podcast about funding and scaling societal impact. To bring you fresh ideas, we conduct interviews with thought leaders from different backgrounds. This podcast is brought to you by SciFi, the Societal Impact Financing Initiative at ESMT Berlin. For feedback on the show or to suggest guests for future episodes, contact us at scifi@esmt.org

  1. 01/30/2025

    Insuring climate risk - with Helke Waelde and Daniela Zimmermann

    In episode 15, we discuss how insurance can increase resilience to climate risk. Our two guests and their respective organizations cooperate to provide climate risk insurance for developing countries. Dr. Helke Waelde is a senior sector economist at the KfW Development Bank, and Dr. Daniela Zimmermann is senior manager for regulatory affairs at the reinsurance company Hannover Re. In cooperation on climate risk solutions such as the Natural Disaster Fund (NDF), insurance policies are provided which lead to a quick payout to beneficiaries in developing countries in case of an extreme weather event. So-called parametric insurance solutions are geared towards providing quick liquidity when a pre-determined extreme weather event occurs. They thereby put the policyholders, for example governments of developing countries, in a position to provide quick relief to affected populations.  KfW Development Bank and Hannover Re also work jointly on policy briefs to inform discussions around the financial contributions of the Global North to address climate risk in developing countries. Links ·       Natural Disaster Fund (NDF) Impact Report 2023 ·       Joint development research brief by KfW and Hannover Re on the responsibility of the Global North regarding climate risk in developing countries (attribution theory) ·       The Insurance Development Forum ·       The Global Shield against Climate Risks ·       The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage   Timestamps On some podcast players, you should be able to jump to the section by clicking: (01:34) – Helke and Daniela introduce themselves (06:19) – Difference between an insurer and a reinsurer (08:31) – The role of reinsurance in diversifying risk (09:28) – KfW's mandate as a development bank and the need to insure climate risk (10:48) – The 3 tasks of KfW when it comes to climate risk (11:38) – Providing fast liquidity to partner countries in the case of a climate event (13:06) – The Natural Disaster Fund (NDF) (13:35) – Explanation of parametric solutions (14:25) – More details on the Natural Disaster Fund (NDF) (17:09) – Working with financial inclusion providers (19:02) – Role distribution between the partners involved in the NDF (22:18) – Responsibility of the Northern Hemisphere towards developing countries (23:53) – Attribution theory policy paper (29:03) – What is needed to mobilize more private investment for climate finance (32:42) – The importance of a stable and reliable legal and regulatory framework and access to cross-border reinsurance possibilities   Contact For feedback on the show or to suggest guests for future episodes, contact us at scifi@esmt.org

    41 min

  2. 12/12/2024

    Bridging the climate finance divide – with Mahmoud Mohieldin

    For our 14th episode, I invited Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin to discuss the climate finance divide and how to overcome it. The climate finance divide is the gap between the funding needed and funding available to tackle the global climate crisis. It is particularly stark in developing and emerging economies, as these countries face high levels of debt and limited sources of public revenue.  Because developing countries are responsible for far less of the Co2 emissions than developed countries, yet suffer more from the consequences of it, bridging the climate finance divide calls for international solutions.  My guest just returned from COP29 and shares his insights from there and from his career dedicated to finance and international development. Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin is an economist who has held roles as Executive Director of the IMF Group, Senior Vice President at the World Bank and Minister of Investment of Egypt. Currently, he is UN Special Envoy for Financing the 2030 agenda.   Links ·       ·       Third report of the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance (November 2024) ·       Remarks by World Bank Group President Ajay Banga at the 2023 Annual Meetings Plenary ·       The Guardian's analysis of the operationalization of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement at COP29 ·       2024 Implementation Report on the Sharm El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda ·       Text of the Paris agreement (2015)     Timestamps On some podcast players, you should be able to jump to the section by clicking: (01:46) - Mahmoud Mohieldin introduces himself (03:53) – Climate finance is insufficient, inefficient, and unfair (07:46) – Bias against adaptation finance (13:12) – Debt-for-climate-swaps (14:37) – Bilateral and multilateral financing institutions as risk mitigators or credit enhancers (16:25) – Perceived risk vs real risk in developing and emerging markets (17:39) – The role of guarantees to bring in more private capital (19:46) – COP29 in Baku (20:43) – Article 6 of the Paris Agreement (21:45) – The NCQG (New Collective Quantified Goal for climate finance) (24:46) – Policy developments in the United States / Inflation Reduction Act (31:59) – The Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda (33:53) – Blended finance   Contact For feedback on the show or to suggest guests for future episodes, contact us at scifi@esmt.org

    39 min

  3. 12/05/2024

    Financing climate tech – with Baris Efe and Danijel Višević

    In our 13th episode, Baris Efe and Danijel Višević discuss the financing landscape for climate tech. Danijel Višević is General Partner and Co-Founder of World Fund, a Berlin-based climate tech VC (fund size € 300 M, 18 investments so far). Baris Efe is the Co-Founder and Head at Vali Berlin, the entrepreneurship hub of ESMT business school. We discuss why we need tech to tackle the climate crisis and the role of venture capital to finance it. Baris and Danijel analyze the state of European competitiveness and what can be done to improve it.   Links ·       The World Fund White Paper on investing in climate tech ·       Vali Berlin, the entrepreneurship hub at ESMT ·       The Draghi report on the future of European competitiveness ·       PwC's report on the state of climate tech 2024 ·       The EU inc petition   Timestamps On some podcast players, you should be able to jump to the section by clicking: (01:26) – Danijel and Baris introduce themselves (04:43) – Why we need tech to tackle the climate crisis (05:45) – The role of venture capital to finance climate solutions (07:35) – European venture capital vs other geographies (08:36) – European competitiveness, the Draghi report, and our chance to step up (10:20) – Pension funds investing in VC (11:28) – How Danijel became a VC investor (15:53) – Baris' approach to working with climate start-ups at Vali Berlin (19:26) – The World Fund's Climate Performance Potential (CPP) approach to assess the emissions savings potential of technologies they invest in (26:16) – Baris and Danijel each share an example of a start-up that inspires them (33:07) – Danijel and Baris on what they hope the next German government will tackle (37:27) – Failures are your friends (40:45) – The need for EU Inc (42:25) – Outlook for VC investing   Contact For feedback on the show or to suggest guests for future episodes, contact us at scifi@esmt.org

    46 min

  4. 06/05/2024

    Research-Practice Partnerships - with Katia Halabi and Raji Jayaraman

    In our 12th episode, Katia Halabi and Raji Jayaraman explain and discuss research-practice partnerships (RPPs) and share their experiences. Katia is a practitioner and head of the TVET (technical and vocational education and training) component of a project commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in Rwanda with co-funding by the European Union. Raji is a researcher and professor of economics at ESMT Berlin as well as the co-director of the Forward Society Lab. We explore the characteristics of RPPs, and how such a partnership is implemented in an ongoing project in Rwanda. We delve into the role of quantitative data and rigorous evidence in policymaking and of course discuss how this is linked to financing impact with taxpayers' money. Links ·       The Forward Society Lab Time stamps On some podcast players, you should be able to jump to the section by clicking: (01:24) – Raji and Katia introduce themselves (02:11) – Raji explains what a research-practice partnership (RPP) is (02:47) – The role of rigorous evidence to inform policy decisions (03:44) – Katia shares her motivation as a practitioner to engage in an RPP (05:00) – The matchmaking exercises that brough practitioners and researchers together (07:22) - Katia explains the context of the project she is working on in Rwanda (09:43) – Raji explains what is evaluated in this RPP: whether training makes a difference for both teachers' pedagogy as well as students' learning outcomes (10:37) - The role of randomization to generate rigorous evidence (12:56) - Katia describes the motivation of the Rwanda government to learn from the RPP (14:32) – Raji on the necessity for research to speak to concerns of citizens and marginalized communities (17:36) – Katia on why the use of taxpayers' money should be evaluated (21:09) – Raji shares examples of things that cannot be evaluated through an RCT (randomized control trial) (23:47) – Success factors for collaboration between researchers and practitioners (29:04) – What happens after an RPP (32:35) – Differences between countries when it comes to research informing policy (35:32) – RPPs are not exclusive to development cooperation (36:43) – The role of AI for research   Contact For feedback on the show or to suggest guests for future episodes, contact us at scifi@esmt.org

    46 min

  5. 04/16/2024

    Impact investing in frontier markets – with Patrick Nussbaumer and Winnie Odhiambo

    In our 11th episode, Patrick Nussbaumer and Winnie Odhiambo discuss impact investing in frontier markets. Patrick works for UNIDO's innovative finance division, and Winnie is an impact investing professional whose career spans working with pension funds, VCs, in private equity and in private debt. We explore the role of development finance institutions (DFIs) in impact investing and how to mitigate country risk in emerging markets. We also discuss the need for more investments into climate adaptation, and the specific challenges of impact measurement in this field.   Links: ·       The definition of impact investing by GIIN, the Global Impact Investing Network ·       The Catalyst Fund's report on Investing in Climate Tech Innovation in Africa ·       PFAN, the Private Financing Advisory Network, is connecting investors to high-potential climate and clean energy projects in emerging markets ·       UNIDO's Catalyst Fund for Fintech-Enabled Climate Adaptation is accelerating and de-risking innovation in frontier markers ·       Development finance institutions (DFIs) active in emerging economies include IFC, the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), the African Development Bank and Norfund. ·       Patrick's analysis on Key trends in domestic finance for energy access and transition in frontier markets ·       The Benchmark analysis of frameworks for measuring climate resilience and adaptation produced with input from the Working Group in which Patrick is active ·       The research on Impact Linked Compensation mentioned by Patrick   Time stamps On some podcast players, you should be able to jump to the section by clicking: (01:47) – Winnie and Patrick introduce themselves (05:45) – Winnie's and Patrick's approach to impact investing (08:59) – Winnie's role in facilitating transactions (10:53) – Impact measurement in climate adaptation vs climate mitigation (16:28) – The role of development finance institutions (DFIs) in mobilizing investment in emerging markets (18:26) – Investing in SMEs in emerging markets (23:40) – Mitigating country risk (25:42) – The role of local financial institutions (28:42) – UNIDO's role in facilitating transactions. (31:37) – The need for more investment into climate adaptation (34:39) – The difference between adaptation and resilience (37:15) – The need for investment in post-conflict economies (39:06) – Geographic concentration of impact investing and wealth concentration (40:27) – Incentivizing impact at fund manager level (43:51) – Winnie predicts increasing regulatory scrutiny towards impact investors, especially those raising funding from public sources   Contact For feedback on the show or to suggest guests for future episodes, contact us at scifi@esmt.org

    48 min

  6. 08/02/2023

    Malengo - with Gladys Amule, Johannes Haushofer and Richard Nerland

    In our 10th episode, we take a deep-dive into Malengo, an organization that facilitates international educational migration. Malengo helps students from low-income countries with admissions and financing for a bachelor's degree in a high-income country. We discuss why migration is an important lever for development, and how income-share agreements can make supporting it a worthwhile impact investment. Our guests bring in 3 different perspectives. Johannes Haushofer is a development economist who founded Malengo based on findings from his research. Richard Nerland is an economist with a passion for academic economics and international development. Convinced by Malengo's potential for impact, he invested USD 3.5 M into the organization. Along the way, he helped develop a tax-efficient financial model to make Malengo attractive for other investors to follow suit. Gladys Amule is a student from the first cohort of Malengo scholars. She shares her experience with the program and her motivation to pay it forward through Malengo's income-share agreement. Links ·       Malengo's website ·       Johannes' Twitter thread explaining the academic path that led him to found Malengo ·       Richard's Twitter thread explaining why the decided to become Malengo's inaugural investor, including his take-aways from academic literature   Academic papers recommended by our guests ·       Johannes ' paper on general equilibrium effects for cash transfers  Egger, D., J. Haushofer, E. Miguel, P. Niehaus, and M.Walker. 2022. "General Equilibrium Effects of Cash Transfers: Experimental Evidence From Kenya" Econometrica. https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA17945 ·       Michael Clemens economic argument that friction from migration restriction is enormous Clemens, Michael, A. 2011."Economics and Emigration: Trillion-Dollar Bills on the Sidewalk?" Journal of Economic Perspectives, 25 (3): 83-106. DOI: 10.1257/jep.25.3.83 ·       Chris Blattman's paper on cash transfers wearing off: Blattman, C.,N. Fiala, N. and S. Martinez, 2019. "The Long Term Impacts of Grants on Poverty: 9-Year Evidence from Uganda's Youth Opportunities Program". http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3223028  ·       On brain gain, evidence from nursing programs in the US: Abarcar, P., and C. Theoharides; C. 2021. "Medical Worker Migration and Origin-Country Human Capital: Evidence from U.S. Visa Policy". The Review of Economics and Statistics. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_01131 ·       On brain gain and spill-over effects Khanna, G., E. Murathanoglu, C.B. Theoharides and D. Yang, 2022, "Abundance from Abroad: Migrant Income and Long-Run Economic Development", National Bureau of Economic Research, Working paper 29862, DOI 10.3386/w29862 ·       Lant Pritchett on labor migration Migrants, Ancestors, and Foreign Investments Burchardi, K. Chaney, T. and Hassan, T. 2018, Migrants, Ancestors, and Foreign Investments, The Review of Economic Studies, Volume 86, Issue 4, , Pages 1448–1486, https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdy044 Time stamps In some podcast players, you should be able to jump to the section by clicking: (00:01:56) – Johannes, Gladys and Richard introduce themselves (00:03:19) – Johannes explains what Malengo does and how his academic research inspired him to found an organization facilitating international educational migration (00:10:27) – Gladys shares why she applied to study with Malengo (00:14:19) – Richard shares why he decided to fund work related to international educational migration, inspired by reading academic papers on development economics (00:17:07) – Richard elaborates on how Johannes' academic credentials and track record as high agency person convinced him to support Malengo's work (00:19:47) Richard on giving vs impact investing – the investor's perspective (00:22:10) Richard on the process of jointly setting up a legal structure for impact investing with Johannes (00:25:36) Johannes on seeking donations vs seeking investments – the founder's perspective (00:27:23) Johannes on Richard providing more than just money: expertise and patience (00:28:31) A structure that can now be deployed at scale (00:30:37) Gladys on what she would have done if she hadn't studied with Malengo (00:31:20) Johannes on the expected impact on student's income and the independent research accompanying Malengo's work (00:34:08) Gladys on sending money back home (00:35:46) Johannes on the income-share agreements (00:39:15) Gladys on her motivation to pay it forward (00:40:22) Johannes on why he isn't worried about brain drain (00:43:28) Gladys on inspiring other students (00:44:43) Richard on the academic papers that influenced his thinking on what works and what doesn't in development economics (00:48:27) Richard on how "this one little thing that he's very good at", "this little finance thing", can empower others (00:50:27) Gladys on her role as a mentor for the next Malengo cohorts (00:52:19) Richard's deep dive into how he thinks about his investments into Malengo from a financial perspective (protection from inflation, assumptions for alpha outperformance, diversification from the rest of his portfolio from a market risk perspective) (00:59:36) Johannes on the impact evaluations embedded in Malengo's work and the endeavor to also uncover whether there are negative effects (01:03:06) Gladys on how leaving home felt for her (01:07:08) Johannes on the role of philanthropy, impact investing and effective altruism for Malengo (01:09:03) Richard on hoping to inspire other impact investors to follow suit (01:14:20) Johannes on how the political climate affects his plans to grow an organization facilitating migration (01:15:50) Gladys on interest from her peers to follow in her footsteps (01:16:45) Johannes on a mindset of cooperation towards other organizations in the same space (01:19:31) Johannes, Richard and Gladys on the best ways to support Malengo's mission

    1h 24m

  7. 06/13/2023

    Institutional investors and net zero - with Brunno Maradei and Wiebke Merbeth

    In our ninth episode, Brunno Maradei and Wiebke Merbeth discuss the role of institutional investors in achieving net zero. Institutional investors such as pension funds or insurers invest on behalf of others. Wiebke is member of the Sustainable Finance Advisory Committee to the German Government and a partner at Deloitte, and Brunno is Global Head of Responsible Investment at Aegon Asset Management. Both point out that the sheer trillions of € that institutional investors manage make them key stakeholders for a transformation agenda involving financial markets. We discuss the toolbox institutional investors have at their disposal, but also that their strategies don't work in isolation. They have to be seen the context of alliances, technological progress on ESG data collection, and of course: regulation.   Links: ·       Statista numbers on the asset management industry in Europe and the market share of institutional clients ·       The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) ·       UN PRI introduction to stewardship ·       The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) ·       The Sustainable Finance Advisory Committee to the German government   Time stamps On some podcast players, you should be able to jump to the section by clicking:   (01:35) – Wiebke and Brunno introduce themselves (03:43) – The importance of institutional investors for net zero (05:51) - The role of regulatory developments in achieving net zero (08:14) - The importance of the Paris Agreement (08:49) - Analogy with divestment in the tobacco industry (10:57) - The role of public opinion for sustainable finance (14:53) - The cost of the climate crisis and of sovereign debt for future generations (17:41) - Investing in climate change mitigation is a type of insurance – and insurance is difficult to sell (19:32) - Stewardship vs divestment (22:24) - Sustainability is an alliance issue (25:08) - The evolution of ESG data quality (28:09) - Get rid of the formulation "non-financial reporting" (29:47) - Beyond carbon – the other aspects of ESG (33:30) - Minimum standards and the sources of reporting (38:41) - Combative engagement vs soft engagement (40:52) - Blended finance (45:21) - Outlook on regulatory developments   Contact For feedback on the show or to suggest guests for future episodes, contact us at scifi@esmt.org

    50 min

  8. 05/16/2023

    Impact investing in EdTech - with Marie-Christine Levet and John Soleanicov

    In our eight episode, we discuss impact investing in EdTech. Our guests bring a complementary perspective: Marie-Christine Levet is founding partner at Educapital, a European EdTech VC that closed its second fund with a €150 million closing. John Soleanicov works for the Jacobs Foundation, which committed CHF 30 million to impact investments into EdTech, and CHF 10 million funding for accompanying research. We discuss the rationale for promoting EdTech and the complementary roles of grants and impact investments. We hear about Educapital's and the Jacobs Foundation's approach to impact measurement, and how Marie-Christine incentives her team to strive for more impact. Our conversation also touches upon what business models based on advertising mean for inclusion and educational sovereignty.  Links ·       This two-pager explains the Jacobs Foundation's CHF 40 million commitment to global EdTech research and investment ·       Educapital's website includes annual impact and ESG reports ·       John cited the "Every Student Succeeds Act" (ESSA) tiers of evidence as a framework that helps assess qualitative differences in impact measurement.   Timestamps On some podcast players, you should be able to jump to the section by clicking: (01:57) - Marie-Christine and John introduce themselves (09:17) - Why the Jacobs Foundation does impact investing through grant making and not via an endowment (12:21) - The impact indicators used by Educapital (16:32) - How the Jacobs Foundation promotes uptake of evidence on what works in EdTech through investor demand (19:45) – Reconciling education as a public good with the role of private sector incentives to accelerate change  (21:00) – Research and investing are different, yet both need data (24:41) - How Educapital incentivizes impact through the carry of the fund (26:39) - Certification for different levels of evidence related to education products (31:18) - The need for a European EdTech industry to maintain educational sovereignty (40:29): - Why impact-linked compensation is a stronger signal than SFDR article 9 (41:50) - On sourcing impact investments (44:14) - Outlook for the Edtech sector   Contact For feedback on the show or to suggest guests for future episodes, contact us at scifi@esmt.org

    50 min
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About

Financing Impact is a podcast about funding and scaling societal impact. To bring you fresh ideas, we conduct interviews with thought leaders from different backgrounds. This podcast is brought to you by SciFi, the Societal Impact Financing Initiative at ESMT Berlin. For feedback on the show or to suggest guests for future episodes, contact us at scifi@esmt.org

Information

  • Creator
    SciFi - Societal Impact Financing Initiative @ ESMT Berlin
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    15
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2022
  • Show Website
    Financing Impact