ESG Talks

In this episode of ESG Talks, Jim Nadler, KBRA’s President and CEO interviews economist, Rob Johnson. Rob is the Co-founder and President of the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET). Founded in the wake of the financial crisis in 2009, INET is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization devoted to developing and sharing the ideas that can repair our broken economy and create a more equal, prosperous, and just society. To meet current and future challenges, INET conducts and commissions research, convenes forums for exchanging ideas, develops curricula, and nurtures a global community of young scholars. Jim and Rob discuss how the work and research that INET does overlaps with ESG issues.

In this episode of ESG Talks, Joan Feldbaum-Vidra, Senior Managing Director and Head of KBRA’s Sovereigns ratings team, sits down with Mike Spence, an internationally recognized economist focused on economic growth and development, dynamic competition, and the economics of information. In 2001, Mike was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his tremendous contributions to the analysis of markets with asymmetric information and the field of economics in general. Joan and Mike discuss the economics of the energy transition and the implications for global economic growth.

In this special episode of ESG Talks, Jim Nadler, KBRA’s CEO and President, and Kate Kennedy, Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of KBRA’s Business Development Group discuss the importance of ESG on the Royal Gazette (RG) Business Podcast with Shivani Seth. RG Business is a podcast that examines global business in Bermuda, the industries and sectors that lead its economy, and the impact it has globally. In this episode of the Navigate Series, learn about how KBRA has changed the landscape of rating analysis and the firm’s comprehensive strategy for ESG.

In this episode of ESG Talks, Karen Daly, the head of KBRA’s Public Finance team, interviews Dr. Stanislav Shmelev, an ecological economist and Director of Environment Europe. Environment Europe is a think tank and research center focused on macroeconomic sustainability, sustainable cities, renewable energy, ecosystems and biodiversity and sustainable waste management.

Dr. Shmelev has experience in teaching, research, consultancy and international project management through work with prominent universities, international organizations and businesses. The main areas of his specialization include ecological economics, economics of the European Union, financial management, sustainability assessment, multi-criteria decision aid, ecological-economic modelling at international, national and regional levels, sustainable urban and regional development, issues of environmental policy in sustainable energy and waste management.

In the first episode of season 5 of ESG Talks, Pat Welch, KBRA’s Chief ESG and Ratings Policy Officer interviews Bill Curry, president and CEO of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), Peter Schlosser, Vice President and Vice Provost of Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University (ASU), and Kenro Kusumi, Dean of Natural Sciences at ASU. In October 2021, BIOS and ASU announced a strategic partnership to elevate awareness around the critical role that the ocean plays in climate mitigation. Pat, Bill, Peter, and Kenro discuss the research that BIOS and ASU do to explore the world’s oceans and address the global and environmental challenges we face as climate change grows more extreme. The group also discusses highlights of the Bermuda Climate Summit hosted by the Bermuda Development Agency and sponsored by KBRA.

In the final episode of season 4 of ESG Talks, Emilie Nadler, an Associate Director on KBRA’s ESG team interviews Mike Brotschol, Managing Director at KBRA Analytics and Co-Head of KBRA Credit Profile (KCP), a subscription based CMBS surveillance platform. Mike’s team recently enhanced the KCP product offering with various environmental and social metrics on commercial real estate properties. Mike and Emilie highlight investor interest in ESG data and how KCP is aiding in the investment decision making process.

In this episode of ESG Talks, Andrea Torres Villanueva, an Associate on KBRA’s ESG team speaks with Bill Cox, Global Head of Corporate, Financial and Government Ratings, and Andrew Giudici, Global Head of Corporate, Project, and Infrastructure Finance. Bill and Andrew highlight findings from a recent KBRA research publication, “It Is Time to Measure the Real Impact of a Carbon Tax,” that details how corporations use internal carbon pricing, the challenges with carbon prices, and how regulatory efforts to reduce global emissions may impact a corporation’s financial performance.

In this episode of ESG Talks, Gordon Kerr, KBRA’s Head of European Research interviews Ken Egan, an Associate Director on KBRA’s Sovereigns team. Gordon and Ken give an overview of the European Union’s net-zero plans and delve into how the EU’s climate mitigation strategy may impact the credit profile of sovereigns in the region. They also discuss a recent Centre for European Reform research piece, highlighting the need for the EU to remove tariffs on environmental goods.

In this episode of ESG Talks, Joan Feldbaum-Vidra, Head of KBRA’s Sovereigns group interviews Representative Jake Auchincloss. Rep. Auchincloss is a Democrat from Massachusetts’ 4th congressional district and is currently serving his first term in Congress. He is the Vice-Chair of the House Financial Services Committee and a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. His areas of focus include infrastructure, housing, the life sciences, and energy policy. Joan and Congressman Auchincloss discuss the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that was passed in November and talk about the future of the Build Back Better plan.

In this episode of ESG Talks, Karen Daly, a Senior Managing Director on KBRA’s Public Finance Team interviews Gavin Taves, the Climate and Energy Program Manager for the City of Chicago. In his role, Gavin focuses on built environment decarbonization policy for Mayor Lightfoot, program managing Retrofit Chicago (a voluntary building retrofit challenge) and the City’s benchmarking ordinance. Gavin also spearheads the industrial decarbonization strategy, which aims to bring industrial facilities into alignment with broader climate goals for the region. Further, Gavin is one of the architects of Chicago’s historic $188 million climate investment strategy, which will accelerate the City’s just transition while building community resilience to climate shocks and stressors. Karen and Gavin talk about Chicago’s vulnerability to climate change and how the city is working to mitigate its effects.