ESG Talks KBRA Podcasts

In this episode of ESG Talks, Emilie Nadler introduces Arianne Schreier, an Associate on KBRA’s ESG team, who will be taking over as host of the ESG Talks podcast as Emilie transitions to a new role within KBRA. The two will also be joined by Pat Welch, KBRA’s Chief ESG and Ratings Policy Officer, to chat about the outlook for ESG over the next year and how KBRA’s approach makes the firm uniquely prepared for what’s to come. 

In this episode of ESG Talks, Emilie Nadler, a Director on KBRA’s ESG team chats with Ken Egan, from KBRA’s Sovereigns team. Ken and Emilie recently published a research report, “European Climate Transition: Cost Burden and Risk of Slowing Progress.” The piece provides an overview of the EU’s climate transition plan and then delves into the cost for the region to transition, including at the member-state level. Amid high inflation and the increased cost of living in the EU, it also highlights the growing backlash against climate regulation in the region, given the high cost of implementation and the often-burdensome regulation requirements. Ken and Emilie talk through the key takeaways from the piece and go through the implications of the report’s findings.

In this episode of ESG Talks, Emilie Nadler, a Director on KBRA’s ESG team interviews Dr. Greg Characklis. Dr. Characklis serves as William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. He is also Director of the Center on Financial Risk in Environmental Systems, a research center that bridges the Gillings School of Global Public Health and the UNC Institute for the Environment, and is focused on translating environmental events such as floods, droughts and heatwaves into financial outcomes. The Center is currently engaged in projects funded by National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and the state of North Carolina to quantify the financial risks of extreme environmental events in a number of economic sectors, including water utilities, power utilities, agriculture, inland navigation (like the Mississippi River) and real estate. The Center’s research is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on the natural sciences, engineering and economics to develop an improved understanding of environmental financial risk, as well as new tools and strategies for managing it.

In this episode of ESG Talks, Pat Welch, KBRA’s Chief ESG and Ratings Policy Officer, interviews Michael Kashani, Managing Director and Head of ESG Credit at Apollo. Michael is responsible for supporting ESG integration across the Credit business as well as further incorporating ESG into Apollo’s lending and other non-control investments processes. Michael currently represents Apollo across several industry initiatives, including as the inaugural Steering Committee Chair of the ESG Integrated Disclosure Project (IDP). The ESG IDP is an industry initiative bringing together leading lenders in the private credit and syndicated loan markets to improve transparency and accountability. The group’s goal is to promote greater harmonization and consistency of disclosure of key ESG indicators by borrowers in private credit and syndicated loan transactions.

In this episode, Emilie Nadler, a Director on KBRA’s ESG team, chats with Gordon Kerr, KBRA’s Head of European Research and host of KBRA’s Conversations in European Credit podcast. Gordon and Emilie chat about the most recent United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28). This year’s event took place in Dubai and ran from the 30th of November through the 12th of December. Emilie and Gordon give an overview of the key takeaways of COP28 including fossil fuel interests at the event, discussions around carbon capture and storage, and divisions over the language of the final text.

In this episode of ESG Talks, Emilie Nadler, a Director on KBRA’s ESG team, interviews Lisa Peto from Mindset. Mindset is a bipartisan public policy firm that blends thoughtful research and analysis, strategic advisory services, and sophisticated advocacy to address the challenges and opportunities their clients encounter in Washington. Given the continued focus on ESG in public policy circles, Mindset also helps its clients navigate the evolving suite of ESG policy issues, leveraging their deep expertise in financial services, energy, environment, and other relevant policy arenas. Emilie and Lisa talk about the state of ESG disclosure regulation in the U.S. including California’s recent climate disclosure bill as well as the status of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s climate disclosure proposal.