ESG is dead; long live ESG.
There are some good reasons why ESG is politically bankrupt in the US. The “G” of governance is already an established aspect of financial and business analysis. “S”, social factors, is too fuzzy a concept, one that changes radically from one country to the next, to be neatly calculable. “E” is critical to human flourishing, but it’s more than just about carbon, and this complexity has led to too many solutions and not enough standards.
ESG was invented by management consultants, so it’s not a surprise that it’s become so complex as to be meaningless.
But the physical risks to businesses are still there, and the lights are flashing red. Moreover, US politics aside, boards and investors worldwide are beholden to ESG reporting requirements, and in Europe and China, regulation around biodiversity and carbon footprints have teeth. And everywhere, such exposures are being baked into infrastructure and energy policies through the lens of national security.
Dunya Analytics is part of a new generation of ESG-related tech companies that are using data to help CFOs and risk managers understand where their exposures lie when it comes to nature. Its founder and CEO, Megan Pillsbury, has served in senior tech and AI roles at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, in Asia and the US. She is now based in Wilmington, Delaware.
Timecodes:
0:00 - Megan Pillsbury, Dunya Analytics
2:36 - Political divergence in ESG
4:42 - Lessons from on-chain voluntary carbon-credit markets for the nature space
9:21 - Regulation, incentives, and tech in building new markets
12:17 - Helping companies and investors measure their exposure to nature; and the challenges of many measurements and too few benchmarks
18:39 - AI and where it’s valuable and where it’s not
20:56 - Trends in fintech in nature and carbon, and where globally to find the most action
25:07 - Stranded assets in biodiversity and carbon
