| 09/12/2016 |
Faculty House
7:00 PM |
Introduction of Sustainable Finance Seminar
Stephen Freedman, UBS
Satyajit Bose, Columbia University
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| 10/10/2016 |
Faculty House
7:00 PM |
Natural Capital Valuation
Jeffrey Potent, International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Speaker Link
Abstract
Abstract
This kick-off seminar will explore the value of natural capital and associated ecosystem services as a critical element of economic activity and as an underpinning of other forms of capital, notable human, built and financial capital. We will consider how businesses are both dependent upon and impact natural systems, how these unique relationships can yield both risks and opportunities, and how an understanding of such relationships is being applied to inform corporate strategy and investment decision-making. We will profile emerging frameworks and methodologies that are being employed to help businesses assess their company-specific impacts and dependencies. We will also explore how the U.N. Natural Capital Declaration, crafted by leaders of the financial sector at the Rio+20 Earth Summit in 2012, is providing impetus for natural capital valuation in support of the wide array of investment decisions. We will close with a discussion about the current state of play, missing elements and needed actions to facilitate broad adoption of natural capital valuation in global finance.
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| 11/14/2016 |
Faculty House
7:00 PM |
Financial Data Science and Deep Data for Responsible Investors
Andreas Hoepner,
Speaker Link
Abstract
Abstract
Financial Economist and Responsible Investor have long been at odds with each other. The tension routes in responsible investors reflecting on societal values, whereas the theoretical homo economicus, the invisible hand limiting most financial economists' theories and thinking only knows one value: utility as approximated by monetary value.
A new generation of financial market scholars, however, is also surprised about the enormous trust which most financial economists place in their personal theoretical beliefs vis a vis the ever more accurate evidence offered by scientific analyses of big data and deep data. These scholars refer to themselves as financial data scientists and have background in computer science, business school finance departments or statistics but never inhaled the assumptions of Economics 101. Instead financial data scientists work on minimum assumption basis, care for predictability more than for theoretical causality and frequently find market segments to be several degrees inefficient. Metaphorically speaking, financial data scientists study the fifty shades or grey (or more) inherent in distributions resulting from real world business actions while financial economists prefer to restrict themselves to the simplistic though pristine black vs white of their theoretical models.
In this context, Dr Andreas Hoepner will present his White Paper 'Financial Data Science for Responsible Investors' which he recently wrote for the UK's Environmental Agency Pension Fund. He will do so in the context of the Deep Data Delivery Standards (www.DeepData.ai) which launched last month and hold ESG data providers to higher standards of accuracy and integrity than data providers anywhere else in financial markets.
Respondent: Stephen Freedman, UBS
Respondent: Linda-Eling Lee, MSCI Inc.
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| 12/12/2016 |
Faculty House
7:00 PM |
Integration of Health and Sustainable Development into Reporting Platforms
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| 01/23/2017 |
Faculty House
7:00 PM |
Community Impact Investing
Steve Godeke, Godeke Consulting
Abstract
Abstract
Steve Godeke, Godeke Consulting provided an overview of Community Impact Investing. His presentation covered social justice investing, place-based impact investing initiatives and the future of formal community development given likely public policy shifts.
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| 02/13/2017 |
Faculty House
7:00 PM |
Financing of Anaerobic Digesters and Other On-farm Sustainable Technologies for Dairy Waste Management and Materials Recovery
Steve Rowe,
Abstract
Abstract
On-farm anaerobic digesters have proven to be an effective technology for managing animal manure on livestock farms worldwide. The systems contain and process raw manure through a bacterial digestion process, resulting in the production and collection of methane gas and the reduction of pathogens and odor in the resulting material. Ancillary systems offer the potential to clean the gas for delivery to the natural gas grid, bottle it for use as a mobile fuel or feed it into a gas turbine to generate electricity for on-farm operations or for sale into the electric power grid. Waste heat can also be collected to support other on-farm operations.
Other ancillary technologies allow for the recovery of nutrients (phosphorous and nitrogen) and solids, all with potential on-farm applications or offered for sale as feedstocks for manufacturing processes (e.g. fertilizer production). Co-feeding the digester with food waste offers the opportunity to collect waste management tipping fees and can serve to improve the operational efficiency (gas output) of the digester. Additionally, as digesters system can serve to reduce methane emissions and nutrient-rich water effluent beyond regulatory requirements, there is the potential to quantify and make available for sale carbon and water quality credits. Finally, as power can be generated from the collected methane gas (referred to as biofuel), there is also the potential to create for-sale renewable energy credits.
Combined, all of these management processes can yield significant on and off farm environmental benefits. Additionally, each offers the potential to either reduce farm operating expenditures or generate off-farm revenue streams, making for a compelling business case for digester financing and project development. However, the challenge facing the livestock sector in the U.S. has been to develop individual project proposals, adapted to local, site-specific conditions, that pencil out to optimize as many of these revenue streams as possible. Only with such revenue optimization can sufficient returns on investment be projected to attract equity or, for farmers who wish to own and operate their digesters, debt financing under attractive terms.
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| 03/06/2017 |
Faculty House
7:00 PM |
The state of the art in impact measurement
Beth deBeer,
Kate Starr,
Dinah Koehler,
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| 04/17/2017 |
Faculty House
7:00 PM |
Financing the Energy Transition in the US
Geoffrey Heal, Donald C. Waite III Professor of Social Enterprise, Columbia Business School
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| 05/08/2017 |
Faculty House
7:00 PM |
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