Todd Cort - Yale University’s Initiative on Sustainable Finance

Climate Finance Podcast

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Dr. Todd Cort holds Faculty Co-Director positions at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment and the Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance, which are located in the Yale School of Management and Yale School of Environment.
Todd Cort is the co-editor of two books: Values at Work: Sustainable Investing and ESG Reporting (2020) with Dan Esty, and Sustainable Innovation and Impact (2018) with Cary Krosinsky.
Prior to his research and teaching career, he worked as an Environmental Engineering and Sustainability consultant with TUV Rheinland and Det Norske Veritas in California and was a Post-Doctoral Researcher and Assistant Research Professor at the Colorado School of Mines.
Dr. Cort received his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering and an MS in Organic and Biochemistry from the University of Colorado Boulder and a BS in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the University of California San Diego.
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Topics discussed:

• Todd’s two main transitions across his climate journey:

  • Intellectual Transition: From Biochemistry and Civil Engineering to ESG and Sustainable Finance.

  • Professional Transitions between Consulting and Academia.

• Process of establishing Yale University's Initiative on Sustainable Finance with Daniel Esty.

• Exploring how to Incentivize the direction of multi-capital toward inclusive capitalism.

• Working on two books with Cary Krosinsky: Sustainable Innovation and Impact (2018) and Sustainable Investing: Revolutions in Theory and Practice (2016).

• Five Sustainable Investment Strategies:

  • Sustainable Alpha Investors

  • Smart Beta Investors

  • Activist Investors

  • Impact Investors

  • Screening Investors

• Producing “Values at Work: Sustainable Investing and ESG Reporting” with Daniel Esty in 2020.

• Shortcomings of ESG Performance Data especially ESG Risks dependent on Management Quality Control.

• Illustrative Case Studies on ESG Risks regarding Management Quality Control:

  • BP and the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill (2010).

  • Volkswagen Scandal: Dieselgate (2015).

  • Pacific Gas & Electric and Californian Wildfires (2019).

• Proposed Solutions to improve ESG Data, Metrics, and Standards.

• Balanced View on the Future of ESG:

  • Negative Perspectives:

    • Political Backlash against ESG Investing.

    • Avoiding Greenwashing Pitfalls.

    • How the Tools of Impact Investing Can Undermine Resilience in the Global South.

  • Positive Perspectives:

    • Better Data is Letting Companies and Investors See Trillions in Climate Risk.

    • The Pragmatist’s Guide to ESG.

• Brief Overview of Non-Research Engagements

  • Teaching the Executive Education Programs on Sustainable Finance and Corporate Sustainability.

  • Advisory and Consulting Engagements with Private Companies such as Merck, Third Economy, ArcelorMittal, Chevron, and Walt Disney Company.

  • Advisory Boards of Investment Firms:

    • JUST Capital, Scientific Advisory Board.

    • Azolla Ventures, Impact Advisory Committee, and PRIME Coalition, Academic Advisory Board.

  • Board of Directors of GRASFI: Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investing.

• Advice to (Aspiring) ESG Academics and Practitioners.

Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice. The interview took place on 15th August 2023.