FOURTH-QUARTER 2024 EDITION: CHANGE ON THE HORIZON
Sustainability Quarterly
The scene is set for a year of evolution in the way companies approach sustainability risks and opportunities.
Published: Dec. 19, 2024
A handful of significant global events that occurred in the waning months of 2024 will shape sustainability discussions in the year ahead. Research in this final 2024 edition of the S&P Global Sustainability Quarterly uses data to understand the direction of travel for 2025.
Dubbed “the year of elections,” 2024 witnessed citizens in more than 60 countries heading to the polls. November’s Republican sweep of the US presidency and both chambers of Congress ushers in a new period for US energy, and research from S&P Global Energy explores what is on the horizon for cleantech.
On the global stage, from late October through mid-December, the UN convened its three sister conventions focused on the intertwined challenges of biodiversity loss, climate change and desertification. These events — biodiversity COP16 in Cali, Colombia, climate COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, and desertification COP16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — put this trio of challenges squarely in the global spotlight, revealing risks and opportunities for the corporate world.
The stakes are high as we head into 2025. Research from S&P Global Ratings finds that many parts of the world face rising exposure to climate hazards, including hotter, drier conditions and more extreme flooding by 2050. Compound climate hazards may further exacerbate economic impacts, making adaptation and resilience measures more urgent.
Financing is a big part of finding solutions to nature loss and climate change, as highlighted at COP29, widely known as the “finance COP.” Trillions of dollars in financing are needed to mitigate global warming and adapt to climate risks, yet research from S&P Global Sustainable1 finds that only one-fifth of financial institutions have identified specific business opportunities related to climate change.
Research from S&P Global Ratings explores how the sustainable financing landscape is evolving to include more issuance of blue bonds and loans — specialized financing instruments dedicated to funding projects focused on ocean- or water-related initiatives in the sustainable debt market.
Even as events such as biodiversity COP16 put more focus on the business risks of nature degradation and biodiversity loss, S&P Global Sustainable1 research shows that public commitments to protect biodiversity and ecosystems, halt deforestation and assess biodiversity impacts remain rare across the corporate world.
From cleantech to climate change, AI is a common thread running through all of these discussions. Research from S&P Global Sustainable1 explores how the business world is weighing the costs and benefits for climate change and the energy transition.
S&P Global Sustainable1
Lindsey Hall
Global Head of Thought Leadership
Lindsey Hall is Head of ESG Thought Leadership at S&P Global Horizons, where she co-hosts the ESG Insider podcast and is a steering member of S&P Global's Diversity Research Lab.
She got her start in financial journalism writing for various Financial Times publications in London before joining SNL Financial in 2010, where she spent a decade covering financial news and regulation as a reporter and editor.
Lindsey holds a Masters from the London School of Economics.
S&P Global Ratings
Harald Francke Lund
Global Head of Sustainability Methodology and Research
Co-Lead, S&P Global Sustainability Quarterly
Harald Francke Lund is Global Head of Sustainability Methodology and Research within S&P Global Ratings Research & Development. He is the former Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Shades of Green, a global leader in independent opinions for green bonds, which is now a part of S&P Global. Prior to joining Shades of Green, he led the Norwegian contribution to the UNSG's AGF report on long-term climate finance in 2010 and has held the positions of Deputy Chief Negotiator for Norway, Head of Emissions Trading Section at the Norwegian Environment Agency, and Advisor to the UNSG’s Special Envoy on Climate Change Jens Stoltenberg. Harald has a law degree from University of Oslo.
Project Leads & Contributors
S&P Global Sustainable1
Lindsey Hall
Global Head of Thought Leadership
Lindsey Hall is Head of ESG Thought Leadership at S&P Global Horizons, where she co-hosts the ESG Insider podcast and is a steering member of S&P Global's Diversity Research Lab.
She got her start in financial journalism writing for various Financial Times publications in London before joining SNL Financial in 2010, where she spent a decade covering financial news and regulation as a reporter and editor.
Lindsey holds a Masters from the London School of Economics.
S&P Global Ratings
Harald Francke Lund
Global Head of Sustainability Methodology and Research
Co-Lead, S&P Global Sustainability Quarterly
Harald Francke Lund is Global Head of Sustainability Methodology and Research within S&P Global Ratings Research & Development. He is the former Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Shades of Green, a global leader in independent opinions for green bonds, which is now a part of S&P Global. Prior to joining Shades of Green, he led the Norwegian contribution to the UNSG's AGF report on long-term climate finance in 2010 and has held the positions of Deputy Chief Negotiator for Norway, Head of Emissions Trading Section at the Norwegian Environment Agency, and Advisor to the UNSG’s Special Envoy on Climate Change Jens Stoltenberg. Harald has a law degree from University of Oslo.
S&P Global Sustainable1
Matt Macfarland
Senior Editor, Thought Leadership Editorial Manager, S&P Global Sustainability Quarterly
Matt MacFarland is the industry editor for nonbank financial services news at S&P Global Market Intelligence. His coverage includes investment banking, asset management, financial technology and capital markets. A particular focus is equity market structure, which he covered as a reporter for SNL Financial.
Matt holds a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Virginia and a bachelor’s degree in English from Hampden-Sydney College.
S&P Global Ratings
Alejandro Rodriguez Anglada
Director - Ratings Analytical
S&P Global Sustainable1
Elizabeth Kurtz
ESG Research Manager
S&P Global Energy
Paola Perez Pena
Sr. Research Analyst, Global Clean Energy Technology (CET)
S&P Global Commodity Insights
Alessandro Badinotti
Sustainability Analyst
Alessandro Badinotti works as Sustainability Analyst within Horizons, S&P Global's centralized source for sustainability intelligence.
Alessandro Badinotti works as Sustainability Analyst within Horizons, S&P Global's centralized source for sustainability intelligence. Together with a global team of analysts, he’s responsible for maintaining and developing the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), an annual evaluation of companies’ sustainability practices that are both industry-specific and financially material. His cross-industry focus areas are greenhouse gas emissions and transparency in sustainability reporting.
S&P Global Sustainable1
Jennifer Laidlaw
Senior Writer
S&P Global Sustainable1
Sabrina Rivers
Senior Analyst, Credit - Analysis
S&P Global Sustainable1
Nicola Ballerini
Associate ESG Analyst
S&P Global Sustainable1
Tyyra Linko
Sustainability Analyst
S&P Global Ratings
Dhruv Roy
Analytical Manager, Credit - Analysis
S&P Global Sustainable1
Moritz Brugger
Equity Research Analyst
S&P Global Sustainable1
Cornis van der Lugt
Senior Manager, ESG Research
S&P Global Sustainable1
James Salo, Ph.D.
Head of Environmental Research and ESG Modelling
With 20+ years of experience in environmental research and data strategy, James Salo is the Head of Environmental Research and ESG Modeling at S&P Global Horizons, a leading provider of ESG data, analytics, and insights. He leads a team of experts who maintain, enhance, and extend the information eco-system of corporate environmental data available to clients and support the organization's ESG modeling and quantitative research needs.
James is passionate about helping investors, companies, and policymakers understand and manage the environmental risks and opportunities in their portfolios, supply chains, and operations. He has a PhD in Environmental Science and Policy from Oxford University, where he focused on the measurement of corporate environmental performance and how these data are used within financial markets. He also has a BA and an MA in Environmental Science and Policy from Clark University. He has published multiple papers and articles on topics such as greenhouse gas accounting, environmental finance, sustainability and investing, and ecosystem service valuation. He is a recognized leader and innovator in his field, with specialties in environmental performance metrics, and environmental and carbon footprint analysis.
S&P Global Ratings
Erin Boeke Burke
Lead Analyst Sustainable Finance
Erin Boeke Burke joined S&P Global Ratings in 2016, and has been on the Sustainable Finance team since 2020. In this position, she works on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment considerations, including entity-level ESG Evaluations and financing framework- or transaction-level Sustainable Finance Opinions. She also researches ESG issues and the evolution of the sustainable debt market. In her prior role on the U.S. Public Finance team in Ratings, she worked on credit ratings for municipal and cooperative utilities – particularly in water – as well as debt issued by State Revolving Funds and bond banks.
Erin previously worked for the federal Office of Management and Budget in Washington, D.C., where she oversaw the budget of the Army Corps of Engineers’ water supply, hydropower, inland navigation, and Clean Water Act permitting programs, and well as federal lending programs in transportation, housing, and other sectors. She holds a Masters in Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin.
S&P Global Sustainable1
Paula Moreno
Associate Sustainability Analyst
S&P Global Ratings
Lisa Schineller
Managing Director - Sector Leader
S&P Global Ratings
Carolina Caballero
Associate Director, Credit - Analysis
S&P Global Energy
Anna Mosby
Head of Global Environmental Policy, Global Environmental Policy and Markets Team
S&P Global Ratings
Didre Schneider
Associate Director - Credit Analysis
S&P Global Ratings
Patrice Cochelin
Head of Analytical Governance, Sustainable Finance
S&P Global Ratings
Paul Munday, Ph.D.
Director, Global Climate Adaptation & Resilience Specialist
Paul Munday is a Director, Global Climate Adaptation & Resilience Specialist at S&P Global Ratings, where he leads and coordinates S&P Global Ratings’ research and application of climate adaptation and resilience analytics. He works at the interface between data and research, leveraging his expertise to help improve clarity of the credit impacts from climate risks.
Paul has over 10 years of experience in both the UK and abroad, providing advice to private and public sector clients across multiple sectors to help mainstream consideration of climate resilience into projects and programmes. Prior to joining S&P Global Ratings, Paul worked in climate risk consultancy.
He is a Chartered Scientist, Chartered Water and Environment Manager and certified expert in climate adaptation finance by the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.
S&P Global Ratings
Nandini Sharma
ESG Specialist
S&P Global Ratings
Felix Ejgel
Managing Director - Sector Lead
Brian D. Murphy
Global Head of Securities Lending
Brian D. Murphy is the Global Head of Securities Lending at Point72 Asset Management L.P., responsible for the Firm’s financing teams based in Connecticut, London, Singapore and Hong Kong. His team is responsible for maximizing borrow liquidity for the Firm’s equity trading business, while also efficiently managing financing costs across all global markets in which Point72 trades.
Brian has 18 years of experience in the Securities Lending industry, working in buy-side roles at Fidelity Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs before joining the Firm in 2011.
Brian holds a B.S. in Economics from the United States Naval Academy. Upon graduation, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps where he served as an aviator for nine years. He then transitioned to Finance after obtaining his M.B.A. from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.
S&P Global Market Intelligence
Dan Thompson
Principal Research Analyst, 451 Research
Dan Thompson is a principal research analyst in the 451 Research technology research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence. He leads the Datacenter Services and Infrastructure team, which is charged with keeping tabs on the datacenter industry globally to better understand its trends and growth areas. His research includes analyses of datacenter providers, market size and supply/demand in key and emerging markets around the world. Dan also provides coverage of datacenter providers offering services beyond colocation, such as managed and cloud-type services.
Dan also provides research on the sustainability of the datacenter industry. Beyond just renewable energy purchasing and carbon offsetting, he has been investigating full life cycle emissions, including supply chain emissions, as well as efficiency gains and water usage.
Before joining S&P Global Market Intelligence, Dan spent 15 years as a practitioner in the IT industry, the last 10 years at a top managed/cloud service provider. Dan has worn many hats in the IT world, from systems administration to management, and was most recently an enterprise architect. In that role, he not only assisted in the launch of the company's security practice, but also created security-specific products and designed security into every solution launched to the customer base.
In addition to a good many IT industry certifications, Dan currently holds degrees in network security and forensics and information technology.
Sam Huntington
Research Director
Sam Huntington is a Research Director on S&P Global's North American Power team. He leads coverage of the west and heads up development of the team's Planning Case outlook for North American power markets. He specializes in power market fundamentals, resource economics, and clean energy technology.
Sam Huntington is a Research Director on S&P Global's North American Power team. He leads coverage of the west and heads up development of the team's Planning Case outlook for North American power markets. He specializes in power market fundamentals, resource economics, and clean energy technology.
John Murray
Senior Research Analyst
John Murray is a senior research analyst with the Clean Energy Technology team at S&P Global Energy. Focusing on North American wind energy, he specializes in competitor analysis, wind turbine technology, government policy and project tracking.
John Murray is a senior research analyst with the Clean Energy Technology team at S&P Global Energy. Focusing on North American wind energy, he specializes in competitor analysis, wind turbine technology, government policy and project tracking.
S&P Global Energy
Nick Trickett
Senior Analyst
S&P Global
Conway Irwin
Cleantech Research and Analysis Director
Conway Irwin is a director in the Financial and Capital Markets group, at S&P Global Energy, part of a dedicated research team that provides integrated climate and cleantech advisory research to the financial sector.
Conway Irwin is a director in the Financial and Capital Markets group, at S&P Global Energy, part of a dedicated research team that provides integrated climate and cleantech advisory research to the financial sector.
Her work focuses on cleantech (solar, wind, hydrogen, batteries, and storage) and on the broader energy transition, including changes in financial flows and regulations in response to shifts in global energy markets.
Conway has more than a decade of experience in energy and commodities markets as a journalist and analyst in both the public and private sectors in the US, Russia, and China.
Conway holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and a master's degree from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
S&P Global Ratings
Fernanda Nieto
Rating Analyst
S&P Global Energy
Sam Wilkinson
Director, Clean Energy Technology
Sam Wilkinson is an expert on the solar PV, batteries and energy storage industries. He is an director within the Clean Energy Technology & Renewables research team at S&P Global Energy.
Sam coordinates and contributes to a wide range of custom research, consulting, and advisory projects, in addition to continued contributions to the team's syndicated research products. His areas of expertise are solar PV, battery technology and supply chain, and battery energy storage (for grid applications).
Upon joining the team in 2008, He was responsible for researching the photovoltaic (PV) inverter market and the PV module and polysilicon supply chain, working closely with leading global suppliers to develop detailed analysis on these markets. He has also been responsible for establishing primary research reports focusing on solar demand and policy, complementing S&P Global Energy extensive research of the complete PV supply chain. Building on his experience in the solar research team, Sam established the Clean Energy Technology team's coverage of energy storage in 2012, covering a wide range of topics within this fast-developing sector, including the development of battery technology and the battery supply chain. Sam analysis and commentary is regularly published by leading PV and energy industry media and the global press. He has also presented at many leading industry events and conferences and previously worked in structural engineering.
Sam holds a bachelor's degree in math and engineering from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom.
S&P Global Energy
Yulia Ivanovskaya
Senior Analyst
S&P Global Ratings
Azul Ornelas
Senior Analyst, Sustainable Finance
S&P Global Ratings
Nora Wittstruck
Chief Analytical Officer for Governments
S&P Global Sustainable1
Marta Jimenez
Sustainability Research Specialist
S&P Global Ratings
Zoe Parker
Senior Analyst, Credit Analysis
S&P Global Sustainable1
Thomas Yagel
Chief Operations and Product Officer
Thomas Yagel is the Chief Operating and Product Officer for S&P Global Horizons. In this role, he is responsible for setting strategy and leading key initiatives across ESG Technology, Content, Research, Solutions and Product. Prior to taking the position with Horizons in 2021, Thomas led the Corporates business with in Market Intelligence for the previous six years.
Thomas Yagel is the Chief Operating and Product Officer for S&P Global Horizons. In this role, he is responsible for setting strategy and leading key initiatives across ESG Technology, Content, Research, Solutions and Product. Prior to taking the position with Horizons in 2021, Thomas led the Corporates business with in Market Intelligence for the previous six years.
Thomas has an extensive background in both finance and technology. He joined S&P Global in 2007. In addition to his time in the financial information services industry, Thomas spent the first decade of his career in software product development and consulting primarily for global telecommunication firm Alcatel, but also in a handful of startup business.
Thomas holds an M.B.A. with honors in finance and accounting from New York University Stern School of Business and a B.S. in physics from the University of Virginia.
S&P Global Energy
Alex Kaplan
Senior Market Analyst, Clean Energy Technology
S&P Global Ratings
Bhavini Patel
Director, Credit - Analysis
S&P Global Ratings
Benjamin Young
Sector Lead, Sovereign Ratings EMEA
S&P Global Energy
Tom Kim
Senior Market Analyst
Thank you to all our colleagues across S&P Global who contributed to the design, production and publication of the S&P Global Sustainability Quarterly: Rameez Ali, Lauren Capolupo, Ila Negi, Stephanie Oxford, Priya Suvarna, Cat VanVliet.