Third-Quarter 2023 Edition: The global effort to address climate change
Sustainability Quarterly
In the latest edition of the S&P Global Sustainability Quarterly, we explore how sustainability stakeholders are coming together on the world stage to address climate change.
Published: September 14, 2023
We’re heading into Climate Week NYC Sept. 17-24, and then the UN’s COP28 conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, later this year. As stakeholders from around the world gather at these big climate events, the latest edition of the S&P Global Sustainability Quarterly explores how companies and countries are approaching climate change and the energy transition.
Standard-setting bodies like the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) are changing the landscape for climate disclosure. The ISSB released its first standards this summer, and as companies prepare to implement them, research from S&P Global Sustainable1 finds that climate disclosure varies widely around the world.
Against this global backdrop, we examine how the world's most populous country is approaching energy transition in research by S&P Global Energy — India’s Energy Transition: More Energy, Fewer Emissions — that is also featured in “Look Forward: India’s Moment,” a collection of research about the challenges and opportunities facing India in the coming decades.
Managing sustainability risks in supply chains that span the globe has been a persistent challenge for companies, and new regulations in some parts of the world are putting more pressure on companies to ensure their suppliers act sustainably. We dive into this topic in research from S&P Global Market Intelligence about the global impact of the EU’s anti-deforestation law, which will require companies selling certain products in the EU to confirm that their goods do not contribute to deforestation.
Research from S&P Global Ratings also helps us understand how companies in particularly complex sectors such as chemical manufacturing are approaching the decarbonization challenge. This research finds that the sector’s medium-term decarbonization targets are unlikely to materially affect chemical companies' cost structures but could imply more significant disruptions to the sector post-2030.
Finally, we look at how climate and energy transition goals will be financed in research from S&P Global Ratings on the outlook for sustainable bond issuance through the end of 2023. Based on trends in the first half of the year, our Ratings colleagues reiterate their previous forecast for $900 billion to $1 trillion of green, social, sustainable and sustainability-linked bond issuance in 2023.
Project Leads & Contributors
S&P Global Sustainable1
Lindsey Hall
Global Head of Thought Leadership
Lindsey Hall is Global Head of Thought Leadership at S&P Global Horizons, where she hosts the All Things Sustainable podcast. The show interviews leaders around the globe and has been downloaded more than 2 million times by an audience on six continents. Lindsey also leads the S&P Global Sustainability Research Lab, which produces the Sustainability Quarterly Research Journal, S&P Global's flagship sustainability publication.
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 Sustainable1
Lai Ly
Global Head of ESG Research
Lai Ly is the Global Head of ESG Research for S&P Global Ratings (SPGR), leading and coordinating ESG research across the Credit Ratings and Sustainable Finance teams.
Beyond her primary role, Lai is actively involved in enhancing SPGR’s ESG analytics and developing S&P Group’s ESG-related research.
Previously, Lai was the Global financial services sector Specialist for Sustainable Finance, leading the development and implementation of the ESG Evaluation analytical approach for the sector. Lai LY is a member of the Leadership of both the Sustainable Finance team and the Research team of SPGR.
Lai has over 25 years of experience in capital markets and credit analysis covering corporate and financial sectors in developed and developing economies, and 11 years of experience in ESG in credit analysis, ESG analysis and research and responsible and ESG investing.
Prior to joining SPGR, Lai was Head of ESG Analysis and Research (2017-2019) and Head of Asia Credit Analysis (2012-2017) at Amundi. Lai has wide and deep expertise in geography, market, credit and ESG, with a multicultural background and speaks English, French, and Chinese. Lai received a Masters in Finance and Banking from Sorbonne University, Paris.
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 Market Intelligence
Theo Acheampong, Ph.D.
Senior Analyst Country Risk – Sub-Saharan Africa
Theo Acheampong serves as a senior analyst on the Economics and Country Risk Sub-Saharan African team at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Theo specialises in analysing developments relevant to political and business risks in Sub-Saharan Africa. His research covers risk forecasts and analysis, including of war, terrorism, and political unrest, as well as the impact of business risks - tax, legal, operational - on industry sectors and companies. Prior to joining S&P Global, he worked as an independent consultant providing macroeconomic analysis and market research focused on frontier emerging markets in Sub-Saharan Africa. He has also worked on many client projects in the global energy industry, particularly in upstream oil and gas.
Theo holds a Ph.D. in economics and an Master of Science in petroleum, energy economics and finance from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He earned his Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana.
Alexie Duncker
Analyst, Regulatory Methodologies, Research & Methodology
S&P Global Ratings
Gaetan Michel
Associate Director
S&P Global Market Intelligence
Anton Alifandi
Associate Director, Country Risk
Anton Alifandi is the lead country risk analyst for Southeast Asia at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Anton is responsible for political risk analysis on Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Timor-Leste. He rejoined the country risk team at S&P Global (Now a part of S&P Global) in August 2019 after two years heading the ASEAN team at Financial Times Confidential Research. He had a 20-year career in journalism beginning his career at the Jakarta Post in Indonesia before moving to the BBC in London. He has also worked as a political risk analyst in Singapore. Anton graduated from London School of Economics with a degree in Political Science (MSc) and Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (BA); He is fluent in English and Indonesian.
S&P Global Ratings
Terry Ellis
Global Climate Transition Specialist
S&P Global Ratings
Bryan Popoola
Associate Director, Sustainable Finance
S&P Global Energy
Look Forward Council, Co-Chair
Atul Arya, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President and Chief Energy Strategist
His areas of expertise include business strategy, commercial analysis, oil markets, energy technologies, climate change and renewables. He has previously led Energy Insight, Research and Analysis and Energy Research teams at S&P Global (Now a part of S&P Global). Dr. Atul previously worked for BP for over 20 years in a number of operational, business, technical and strategic positions around the world. His career includes international leadership experience in a diverse array of energy fields spanning strategy development, business planning, field operations and technology commercialization. His experience includes leadership in solar energy development as well as oil and gas. Dr. Atul has previously served on boards of several companies and institutions and is member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Advanced Energy Technologies and is 25+ year member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He is a sought-after speaker and moderator at public conferences, company boards and industry events and a member of the CERAWeek leadership team.
He holds B.S., M.S. and Ph. D. degrees in engineering.
S&P Global Ratings
Pierre Georges
Managing Director, Credit Ratings
S&P Global Market Intelligence
Martin Roberts
Principal Analyst, Deputy Head - Sub-Saharan Africa Country Risk
Martin Roberts, a principal analyst in Country Risk at S&P Global Market Intelligence, serves as deputy head of desk for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Martin is deputy head of the Sub-Saharan Africa team and a principal analyst responsible for the political, security and business environment of several West African countries, focusing primarily on Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal and Guinea. He has carried out extensive work, including consulting projects, for multinational companies looking at country entry, sectoral dynamics, and the impact of political and security developments on their businesses.
Martin has travelled in and conducted research across 16 African countries which included several research trips to West Africa. Educated in the UK, he holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Cambridge University, a Masters degree in international politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies - London (SOAS), where he specialized in African politics. Martin also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Journalism from Cardiff University, and prior to joining S&P Global he was a journalist working at the BBC World Service and several national newspapers. He speaks French.
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 Energy
Gauri Jauhar
Executive Director, Global Energy Transitions & Clean Tech Consulting
Executive Director, in Energy Transition and Clean Tech Global Consulting team, S&P Global Energy
Gauri is Executive Director, in Energy Transition and Clean Tech Global Consulting team, and a Certified Independent Director by the Institute of Directors (IOD). She has 23 years of experience in the energy, applied economics, finance fields, with wide regional experience in the United States, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Mumbai, New Delhi. Focus on ESG In the Energy Transitions and the integration of clean fuels in the energy spectrum and multi-sector mitigation strategies.
Her areas of specialization are Integration of New Energy sources to the Energy spectrum for companies and countries, Financial and Operational Competitor Benchmarking, Energy pricing, Market entry strategies and Energy policy development. She represents S&P Global in various industry bodies such as the US India Hydrogen & Gas Task Forces by the US India Strategic Partnership Forum.
Prior to joining S&P Global, Gauri was Commercial Advisor - Gas Policy & Regulatory Affairs at BP in India. She was the gas policy lead for a multi-disciplinary team-leading BP's energy reforms advocacy efforts in India. Prior to joining BP, she was a Senior Consultant at PFC Energy (now part of S&P Global), leading PFC Energy's Integrated Energy business in India and Singapore.
Gauri started her career as a Research Associate at the National Council of Applied Economic Research in New Delhi, analyzing macro-economic policy issues for the Indian economy and her paper with DK Joshi on "India's Macro-Stabilization Policy in 1990s: A Review and Assessment" was published in the book, "The Indian State in Transition."
Dennis Sugrue
Senior Director and Insurance Sector Lead, Financial Services Group EMEA
S&P Global Market Intelligence
Veronica Retamales Burford
Senior Research Analyst, Latin America Country Risk
Veronica Retamales Burford covers political, commercial, security and operational risks in Latin America, with a focus on Peru, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.
Veronica is a Latin America Senior Research Analyst covering political, commercial, operational, and security risk issues for a variety of sectors in the region, including energy, mining, retail, and insurance. She is responsible for the generation of commercially relevant political and violent risks forecasts for Peru, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. Before joining S&P Global, Veronica worked as a Senior Analyst of risk intelligence for a consultancy firm in Canada where she gained extensive experience managing due diligence assignments, and as a Latin America political analyst and journalist based in Chile.
She holds an MSc in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and a Journalism Degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
S&P Global Ratings
Michelle Kogan
Credit Program Analyst
S&P Global Ratings
Emmanuel Volland
Global Sector Lead, Financial Institutions
S&P Global Market Intelligence
Carlos Cardenas
Executive Director, Head of Latin American Insights and Analysis
Carlos, Director of Latin America Country Risk Analysis and Forecasting, is responsible for the generation of commercially relevant political and violent risks forecasts for a variety of sectors in Latin America, including energy, manufacturing, mining and insurance. He manages a team of Latin American experts, as well as a remote network of contributors based in the region, covering risks such as expropriation, non-payment, contract frustration, civil unrest, business disruption and security-related risks (extortion, kidnapping, crime and terrorism). Carlos has also worked and delivered numerous consulting projects for a variety of clients interested in understanding the role of stakeholders and risks at the project level in Latin America. His areas of expertise include petroleum policy and economics, public governance in natural resource rich countries, international relations, criminal dynamics in Latin America and political economy.
He holds a BA in International Studies from Universidad Central de Venezuela (Magna Cum-Laude), an MA in International Political Economy from Birmingham University (distinction) and an LLM in Petroleum Law and Policy (distinction) from Dundee University.
S&P Global Ratings
Paul J Kurias
Ratings Analytical Director
Henna Viinikka
S&P Global Ratings
Patrice Cochelin
Head of Analytical Governance, Sustainable Finance
S&P Global Sustainable1
Jennifer Laidlaw
Senior Writer
S&P Global Ratings
Ashley Yen
Sustainable Finance Ratings Analyst
Florence Devevey