Women in Climate series: Sustainable investing

The National

05-03-2025

This series is sponsored by GIB AM
Finance is at the heart of all discussions around climate action, and it is thought of both as an opportunity and an expense.
At Cop29, an agreement was reached for rich countries to provide developing nations with $300 billion annually to help them decarbonise, through a mixture of government and private investment.
As trillions of dollars are funnelled into climate action over the coming decades, how do we make sure this money is well spent? What are the principles that should direct these investments to ensure equitable climate action? What are the blocks to moving finance and how do we make sure that the people most impacted receive the support they need?
The fifth episode of the Women in Climate podcast series delves into the complexities of sustainable finance with three trailblazing women, exploring the evolving ESG landscape and the critical role of financial institutions in driving decarbonisation.
We address the challenges of balancing compliance with genuine commitment, and examine the need for greater transparency and accountability.
Our discussion highlights the progress being made in places such as the UAE, while also confronting the global policy shifts and the importance of a holistic approach to ESG, emphasising human rights and the impact on developing nations.
We explore the idea that the transition to sustainable energy is not always a clean one, and that we must be aware of the effect of our choices on developing nations.
We also explore the idea that business can play a much larger role in the transition, and that we need to move away from a system where everyone is pointing at each other, towards a system where we are all working together.
In this episode, host Naomi Kerbel, director of communications at SEC Newgate UK, interviews Victoria Barron, chief sustainability officer, GIB Asset Management, Habiba Al Mar'ashi, president and chief executive of Arabia CSR Network, and co-founder and chairwoman of Emirates Environmental Group, and Avery Johnstone, manager at KPMG's Global Decarbonisation Hub.