ESG Currents

Blended finance uses catalytic capital from public or philanthropic sources to mobilize private investment toward sustainable development — but how are these vehicles structured, and what enables them to scale? On this week’s episode of the ESG Currents podcast, Timothee Jaulin, head of responsible investment development & advocacy at Amundi, joins Shaheen Contractor, senior ESG analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, to unpack how blended finance works in practice. The discussion breaks down how blended finance vehicles are structured — from the roles of DFIs and asset managers to tranche design, capital layering and the realities of deployment timelines. They also explore how risk is allocated and mitigated via credit enhancements, guarantees and political risk insurance — and who is driving demand today, from multilateral developmental banks to family offices, as Asia emerges as a key growth market.
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The build-out of power-hungry data centers is coinciding with new roadblocks for solar and wind farms under the Trump administration, raising the risk of an electricity supply squeeze. In this episode of Bloomberg Intelligence’s ESG Currents podcast, senior climate analyst Andrew John Stevenson speaks with Simcore Partners’ Dan Lee about the path forward for renewables beyond this year’s subsidy sunset amid rising AI-driven power demand. They discuss project-delay risks and grid-congestion concerns, and how renewables may continue to play a meaningful role in the coming years.
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Amid a wave of political pressure in recent years, investors have faced greater barriers to engaging with companies, particularly on environmental and social issues. But engagement remains an important tool for identifying and mitigating risks that could hurt long-term shareholder value. On this week’s edition of ESG Currents, senior ESG analyst Rob Du Boff speaks with Andrea Ranger, director of shareholder advocacy for Trillium Asset Management, a long-standing thought leader in ESG investing with around $5 billion in assets under management. They discuss the importance of investment stewardship, why it remains a critical fiduciary duty and how it can be done effectively. This episode was recorded on Dec. 15.
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AI can be a force for good in climate and technology, says Rama Variankaval, Global Head of Corporate Advisory at JPMorgan. In this episode of ESG Currents, Variankaval joins Bloomberg Intelligence Senior ESG Analyst Shaheen Contractor to examine the sustainability themes likely to shape corporate strategy in 2026 and beyond, including AI, energy, adaptation and food security. They discuss how boards are navigating green investments amid tighter capital conditions, changing risk perceptions and the collision between AI-driven growth and energy-system limits.
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In Africa, sustainable finance is less about decarbonizing legacy assets and more about building resilient systems that make the continent bankable for decades to come. In this episode of ESG Currents, BI EMEA ESG Integration Analyst Grace Osborne speaks with Amal Benaissa, director of sustainability advocacy at Bank of Africa, on what it takes to effectively mobilize climate capital across emerging markets - and why this agenda is ultimately about macroeconomic stability, not just the environment. From energy efficiency and rooftop solar to food systems, SMEs and clean industrial exports, they explore how blended finance, local-currency lending and more flexible taxonomies can turn transition priorities into investable opportunities and unlock private capital at scale. This episode was recorded on Jan. 13.
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