FEI Podcast - Episodes Tagged with “Sustainability”

Turn the CSRD delay into a strategic business win. Learn what steps you need to take

Financial Executives International — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 07:00:00 -0400

In this episode, we’re diving into the fast-changing world of global ESG reporting and regulation. FERF’s Managing Director of research, Dillon Papenfuss, sits down with Kevin O’Connell, PwC Sustainability Assurance Services Leader, to break down the latest EU sustainability proposals—including the two-year delay to CSRD reporting—and what it all means for U.S. companies with overseas operations. From long-term strategic planning and technological transformation to data-driven insights and AI integration, this discussion provides finance leaders with practical steps to navigate the complexities of global ESG requirements and achieve business success.

Additional PwC resources:

Sustainability News Brief

The CFO’s sustainability playbook for driving growth

Don’t wait for the Omnibus proposals approval to start preparing for CSDDD

European Commission publishes ‘Omnibus’ proposals

⁠PwC's Sustainability reporting guide (Register for free access)

Special Guest: Kevin O'Connell.

ESG and the bigger natural capital accounting movement with Carnegie Mellon’s Nicholas Muller

Financial Executives International — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 13:00:00 -0400

With the recent decision by the US Securities and Exchange Commission around carbon disclosure, it’s important to look at the larger narrative of applying traditional financial valuation methods to natural systems.

That’s where natural capital accounting comes in. At its heart, natural capital accounting is a series of practices – including carbon disclosure– where environmental resources are measured against economic activity. It’s not anything new, per se, but natural capital accounting is becoming part of the larger dialogue about government and private market policy.

In this episode of the podcast we speak with Professor Nicholas Z. Muller, Lester and Judith Lave Professor of Economics, Engineering, and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

Dr. Muller’s work focuses on the interaction of environment and economic policy including the use of natural capital accounting.

Special Guest: Nicholas Z. Muller.

What California’s new sustainability disclosure laws mean for coming SEC rules with Persefoni’s Kristina Wyatt

Financial Executives International — Fri, 17 Nov 2023 10:00:00 -0500

Over the past year the accounting profession has been waiting for the Securities and Exchange Commission to reveal new disclosure rules around sustainability reporting. The rules will have a major impact on how public companies construct and communicate their finance reports.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the new SEC rules: California - the largest US state economy and one of the largest world economies – passed their own sustainability disclosure legislation that throws an even greater amount of complexity around the ESG reporting debate.
In this episode of the podcast we speak Kristina Wyatt Deputy General Counsel and Chief Sustainability Officer for carbon and climate reporting platform Persefoni, about the new rules and how they could enhance or conflict with future SEC proposals.

Special Guest: Kristina Wyatt.

Will hot strike summer heat up the human capital debate? with Harvard’s Ethan Rouen

Financial Executives International — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 07:00:00 -0400

Over the past several months tens of thousands of workers– from Hollywood writers and actors, hotel workers, drivers and now auto workers – have organized job actions in an effort to demand higher pay and improved benefits and working conditions. According to reports, more than 300,000 workers walked off their jobs, earning the movement the name “hot strike summer.”

Dr. Rouen is an associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. We discuss how the summer of strikes may help further define the current debate around human capital disclosure.

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Special Guest: Ethan Rouen.

Sustainability means new skills for a new generation of professionals with Jeff Hales

Financial Executives International — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 07:45:00 -0400

FEI Engage – Financial Executives Internatinonal’s platform for the community of students and early career people in accounting finance – held three discussions during the summer for subscribers that were focused on the skills needed for newly minted professionals.

Today’s podcast is a recording of the first seminar held by FEI Engage’s Olivia Berkman with Jeffrey Hales – Executive Director of the Global Sustainability Leadership Institute at University of Texas at Austin – regarding how finance and accounting skills need to adapt to a world that demands new financial reporting skills.

Special Guest: Jeffrey Hales, PhD.

Episode 60: Sustainability Disclosure "Must Be Done" With Existing Rules

Financial Executives International — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 08:00:00 -0400

Financial executives in the US are waiting for a new set of rules focused on sustainability reporting that’s expected to come from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission before the end of the year. That could mean a great deal of resources and time for the preparer community to adapt to any new standards.

But sustainability reporting doesn’t necessarily need to be laden with new rules and a lot can be accomplished within the existing frameworks. That’s the argument of David Pitt Watson, one of the leaders of the Climate Accounting Project: an informal group of finance and investment executives attempting to advance the ESG accounting and reporting dialogue out of the UK.

In this episode of the podcast we speak with Mr. Pitt Watson about his hopes for ESG reporting in the US, the usefulness of existing rules and the challenges of accounting and reporting carbon emissions.

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Special Guest: David Pitt-Watson.

Episode 44: Big Data and Sustainability Reporting

Financial Executives International — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 17:00:00 -0400

One of the big challenges for companies, as well as investors, when it comes to ESG is wrangling the data points that are important to every stakeholder and a relevant to the issue of sustainability.

In this episode of the podcast we speak with Rebeca Minguela, Founder and CEO of Clarity AI. Clarity AI uses big data and machine learning to tracks a broad universe of companies to measure sustainability metrics. In January BlackRock purchased a minority stake in the company and plans to integrate Clarity AI into its investment analytics platform.

We discuss the importance of disclosures, the challenges to standardized ESG data and why there is no turning back when it comes to sustainability reporting.

Thanks to the episode's sponsor, Deloitte.

Special Guest: Rebeca Minguela.

Episode 41: What Is Extinction Accounting?

Financial Executives International — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 12:00:00 -0500

Sustainability reporting is something that both financial statement preparers and investors have been discussing for years, and it’s expected to become even more of a hot button issue in the US as a new administration focused on climate change takes charge of capital markets oversight.

It’s fair to say that in Europe, the debate regarding ESG reporting practices is more evolved. There is already a movement to adopt a practice known as “extinction accounting” where companies report on the impact they have in biodiversity.

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Special Guest: Jill Atkins.