Episode sixteen: Polly Billington, director, UK100

The latest release from the sixth IPCC Report shows that emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities are responsible for approximately 1.1°C of warming since 1850-1900, and that the global temperature is expected to reach or exceed 1.5°C of warming increase within the next two decades. The need for finance to support a transition to both net-zero and negative-carbon emissions has never been more urgent. In this IPCC Special episode, Green is the New Finance looks at the Report's findings and the role of finance.  Guest Lord Nicholas Stern, I. G. Patel Professor of Economics and Government and Chairman of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics shares his views on the role of public finance, while Green Finance Institute CEO, Rhian-Mari Thomas, discusses the role of private finance with hosts Ryan Jude and Helen Avery. 

How much does nature contribute to a regional economy, the health and well-being of its residents, as well as to building climate resilient communities? Greater Manchester Combined Authority's Sam Evans and Krista Patrick share the findings of its natural capital account and its journey to moving from public funding into attracting private investment with Green Finance Institute hosts Ryan Jude and Helen Avery. 

What does it mean to have a circular economy? and how is the finance sector supporting the shift to reduced waste and regenerative systems? Michiel de Smet, finance programme lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation - the world's leading authority on a circular economy - shares his insights with the Green Finance Institute's Helen Avery and Ryan Jude. 

Heat. Is it the biggest financial risk of climate change we're not talking about? Kathy Baughman McLeod, director of the Adrienne Arsht Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center at the Atlantic Council talks to the Green Finance Institute's Helen Avery about resiliency versus adaptation, the silent killer that is heat, and the role of the insurance sector in helping us develop the resilience we need. 

Local solutions are an essential part of any national net zero ambition. Polly Billington, director of UK100, a network of local councils and boroughs committed to the transition, talks to the Institute's Helen Avery and Ryan Jude about the actions they are taking, how we can finance a faster pace of change, and why we as voters have a responsibility to choose carefully in local elections. 

Bevis Watts, chief executive of Triodos Bank UK, talks to the Green Finance Institute's Ryan Jude and Helen Avery about how retail banking can be a force for consumer behavioural change when it comes to solving our environmental and social issues, as well as, what is needed for a system-wide change of the finance sector and how to safeguard against greenwashing.

Catherine Howarth, chief executive at ShareAction, talks to the Green Finance Institute's Ryan Jude and Helen Avery about her journey into the world of responsible investing, the role asset managers play in influencing companies to be more environmentally and socially-responsible, and the importance of using shareholder voting rights to enact positive change. 

What is a carbon price? and why is it so important if we hope to reach net zero? Hannah Dillon, head of the Zero Carbon Campaign joins the Green Finance Institute's Helen Avery and Ryan Jude to shine a light on carbon pricing, bust a few myths and talk about the Campaign's ambitions.  

Nigel Wilson, group chief executive at Legal and General, talks to the Green Finance Institute's Helen Avery about the firm's inclusive capitalism mission, and the potential for pension funds and financial institutions to invest in solutions to the world's 'long liabilities' such as climate change, population increases and inequality. 

Founder of the world's first green and vegan energy company, Ecotricity, and chair of the world's greenest football club, Forest Green Rovers, Dale Vince OBE talks to the Green Finance Institute's Helen Avery and Ryan Jude about reaching net-zero in energy, food, transport, and, of course, sports.