Category: Partners Content

The Banyan Group is a company of contradictions. A luxury hospitality business that worries about its local working community as much as about its guests. A for-profit enterprise that that will sacrifice shareholder value for stakeholder benefit. In other words, a corporate outlier.

This corporate culture of challenging convention is a reflection of its founder Ho Kwon Ping, a Singaporean well-known for strong views on leadership and sustainability.

In this conversation he explains why he thinks that capitalism is broken, and CEOs alone will not be able to change the system. And why strong leaders should be willing to show weakness.

Our Guest In This Episode

Ho Kwon Ping

Chief Executive Officer at the Banyan Group, an independent, global hospitality company with a purpose.

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Is there really a trade-off between profit and purpose? Can you be successful in business AND be a positive influence on your employees, your community, the environment?

The answer is a resounding “Yes.”

In his new book, “Sustainable Sustainability: WHY ESG Is Not Enough” Rajeev Peshawaria outlines how.

Through a series of case studies of success global companies, and an analytical framework that allows business leaders to take ownership of the ESG agenda, and thrive.

In this conversation, Peshawaria describes the essence of his “Steward Leadership” philosophy, and lays the groundwork for an upcoming series of conversation with business leaders who are taking deliberate and purposeful steps to do well by doing good.

Our Guest In This Episode

Rajeev Peshawaria

Rajeev is the CEO of Stewardship Asia Centre Singapore and President of Leadership Energy Consulting Company Seattle. Formerly he was CEO of The Iclif Leadership & Governance Centre, and the Chief Learning Officer at Coca-Cola and Morgan Stanley. He’s a speaker and an author, and his latest book is Sustainable Sustainability – Why ESG Is Not Enough

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Rajeev Peshawaria, CEO of the Stewardship Asia Centre and author of “Sustainable Sustainability” talks about the themes we will consider in this series.

Our Guest In This Episode

Rajeev Peshawaria

Rajeev is the CEO of Stewardship Asia Centre Singapore and President of Leadership Energy Consulting Company Seattle. Formerly he was CEO of The Iclif Leadership & Governance Centre, and the Chief Learning Officer at Coca-Cola and Morgan Stanley. He’s a speaker and an author, and his latest book is Sustainable Sustainability – Why ESG Is Not Enough

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The US government recently became the latest voice to weigh in on the increasingly heated conversation around carbon credits.

The “Voluntary Carbon Markets Joint Policy Statement and Principles” is a timely call for a “commitment to integrity” from the developers who sell credits and from the companies that use them, coming at a time when the use of such credits is back in the news.

In addition, the FT, the BBC and Reuters have all been running high profile critiques of the offsets market.

Meanwhile, the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) has caused its own storm by proposing changes to the way it treats offsets, causing a backlash from its own staff.

It seems there’s an enormous amount of confusion around the issue, not to mention a considerable absence of trust.

The Joots team recently sat down with the CEO of Climate Impact X Mikkel Larsen. We chatted about trust, protocols and Singapore’s role in the climate conversation.

Our Guest In This Episode

Mikkel Larsen

Mikkel is an animal activist, a sustainability expert, and the Chief Executive Officer of Climate Impact X in Singapore.

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“Frontier” markets present a promising landscape for impact investors seeking meaningful returns and societal impact. but they are also characterized by unique challenges and opportunities,

The dynamism of these markets creates fertile ground for initiatives that promote inclusive growth, environmental sustainability, and social development. Successful impact investing in this environment requires collaborative models that engage local communities, governments, and private sectors.

In this latest episode of Impact Investing Musings, Bradley Kopsick, Myanmar/Cambodia Country Director at Insitor, explores the dynamic potential of impact investing in frontier markets across Asia.

Our Guest In This Episode

Bradley Kopsick

Bradley is the Myanmar/Cambodia Country Director at Insitor Partners, an impact investment fund backing entrepreneurs who build life-changing solutions for low-income consumers.
Insitor was the first impact fund manager to set up operations in Southeast Asia.

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With a funding gap in meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, Asia faces a clear imperative to leverage and mainstream blended finance.

This powerful financial tool can be applied across different structures, geographies, and sectors. By efficiently using concessional capital, we recalibrate risks and returns, allowing the private sector to finance underserved markets while achieving commercially viable profits.

Nandini Chaudhury, Principal, Head of South and Southeast Asia, CrossBoundary Group, explains what blended finance means in today’s markets, and how it can be implemented at scale to attract commercial capital.

Our Guest In This Episode

Nandini Chaudhury

Nandini is an Investment Professional with 11+ years of experience in renewable energy , carbon and O&G markets. She is currently the Principal, Head of South Asia & Member of Group Council at CrossBoundary Group, focusing on climate finance transactions and impact investment in South Asia and South East Asia

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With significant amounts of capital being directed towards impact investing, the locus of attention is on impact measurement and management (IMM).  Effective IMM is hampered by challenges such as the lack of a universal framework, inconsistent use of metrics, and impact washing.

In the latest episode of the Impact Investing Musings, Hao Liang, Associate Professor of Finance at Singapore Management University and Co-Director of Singapore Green Finance Centre, will speak on the industry progress in standard-setting, establishing benchmarks and much more

Our Guest In This Episode

Hao Liang

Hao is an Associate Professor of Finance at Singapore Management University, and holder of the Ho Bee Professorship in Sustainability Management. He is also a Co Director of the Singapore Green Finance Centre ·

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Description

Is “impact investing” the same as “ESG investing”? Or “ethical” investing? Or “stakeholder capitalism”?

In this episode we consider how social and ethical considerations have long been a part of investment, and how those ideas have matured and evolved

Our Guest In This Episode

Wai Chew Chik

Wai Chiew is CEO of Heritas Capital, a PE and VC investment firm that invests across healthcare, education, environment, and technology sectors. He has more than 25 years of experience in global investment management and strategic business development, having been active in leading various companies on transformational growth strategies, fundraising and M&A.

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Climate scientists Dr Benjamin Horton is an expert in sea level rise and the threat posed by melting polar icecaps.

He warns that islands like Singapore are in danger of becoming “the new Atlantis” if the 1.5 degree climate target is breached.

Our Guest In This Episode

Dr Benjamin Horton

Ben is the Director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, a Professor at the Asian School of the Environment, NTU, and the Lead Principal Investigator of the Climate Transformation Program for Singapore.

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