Leading Voices in Global Sustainability
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Malini Samtani
Climate Change Investment Management Officer - IDB Invest
10 Questions to Change The World
March 2023
ESG is the source of a lot of controversy these days; what do you think are some of the greatest challenges sustainability leaders face on this topic?
First, ESG covers a lot of different critical topics, and it is challenging to perform well on all topics at the same time. The industry has grouped ESG and while interlinked, environment, social and governance are different issues that each deserve individual attention. Companies may excel in reducing environmental pollution but lag on gender and inclusion, or vice versa.
Sustainability leaders are under pressure to highlight their companies’ positive impact and best stories. However, in tandem, they must also advocate for comprehensive ESG assessments and transparent disclosures, even when performance is imperfect. Making business inclusive and sustainable is no small task and they will lead entities in moving from “business as usual” to a truly inclusive and sustainable business.
Sustainability leaders will need to walk a fine line to continue to promote and advance in the areas where their entities are doing well but also push for both disclosure and action on other ESG topics where they are lagging.
How do you think climate change and the global sustainability agenda will impact your industry over the next 3-5 years?
As businesses advance on their sustainability agendas, and sustainability regulation is established, development finance institutions (DFIs) will need to push the boundaries further to provide thought leadership and showcase how businesses can transform their models to further reduce impact on the planet and provide solutions to social challenges.
Sustainability leaders will need to walk a fine line to continue to promote and advance in the areas where their entities are doing well but also push for both disclosure and action on other ESG topics where they are lagging.
For example, while renewable energy projects are now viable on entirely commercial terms, this is not the case for climate change adaptation projects or nature-positive investments. While the private sector goes after implementing net-zero plans, the DFIs will be tasked with the next frontier: innovating and showcasing business operations that restore ecosystems and equip people to be more resilient in the face of climate change.
Women are more likely to be appointed to head of sustainability than men. What specific values do you think women bring to these roles that make them better suited for the tasks?
Traditionally, women have shown more qualities conducive to sustainability themes such as empathy, collaboration and prioritising value creation beyond financial returns. Therefore it doesn’t surprise me that currently women are more likely to be appointed to head of sustainability than men. However, I also do not think it will be a long-term trend. As we, as a society, begin to appreciate and monetize these traditionally “feminine” qualities, such as empathy, collaboration and triple bottom lines, I suspect that men will also begin to develop these qualities. Therefore, I would predict that in the future, we will see more gender balance in the sustainability space than we do today.
How important do you think diversity is in improving ESG scores overall for a corporation, and how do you see that manifesting itself?
The only way to ensure that the SDGs work for everyone is to ensure that all types of groups and identities are represented in leadership roles.
If the design and implementation of the 17 sustainable development goals is not driven by people with diverse backgrounds, we cannot expect it to be successful for everyone. As an example, SDG 3 on health and wellbeing, requires leadership from people with different backgrounds because different groups of people have different needs from health systems in order for it to work for their situation. The only way to ensure that the SDGs work for everyone is to ensure that all types of groups and identities are represented in leadership roles.
How important are partnerships to your sustainability strategy and how are you forging and managing those partnerships?
As someone who works at a Development Finance Institution (DFI), strong partnerships are central to driving the environmental and social impact agenda. We need to bring together the right groups of partners that can complement each other to create high-impact projects, this could include consulting firms who can offer technical expertise on very specific topics, donors who are able to finance new sustainable and inclusive business models before they become commercially viable and mainstream and our clients that are willing to commit to joining us on the sustainability journey.
Who do you go to for inspiration and thought leadership on sustainability?
The youth climate activist movement. Gen Z, through movements like Fridays for the Future, has had the courage and consistently called out the biggest polluters and decision makers and demanded action from them. Not only has the youth climate movement focused on climate change threats and the need for action, but they have done so by ensuring representation from young people around the world and by making climate justice and equity issues central to the conversation. This is important because climate justice and equity often gets lost in translation in all the mainstream net-zero conversations. Gen Z gives me hope that it is possible to push for change and to demand not just action, but transformation for a more just and sustainable world.
Businesses looking to invest in the biodiversity space. Businesses are now not only talking about their emissions but also how to protect biodiversity and promote nature-positive investments. While this area is only just starting to get attention, I am delighted to see commercial entities working to find ways to coexist in harmony with nature.
Gen Z gives me hope that it is possible to push for change and to demand not just action, but transformation for a more just and sustainable world.
What’s the coolest new idea or solution you have seen in the impact space?
- Graduate school fellowship at SVX Mexico, exploring impact investing for regenerative businesses -
What is your one ‘guilty / non-eco’ pleasure? (that you can’t live without)?
Flying across continents. Family and friends are central to me and I need to fly to see them. I do try to offset and am hopeful about all the progress around sustainable aviation fuels.
What is your favourite place on earth and why?
An area called “Boven Suriname” in Suriname. Boven Suriname consists of a series of Saramaccan villages along the Suriname River, deep in the Amazon forest. It takes about 7 hours by car and boat from the capital, Paramaribo, where I grew up. It is completely pristine and I feel that the water has healing properties. I enjoy learning from the local villagers because they live in complete harmony with nature, trusting that nature provides for them and will continue to do so.
If you could go back in time, when would you go back to and what would you do to impact the current state of climate and social imbalance?
I would go back to the fifties and sixties when much of colonisation was coming to an end, to negotiate more just and fair development financing plans. Much of the world’s countries were left to start from a point of depletion or from scratch, and if I had the opportunity to go back and do it over, I would advocate for an inclusive and just sharing of global wealth that could set up health, education, environmental and financial wellness for all.
"If working apart we are a force powerful enough to destabilise our planet, surely working together we are powerful enough to save it. In my lifetime I have witnessed a terrible decline. In yours you could - and should - see a wonderful recovery.”
-​ Sir David Attenborough