Climate Finance Podcast

Bruce Usher is a Professor at Columbia Business School, teaching the intersection between finance, social, and environmental issues. 

He is the author of “Investing in the Era of Climate Change” (2022) and “Renewable Energy: A Primer for the Twenty-First Century” (2019). Apart from his teaching and research activities, he is an advisor and investor in multiple Climate Tech startups and investment funds.

Before transitioning to academia, he studied at Harvard Business School and Queen's University, worked in financial services for 12 years in New York and Tokyo, and was the CEO of EcoSecurities Group, a developer of GHG reduction projects in developing countries - which JP Morgan acquired in 2009.

Check out the Climate Finance Podcast website for more information.

Topics discussed:

• Bruce’s two main career transitions:

  • From developing structured financial products for American and Japanese institutional investors to becoming the CEO of EcoSecurities Group and focusing on CDR projects in developing countries.

  • Eventually transitioning to Columbia Business School (Executive in Residence & Professor of Practice),  and being an author, investor, and advisor.

• Publishing his first book “Renewable Energy: A Primer for the Twenty-First Century” in 2019.

• Focus on Bruce’s second book “Investing in the Era of Climate Change,” published in 2022.

• Five Climate Investment Strategies:

  • Risk Mitigation

  • Divestment

  • ESG Investing

  • Thematic Impact Investing

  • Impact First Investing

• Case Studies on New Climate Investors:

  • Corporate Venture Capital Firms

  • Private Equity Clean Infrastructure Funds

• Challenges with Public Equities

  • Assessing Net Zero Pledges of Public Companies

  • Picking Winners - Incumbents Versus Disrupters

• Perspectives on Government Policies:

  • Inflation Reduction Act

  • Carbon Pricing

• Personal Advice to Prospective Investors and the Next Generation of Climate Professionals.

Note: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice. The interview took place on 4th April 2023.