New Episode of Resources Radio: “Catalyzing Markets Toward Sustainability, with Kyung-Ah Park”
WASHINGTON, DC—Resources for the Future (RFF) today released a new installment of Resources Radio: “Catalyzing Markets Toward Sustainability, with Kyung-Ah Park.”
In this episode, host Kristin Hayes talks with Kyung-Ah Park, who leads environmental markets and innovation in the newly formed sustainable finance group at Goldman Sachs; she also serves on the board of RFF. Previously, Park headed the Environmental Markets Group at Goldman Sachs.
As the episode title suggests, their conversation focuses on the potential to catalyze markets toward further investments in environmentally beneficial products and services. Hayes and Park talk about the definition of environmental markets and why markets matter in driving change at the scales needed.
An edited transcript of this episode also is available as an article in issue 202 of Resources magazine.
Notable quotes from the podcast:
- “Markets are highly efficient; therefore, capital flows to where there's the most optimized return for the risk that underlies it. And when you think about the climate equation, that optimal risk-return has to be in favor of low-carbon investments, as well as more broadly in … other environmental[ly] beneficial solutions.” ―Kyung-Ah Park (14:52)
- “I think it is important to recognize that putting a price on carbon is not a panacea … For a number of reasons, carbon pricing alone is not going to get a lot of energy efficiency going, and therefore, many governments have put standards and mandates into place.” ―Kyung-Ah Park (17:59)
- “The good news is that there is actually significant capital out there, and more of it is getting harnessed for sustainability. If you think about the public capital market in particular, which is incredibly deep and liquid, some of the numbers out there show that there's north of $150 trillion of capital outstanding, and there are a lot more financial tools that are unlocking greater capital flow from that market for green sustainable investments.” ―Kyung-Ah Park (7:33)
Resources Radio is a weekly podcast series exploring timely environmental, energy, and natural resources topics. Episodes can be found on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Stitcher.
Resources for the Future (RFF) is an independent, nonprofit research institution in Washington, DC. Its mission is to improve environmental, energy, and natural resource decisions through impartial economic research and policy engagement. RFF is committed to being the most widely trusted source of research insights and policy solutions leading to a healthy environment and a thriving economy.
Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed here are those of the individual authors and may differ from those of other RFF experts, its officers, or its directors. RFF does not take positions on specific legislative proposals.
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