About the Podcast
The Financing a Sustainable Future Podcast is a series of discussions with leading LSE Academics on their research in Sustainable Finance. The discussions are intended to bring research findings to practitioners in a way that is comprehensible and actionable, while informing them of the state of the art in research in the sustainable finance field.
Tom Gosling, Professor in Practice at the Financial Markets Group, hosts the series, interviewing authors of academic papers to uncover their key insights.
Click on each episode to learn more.
Episode 4: When private firms provide public goods: the allocation of CSR spending
Date: 8 October 2025
Tom Gosling interview’s Kim Fe Cramer, Assistant Professor of Finance on the compulsory CSR spending mandated for large Indian firms. They discuss how firms choose their CSR priorities and where they spend the money. CSR spending is focussed on a firm’s area of competitive advantage so is efficient, but is focussed in their home region, which often means that richer regions benefit from higher CSR spending, raising questions about equity.
Listen to the Podcast on these platforms: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music
Read the paper: When Private Firms Provide Public Goods: The Allocation of CSR Spending
Episode 3: How co-ordinated engagements can enhance sustainability impact
Date: 24 September 2025
Dr Xi Li discusses her research on coordinated shareholder engagement through the UN PRI. She explains why engagements with a clear leader are more likely to succeed, what makes effective leaders, and how collaboration pays off—both in impact and fund flows.
Listen to the Podcast on these platforms: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music
Read the paper: Coordinated Engagements
Episode 2: Sustainable investing: beliefs, constraints, and the limits of impact
Date: 2 September 2025
Tom Gosling speaks with Professor Dirk Jenter about what investors really believe about sustainability, how the constraints they face shape decisions, and why most aren’t willing to trade returns for impact. A candid look at the limits of sustainable investing today.
Listen to the Podcast on these platforms: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music
Read the paper: Sustainable Investing in Practice: Objectives, Constraints, and Limits to Impact
Episode 1: The role of bank capital requirements in addressing climate change
Date: 23 July 2025
Tom Gosling interviews Professor Martin Oehmke on how bank capital rules might integrate climate risks. They debate whether rules can be used to incentivize green lending—or whether this would backfire—and why capital requirements can't play the same role as a carbon tax.
Listen to the Podcast on these platforms: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music
Read the paper: Green capital Requirements
