Episode 6: Ep 6 - Conversation with Hervé Duteil (Chief Sustainability Officer at BNP Paribas Americas)

In this week’s episode, we talk to Hervé Duteil, the Chief Sustainability Officer for BNP Paribas in the Americas. As part of his role, Hervé leads the Bank’s regional strategy for Sustainable Finance, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Company Engagement. Herve begins by telling us why everyone is talking about sustainability these days. He goes on to discuss the difference between a sustainable investing approach and sustainable finance and expands on the role of finance in driving sustainability and the ESG movement. He ends with thoughts on the transition from ESG to net zero, the various activities in these areas that BNP Paribas has been engaged with, and what he believes the future holds for sustainability in finance and business more generally. Guest BioHervé Duteil created the first position of Chief Sustainability Officer for BNP Paribas in the Americas in 2014. In this role, he leads the Bank’s regional strategy for Sustainable Finance, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Company Engagement. In 2018, Euromoney selected him as one of the 10 “champions of global impact banking”. More recently, he led BNP Paribas’ efforts to close its first Social Impact Bond for the benefit of the State of Connecticut, followed by a second one with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Hervé holds a Master in Business Administration with distinction from the Harvard Business School, a Master of Science from the University of Cambridge, and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics & Physics from the University of Paris. Formerly a professional concert musician, he received various certificates from the Juilliard School of Music in New York. Key moments timestamps[00:25]- Hervé’s personal and professional journey[02:47]- Hervé’s insights on sustainability[04:35]- Whether sustainable finance has the potential to save us from climate change[08:20]- About ESG and current drivers behind ESG[11:27]- Data as an enabler and Herve’s thoughts on greenwashing[15:20]- The goal of net zero transition[17:43]- The role of banks in achieving net zero transition [19:22]- The importance of sustainability at BNP Paribas and the role of the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) [24:25]- The future of sustainable finance and leadership Check out the full episode transcription at: https://https://morewithlesspodcast.com/           Quotes“Greenwashing starts when the tree starts to hide the forest and when a bond, let's say with a very legitimate green bond or social bond is hiding the rest of its impacts. The one bond is only a tiny portion of a balance sheet. And if you start taking a page in some media, press newspaper bragging about the latest transactions you've done, you start portraying a picture that's not close to reality.”  - Hervé Duteil  “What I'm fearing is complacency. Greenwashing in a way is intentional by those who overly exploit the benefits of what they do. Complacency is more insidious because we're not aware of it.”  - Hervé Duteil     About UsVenkata Gandikota is a frugal innovation and impact investing evangelist and Prof Jaideep Prabhu is a Professor of Marketing at Cambridge University’s Judge Business School and co-author of an award-winning book on frugal innovation. If you have questions or feedback on this episode or our series, reach out to us. Twitter: https://twitter.com/morewithlesspodLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/more-with-less-podcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/morewithlesspodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_hymDe_ez7RbRko0PLsFkwWebsite: https://morewithlesspodcast.com