Earth, Wind and Solar

Hernan Pareja, principal investment officer and telecom lead for Latin America and the Caribbean, and Obinna Isiadinso, global sector lead for cloud and data center investments and a senior investment officer at the International Finance Corporation, join Sarah Devine and Rebecca Abou-Chedid for a conversation about data centers. We explore why data centers are an important part of digital infrastructure investment in emerging economies and what is driving demand for new data centers. We also discuss the role of cloud providers and considerations for investors, including project bankability and sustainability of data center projects.

Jessica Espinoza, chief executive officer, and Sana Kapadia, director of strategy, of 2X Global, a global membership organization focused on facilitating gender-smart investing, join Sarah Devine and Rebecca Abou-Chedid for a conversation about "2X Certification," an independent certification mechanism for gender-lens investing. We explore the criteria to achieve certification, what it takes to become a flagship fund and the sources of demand for third-party certification. We also discuss regulatory landscapes where 2X Certification is particularly useful for a fund or investor.

Raj Kumar, founding President and Editor-in-Chief of Devex, joins Sarah Devine and Rebecca Abou-Chedid for a conversation about reforming multilateral development banks. We explore the recent G20-IEG two-volume The Triple Agenda report on strengthening multilateral development banks and discuss the key points from Raj’s book The Business of Changing the World. Raj also shares what he thinks will dominate the climate finance discussion at COP28.

Will Troutman and Stuart Neely, partners with robust experience in human rights and ESG-related compliance issues, join Sarah Devine and Rebecca Abou-Chedid for a conversation about the Equator Principles (EP4) and how they affect project developers. We explore the concept of “human rights due diligence,” key risks for the renewables sector and scrutiny that companies may face regarding human rights performance.

In this episode, we explore gender-lens investing with Finnfund, a Finnish development financier and impact investor in emerging markets. Dr. Anne Valto and Lauri Etelämäki, senior advisors leading Finnfund’s work in this area, discuss the investment criteria and requirements for projects and share examples of gender-focused investments. We also discuss current priorities and future prospects for gender-conscious investing.

Cesar Vargas, senior executive, structured finance and infrastructure at CAF – Development Bank of Latin America, joins Sarah Devine and Rebecca Abou-Chedid for a conversation about clean transportation and e-mobility in Latin America. We discuss the current landscape of Latin America’s transportation infrastructure from a climate impact perspective and efforts to develop and finance low carbon transport and infrastructure projects. We also discuss CAF’s energy transition agenda and explore successes and challenges to advancing “green” mobility in the region.

Dante Trevedan and Hernán González, partners in our Mexico City office, join Sarah Devine and Rebecca Abou-Chedid for a conversation about recent amendments to Mexico’s mining law. We discuss what has changed, what it means for the mining industry, what we can expect from implementing regulations, and how existing projects can protect their rights in the face of these changes. We also discuss the potential impact of lawsuits by private parties. Since the recording of this episode, some companies have filed “amparo” lawsuits to block implementation of the mining law amendments.

Sam Kwon, general counsel of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), joins Sarah Devine and Rebecca Abou-Chedid for a conversation about USTDA’s role and approach to supporting project development in emerging markets. We discuss USTDA’s current priorities and outlook for the near future. These include connecting US businesses with renewable and clean energy projects in Southeast Asia, investing in digital infrastructure in Africa, and advancing sustainable development.

Camila Ramos, founder and managing director of Clean Energy Latin America (CELA), joins Sarah Devine and Rebecca Abou-Chedid for a conversation about renewable energy in Brazil. We discuss why distributed generation has made more inroads there than traditional utility-scale generation, what barriers distributed generation companies still face in the country, and more.

In this episode of Earth, Wind and Solar we discuss the “what, why, when and how” of political risk insurance (PRI) with two seasoned professionals: Hoda Atia Moustafa, global head of portfolio management at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and Kenneth Hansen, a partner in Norton Rose Fulbright’s projects group. We explore what risks PRI aims to mitigate, why organizations operating in emerging markets get this coverage, when it comes into play and how MIGA approaches claims. We delve into several examples and the specific considerations and outcomes of having PRI project coverage.

Patricia Sulser, investment committee member at BlueOrchard and former chief counsel at International Finance Corporation, joins Sarah Devine and Rebecca Abou-Chedid for a conversation about public private partnerships (PPPs). We discuss how PPPs are used in the financing of projects in emerging markets and unpack several successful PPP transactions. We also delve into impact investing and blended finance – what these terms mean, how blended finance transactions are structured and how the concept can be used to scale up PPP investment in critical infrastructure in emerging markets.

Peter Young and Vishal Mawkin join Sarah Devine and Rebecca Abou-Chedid for a conversation about green bonds and sustainable investing. We explore the “why” behind green bonds, the different sustainability bond finance labels, the size of the market and current trends in the market for environmental, sustainability and governance (ESG) products. We also discuss the key regulatory milestones for sustainable bond finance and regulators’ approaches to ESG products and structures.

In this episode, we have a conversation about the mining industry with Poupak Bahamin, general counsel of Barrick Gold Corporation. We discuss Barrick’s assets in emerging markets, the company’s strong focus on sustainability and the key factors mining companies consider in assessing potential investment targets, particularly in emerging markets. We also explore what makes projects successful and current legal trends and issues in the mining industry.

We continue our conversation about hydrogen with Michillay Brown, corporate relations principal at Anglo American, Nuria Hartmann, manager, strategy and business consulting at HINICIO, and Ivana Jemelkova, senior managing director at FTI Consulting, and our podcast hosts Sarah Devine and Rebecca Abou-Chedid. What is Power-to-X (PtX) and what are the main challenges for PtX project development? What is the current state of hydrogen market development in South Africa and Latin America? Are there collaboration opportunities between the two regions and importing countries? We explore this and more in part two of this two-part episode on hydrogen. We discuss current opportunities for hydrogen development in emerging markets, including sources of investment, and the future outlook for the global hydrogen economy.

Michillay Brown, corporate relations principal at Anglo American, Nuria Hartmann, manager, strategy and business consulting at HINICIO, and Ivana Jemelkova, senior managing director at FTI Consulting, join hosts Sarah Devine and Rebecca Abou-Chedid for a conversation about hydrogen. Why is there growing interest in hydrogen and its derivatives? What is the hydrogen rainbow? What is the role of hydrogen in developing economies? How is it expected to affect the global energy mix? We discuss this and more in this two-part episode on hydrogen. In part 1, we explore hydrogen and its use in the context of decarbonization. In part 2, we delve into the global hydrogen economy and what opportunities exist for emerging markets.

Join us for a conversation with Walid Labadi, assistant general counsel, Africa, at International Finance Corporation (IFC), about IFC’s investments in North Africa, specifically Egypt and Yemen, in recent years. We delve into wide-scale renewable energy projects, foreign direct investment, the effects of the global pandemic, and the role of IFC and private sector investment in supporting entrepreneurs. We also discuss the differences between the business and legal side of project development and what’s ripe for further investment in Africa.

Bryan Gartenberg, director of business development at Delaware Trust Company, joins our hosts Sarah Devine and Rebecca Abou-Chedid to discuss the important role of a collateral and trust agent in a project finance deal. We get into what you should look for in the agent, what happens when things go wrong, and the differences between US domestic and emerging market deals. Bryan also shares his thoughts on building productive relationships with local governments, and developing and managing the relationship between the onshore and offshore collateral agent.

In this episode of Earth, Wind and Solar, we have a captivating conversation with Samer Judeh, co-founder and chairman of the Jordan Wind Project Company, about the 117-megawatt Tafila wind farm. Tafila was the first and largest privately-sponsored utility-scale wind farm in Jordan, and it had a significant effect on the energy mix in the country. It was completed in 2016. We explore the innovations that made the project a success and lessons learned, and draw valuable insights for developers working on renewable energy projects in similar legislative and regulatory conditions.

Laura Kiwelu, partner in our London office who works on carbon credit transactions, joins Sarah Devine and Rebecca Abou-Chedid for a conversation about voluntary carbon markets. We explore what drives the growth of carbon markets, who the players are and what types of projects generate voluntary carbon units, allowing the stakeholders to offset their emissions for compliance or voluntary purposes. We also discuss primary and secondary contracting, transaction structuring, pricing considerations and key risk allocation. Tune in to this episode if you are interested in learning more about the rapidly growing voluntary market for carbon credits.

Claudio Rechden, general counsel of Deva Capital, joins us for a conversation about distressed debt investing. We discuss how value is created by deploying innovative structures and the unique challenges and opportunities in emerging markets. The discussion explores the different types and sizes of transactions, co-investor structures, environmental, governance and social responsibility considerations, and the local impact of cross-border investment in distressed assets.