This week we speak with Gireesh Shrimali, Precourt Scholar at the Sustainable Finance Initiative at Stanford University. He is also an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University and involved in the Climate Investment Funds.

One of the key takeaways from our conversation is the idea of Value at Risk and the inter-relationship with transition risk. Gireesh’s examination of risk essential for understanding how we accelerate an energy transition. We begin to discuss this halfway through, and it is an essential concept for managers to understand when assess the value of their asset portfolio. It is also important to understand how established technologies, like solar and wind, are already undermining coal and gas.

We can view activists investors, like those from Engine Number One, which seated new members onto Exxon’s board, as radical energy pioneers, but Gireesh and his analysis underlines the importance of risk assessment as the energy transition speeds up. You’ll find our discussion worthwhile for understanding risk and how coal and gas are becoming stranded assets with companies unable to extract profits – thereby threatening the survivability of the companies themselves.

Links

World Bank. “Coal-Plant-Repurposing-for-Ageing-Coal-Fleets-in-Developing-Countries-Technical-Report.Pdf,” 2021. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/144181629878602689/pdf/Coal-Plant-Repurposing-for-Ageing-Coal-Fleets-in-Developing-Countries-Technical-Report.pdf.

Calculating climate financial risk: How to combine transition and physical risks? | by Gireesh Shrimali | Medium

Deploying batteries at scale in power sector: A case for battery targets complemented with DISCOM-controlled dispatch – The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)

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Dr. Michael LaBelle is an associate professor at Central European University in the Department of Environmental Sciences. He produces the My Energy 2050 podcast to change how we communicate and improve the energy transition.