Saving the planet requires money. This expert explores how to finance the green transition

‘We need to think about what we place value on,’ says Marisa Drew, Chief Sustainability Officer of Standard Chartered. A functioning business environment depends on healthy natural systems - and yet the interests of planet and profit don’t always seem aligned, in the short term. One issue is the ‘slow-burn’ nature of many environmental investments, says Drew, which can take years before they deliver the kind of returns investors seek. Fortunately, a host of financial instruments are springing up to smooth the capital flows required for the sustainable transformation of the global economy. Here, she talks us through some of the main ones.