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Sylvain Vanston

Sylvain Vanston

Executive Director, MSCI Research

Sylvain Vanston is executive director, climate investment research at MSCI, where he helps formulate the firm’s climate-related research agenda and works with clients globally on issues of climate risk reporting, portfolio management, climate-related metrics, biodiversity and reporting.

Research and Insights

Articles by Sylvain Vanston

    Unpacking COP28 Commitments to Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency

    Research Report | Mar 4, 2024 | Kenji Watanabe, Anthony Chan, Kuldeep Yadav, Siyao He, Sylvain Vanston

    Scaling up renewable-energy and energy-efficiency solutions are key steps in driving the transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems. Our analysis of low-carbon patents, fuel mix and renewable-energy targets may help identify where the opportunities lie. 

    An Investor's Guide to Nature and Biodiversity Risks and Impacts

    Research Report | Dec 15, 2023 | Arne Philipp Klug, Sylvain Vanston, Mark Jwaideh

    Investors thinking about biodiversity are asking questions such as, how do I know which holdings are most vulnerable to biodiversity loss? And, can I measure biodiversity risk exposure across my portfolio? We aim to help them start finding answers. 

    COP28: Key Takeaways for Investors from the Global Climate Summit

    Research Report | Dec 14, 2023 | Oliver Marchand, Linda-Eling Lee, Sylvain Vanston, Chris Cote, Mathew Lee, Elchin Mammadov

    COP28 concluded with an agreement for countries to transition away from fossil fuels, marking a historic pivot away from the primary sources of energy that have powered society for nearly 200 years. How can countries — and investors — address these goals? 

    Making the Most of Mandatory Climate Disclosures

    4 mins read Blog | Aug 1, 2023 | Rob Barnett, Sylvain Vanston

    As TCFD reporting grows more sophisticated, investors may be able to use climate data to make meaningful disclosures across their firms. We explore three key topics: choice of metrics, internal consistency and cross-functional applications. 

    California Gets Harder To Insure and the NZIA Gets Smaller

    Podcast | Jun 9, 2023 | Sylvain Vanston, Cody Dong

    Under pressure from wildfires and inflation, State Farm has stopped issuing new homeowner policies in California. We get to the bottom of how physical climate hazards may change the future shape of the insurance industry. And then we ask why the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance is a little different from the other alliances that fall under the GFANZ.

    Tracking our climate goals and next steps

    Podcast | May 19, 2023 | Chris Cote, Sylvain Vanston

    Are you aware of how much progress we are making on addressing climate change? There are all-these-pledges and all-these-plans made by companies, but have those plans been useful? Are they actually making progress on cutting emissions or are they just saying, “yeah we care about it, and we will do….something.” And what are those “somethings?” Are they far away technologies that can suck the bad stuff out of our atmosphere like a sort of techno-savior? Or something else? We answer those questions on this episode of ESG now.

    What Biodiversity Loss and COP15 Mean for Investors

    7 mins read Blog | Feb 16, 2023 | Sylvain Vanston, Arne Philipp Klug

    Investors face growing pressure to reverse biodiversity loss. We take a look at the issues shaping nature-related financial risk, key takeaways from the COP15 pact for investors and developments in biodiversity-based disclosure.

    What COP27 Means for Companies and Investors

    9 mins read Blog | Nov 21, 2022 | Sylvain Vanston, Oliver Marchand, Chris Cote, Simone Ruiz-Vergote, Meggin Thwing Eastman

    COP27 underscored the need for action on corporate climate pledges, the importance of data and a series of initiatives to spur public and private investment for developing countries. We review some of the key developments for companies and investors.