The Asia Climate Finance Podcast
Ep79 AI Scrutiny and the Future of Sustainable Impact with Greg Elders, Canbury Insights
Feb 16, 2026
Episode 79
Joseph Jacobelli
Comments/ideas: ACFpod@outlook.com
How is AI turning climate reporting from a tick‑box task into something useful? Greg Elders from Canbury Insights explains why financial materiality sits back at the heart of climate strategy. He shows how this shift affects investors, regulators and companies.
We examine Europe pushing for real sustainable impact under CSRD, the US facing ESG uncertainty and mixed signals from regulators, and Asian firms juggling ISSB and TCFD standards while dealing with regional economic pressures.
Greg sets out how large language models read annual reports, proxy statements and local media. They link business growth to physical climate risks such as water scarcity. The result is faster insight and sharper scrutiny.
We discuss targeted stewardship, greenwashing risks and the future of global reporting frameworks. Greg also explains why a single global standard remains a “crazy dream”. Automated scrutiny is already changing corporate behaviour, and the pace is only accelerating.
ABOUT GREG: Gregory Elders is Director, North America, at Canbury Insights. He is a recognised sustainable investing expert, leading Canbury’s North American operations and client engagements. He advises investors and companies in navigating evolving sustainability and stewardship expectations, building robust assessment and reporting systems, and aligning sustainability strategies with financial performance.
HOST, PRODUCTION, ARTWORK: Joseph Jacobelli | MUSIC: Ep76 onward excerpts from Vivaldi’s La Follia, played by Luca Jacobelli.