Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
The Macro Brief – Summer sustainability
33 Plays10 months ago
We catch up with our ESG team to look at some of the less obvious places where sustainability issues could arise - from beer to music festivals. Disclaimer: https://www.research.hsbc.com/R/101/wvTGvWx. Stay connected and access free to view reports and videos from HSBC Global Research follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/hsbcresearch/ or click here: https://www.gbm.hsbc.com/insights/global-research.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to HSBC Global Viewpoint, the podcast series that brings together business leaders and industry experts to explore the latest global insights, trends, and opportunities.
00:00:13
Speaker
Make sure you're subscribed to stay up to date with new episodes.
00:00:16
Speaker
Thanks for listening.
00:00:17
Speaker
And now onto today's show.
00:00:24
Speaker
This podcast was recorded for publication on the 1st of August 2024 by HSBC Global Research.
00:00:29
Speaker
All the disclosures and disclaimers associated with it must be viewed on the link attached to your media player.
00:00:34
Speaker
And don't forget that you can follow us wherever you get your podcasts.
00:00:37
Speaker
Just search for The Macrobrief.
Sustainability in Unexpected Places
00:00:45
Speaker
Hello, I'm Piers Butler, and welcome to the Macrobrief.
00:00:47
Speaker
We're getting closer to the summer break here in the Northern Hemisphere.
00:00:51
Speaker
And as the sun comes out, our ESG team has started to publish their summer series, which looks at sustainability issues in places that you might not have thought about.
00:00:59
Speaker
We're joined by three members of the ESG team here in London, Yurina Kobel, Amy Tyler, and Jay Hingarani, to discuss some of the highlights.
00:01:07
Speaker
Yurina, Amy and Jay, welcome to the podcast.
00:01:10
Speaker
Thanks for having us.
00:01:10
Speaker
Thank you.
00:01:11
Speaker
So, Amy, perhaps you could kick us off by giving us a little bit of background to this summer series.
00:01:16
Speaker
It was very popular last year, so we have done it again this year, and it is looking at sustainability issues in less obvious places.
00:01:24
Speaker
And we expect these issues could grow to become bigger trends into the future.
00:01:28
Speaker
So one of the first papers written in the series was on live music and concerts.
00:01:34
Speaker
Jay, you contributed to that paper.
00:01:37
Speaker
Yes, absolutely.
00:01:38
Speaker
So we looked at the sustainability footprint of live music festivals, and we found that contrary to what most people believe, it's not so much about the waste that's generated.
00:01:50
Speaker
In fact, more of the sustainability footprint is accounted for by the travel, both
00:01:56
Speaker
before the concert actually happens and after, and also the energy used at the concert.
00:02:01
Speaker
And one of the other interesting aspects of the paper was that there are environmental implications to streaming music.
00:02:07
Speaker
Yes, exactly.
00:02:09
Speaker
Streaming is something that a lot of people don't realize also has a substantial carbon footprint, and a lot of it is tough to measure because of different measurement standards across different countries.
00:02:20
Speaker
But Urena did work on that quite a bit, so I'd like to throw it over to her.
00:02:23
Speaker
Urena.
00:02:24
Speaker
Yes, sure.
00:02:24
Speaker
Actually, it was interesting because when people think about streaming, they think about data centers and emissions from data centers.
00:02:31
Speaker
But in fact, it's the user devices that make up the largest portion of the carbon footprint of music streaming, just over 50%.
00:02:41
Speaker
So everyone can adopt more climate-friendly practices by, for example, listening music on smaller devices to emit less CO2 or, for example, downloading their favourite songs and playing them from storage, just basically to use less of battery capacity.
00:03:04
Speaker
Yeah, I like the thought of that.
Climate Change and Its Impact on Industries
00:03:06
Speaker
And coming back to concerts, Amy, I'm led to believe that you went to Glastonbury?
00:03:10
Speaker
I did.
00:03:11
Speaker
The absolutely massive festival.
00:03:12
Speaker
What was that like?
00:03:14
Speaker
It was great, thank you.
00:03:15
Speaker
We had a lot of sunshine.
00:03:16
Speaker
But writing on this, it definitely makes you think about the way you travel to the festival.
00:03:20
Speaker
And there was a lot of beer consumed?
00:03:22
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:03:24
Speaker
And there are some environmental points around that.
00:03:27
Speaker
Yurina, you contribute to one of the series on that.
00:03:30
Speaker
Yes, indeed, climate change affects the taste of beer.
00:03:35
Speaker
So rising temperatures associated with climate change, they are heating the beer world by decreasing the alpha acid content in hops.
00:03:45
Speaker
and alpha acids levels, they are key to beer's signature bitter taste and flavor.
00:03:51
Speaker
And considering the shift in consumer preferences towards more flavored beer, this is a real question.
00:03:57
Speaker
How the beer companies are going to meet the demand?
00:04:01
Speaker
You know, what measures can be taken?
00:04:03
Speaker
Is it more about building irrigation systems?
00:04:06
Speaker
Is it more about building some protective shading?
00:04:09
Speaker
Or maybe we will see a shift away from traditional hop-groving regions towards more
00:04:14
Speaker
cooler climate locations.
00:04:16
Speaker
Think Norway, think Finland.
00:04:19
Speaker
And talking about water, there was a report that was entitled Flash Droughts.
00:04:22
Speaker
Yes.
00:04:23
Speaker
Jay, what was that about?
00:04:24
Speaker
Well, a flash drought, by definition, is a period of time with persistent water deficit.
00:04:31
Speaker
And if you want to think about sort of being on holiday and all of a sudden, you know, high temperatures,
00:04:38
Speaker
and high winds and so on contribute to just a lack of water and local authorities have to ration it.
00:04:46
Speaker
So that really could put a damper, pardon the pun, on your holiday.
00:04:51
Speaker
It's things like that that were explored in this note and there are a lot of economic impacts from flash droughts going beyond just water usage to also agriculture in regions.
00:05:02
Speaker
And in fact, it sort of ties in with one of the papers from last year's series, which was tourism in a changing climate, that in fact, there is this aspect of too many tourists in one place in one go, it really strains the local infrastructure.
Tourism and Carbon Emissions
00:05:16
Speaker
Yes, absolutely.
00:05:17
Speaker
In fact, on the music note, we also found that, you know, if you take a country like Spain, for example, that tourism accounts for almost double the global average on their emissions.
00:05:28
Speaker
So, you know,
00:05:30
Speaker
This is a country where not only do they have high tourism, but they also have a lot of concerts and tours.
00:05:35
Speaker
And that's sort of a double whammy if you think about it.
00:05:38
Speaker
But thanks for bringing up last year's notes.
00:05:40
Speaker
I think there were a fair few interesting ones.
00:05:43
Speaker
They were indeed.
00:05:44
Speaker
Quite a series is building up.
00:05:46
Speaker
Maybe we could finish by each of you telling me which was your favorite one so far.
00:05:50
Speaker
Amy.
00:05:51
Speaker
Oh, from last year, I'd definitely say coffee is up there, as I consume a lot of coffee.
00:05:56
Speaker
Don't tell me I've got to stop drinking coffee because I'm in real trouble.
00:05:59
Speaker
Maybe the way you consume it would be the answer.
00:06:02
Speaker
And also surfing and sunscreen.
00:06:04
Speaker
There's some sustainability issues there that weren't so obvious.
00:06:07
Speaker
What about you, Irina?
00:06:09
Speaker
I think ice cream, because I love ice cream.
00:06:12
Speaker
I make my own ice cream at home as well.
00:06:14
Speaker
So I think it's great to learn how we can all enjoy ice cream in a more sustainable way.
00:06:21
Speaker
And Jay?
00:06:22
Speaker
And if I could sustain my love for wine, I would gladly do so.
00:06:27
Speaker
That was my favorite from last year, of course, for this year, both the music and the flash drop ones.
00:06:31
Speaker
I'm being biased, I know, but those are my favorites.
00:06:33
Speaker
The one I found most fascinating was the one about edible insects.
00:06:37
Speaker
And I confessed I haven't taken the encouragement to eat edible insects yet, but they may come a time.
00:06:44
Speaker
But all of you, I wanted to thank you for joining us today on the podcast and giving us, no pun intended, a flavor of this summer series.
00:06:50
Speaker
There's more to come, so watch out for that.
00:06:53
Speaker
And thank you for joining.
00:06:54
Speaker
Thank you.
Investment Insights and Economic Strategies
00:06:55
Speaker
Thank you.
00:06:55
Speaker
The HSBC Global Research app opens a world of insight and investment ideas whenever and wherever you want.
00:07:04
Speaker
The app showcases the latest views from our award-winning team of economists, strategists and analysts.
00:07:11
Speaker
A powerful search function lets you dive into our full research catalogue covering economics, FX, fixed income and equities, as well as data science, ESG and our nine key investment themes.
00:07:24
Speaker
Get alerts to our top research, videos and podcasts.
00:07:29
Speaker
If you're a Global Research client, download the app now.
00:07:35
Speaker
It's been a busy week for central banks across the globe.
00:07:38
Speaker
The Federal Reserve kept rates on hold, but opened the door for a rate cut in September.
00:07:42
Speaker
The Bank of England did commence their easing cycle, with a 25 basis point reduction.
00:07:48
Speaker
And in Asia, the Bank of Japan raised rates for only the second time in 17 years.
00:07:54
Speaker
taking the policy rate from 0.1 to 0.25%.
00:07:57
Speaker
In Latin America, Colombia's central bank delivered a cut, while Brazil and Chile stayed on hold.
00:08:04
Speaker
Elsewhere in global research, our equity strategy team has looked at what they think is an overlooked solution to Asia's demographic problem, the role of women.
00:08:13
Speaker
Smarter labor policies, more access to education, better training, and improvements in employment opportunities could mobilize over 300 million additional female workers, boosting productivity and growth.
00:08:26
Speaker
The report identifies four investable themes and stocks that could benefit.
00:08:31
Speaker
And finally, our currency team has just published the latest edition of the Emerging Markets FX Roadmap.
00:08:38
Speaker
They argue that while the top-down setting for EM currencies is not promising, there are some forces that could slow the pace of their decline.
00:08:45
Speaker
If you'd like more details on anything that we've talked about today, please email askresearch at hsbc.com.
Listener Engagement and Queries
00:08:52
Speaker
And don't forget that if you're a client of HSBC Global Research, you can download our mobile app.
00:09:01
Speaker
So that wraps things up for today.
00:09:03
Speaker
From all of us here, thanks for listening.
00:09:05
Speaker
We'll be back again next week.
00:09:29
Speaker
Thank you for joining us at HSBC Global Viewpoint.
00:09:33
Speaker
We hope you enjoyed the discussion.
00:09:35
Speaker
Make sure you're subscribed to stay up to date with new episodes.