Energy finance is critical for energy security, energy affordability, and the energy transition. In the context of the current energy crisis and the upcoming COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, the Center on Global Energy Policy hosted a student-only roundtable to discuss ESG energy financing in emerging and developing economies.
The roundtable featured Dr. Gautam Jain, CGEP Senior Research Scholar, and Dr. Luisa Palacios, Senior Research Scholar and co-head of the ESG working group at CGEP. After initial remarks about current priorities, there was a moderated discussion about the role of financial markets and instruments such as green bonds to respond to the crisis and transition to net-zero emissions in emerging and developing economies.
Biography
Dr. Gautam Jain is a Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy. He focuses on the role of financial markets and instruments such as thematic bonds as well as carbon markets in the transition to net-zero emissions, particularly in emerging countries.
Gautam joined the center after a long and fulfilling career in the financial industry where he covered emerging markets as a portfolio manager and strategist. He has worked at asset management firms and investment banks, including The Rohatyn Group, Barclays Capital, and Millennium Partners. He has helped manage emerging market local debt and hard-currency bond portfolios, encompassing currencies, interest rate instruments, and sovereign credits. He specialized in portfolio construction and asset allocation incorporating macroeconomic, policy, and political developments in emerging countries.
Gautam holds a Ph.D. in Operations Research from Columbia University. He is a CFA charter holder.
Dr. Luisa Palacios is a Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy and an Adjunct Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. Her research focuses on ESG and energy transition in emerging economies and the geopolitics of energy markets.
She comes to the center after a multidisciplinary career in the intersection of energy, finance and policy. She was the Chairwoman of Houston-based Citgo Petroleum Corporation where she led the company during a period of significant geopolitical challenges. Before Citgo, Palacios was Head of Emerging Markets Research and a member of the management committee of Medley Global Advisors, a NY-based macro policy research firm. She was a Director in the emerging markets research team at Barclays Capital in New York, worked as an economist at Société Générale in Paris, as a senior economist at the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and as a consultant at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. Palacios has a master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Ph.D. from The John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Dr. Palacios is co-chair of the ESG working group at CGEP.
