If You Can’t Measure Emissions, You May Pay More

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What happens when weak carbon data stops being a reporting problem and starts raising your cost of capital?
Because that’s no longer hypothetical. It’s starting to hit financing, insurance, and risk in the real world.

In this episode, I’m joined by Cynthia Lai, former banker, executive coach, and board advisor, with nearly 20 years’ experience in tier-one banking, including HSBC and Bank of China. We dig into why this matters now for supply chain resilience, sustainability, risk, data, and visibility. The big shift? Banks and insurers are increasingly treating emissions data as a risk signal, not a box-ticking exercise.

You’ll hear how weak or missing carbon data can push companies into a higher-risk bucket, raising borrowing costs and insurance premiums. We break down why Scope 3 is no longer just an ESG reporting issue, but a commercial one with real consequences for supply chain leaders. And you might be surprised to learn that if you don’t provide the data, the market may fill in the blanks for you using proxy figures you probably won’t like.

We also get practical. Cynthia lays out an 80/20 approach to getting started: focus on the 20% of suppliers driving 80% of the impact, build a workable heat map, and start the conversation before perfect data arrives. Because in this environment, having a credible plan may matter almost as much as having the final numbers.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Cynthia Lai connects sustainability data, financing, insurance, and supply chain resilience in a way every senior leader should understand.

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