Guest Lecture on ESG and Impact Investment by Kaatya Mishra

Embark College was able to conduct a very informative and progressive guest lecture on the theme and concept of ESG and Impact investment successfully as delivered on 10 th July by sustainability activist and a financial expert Ms, Kaatya Mishra. The event was made to widen the thinking of students in relation to the environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks and the way the principles are redefining the future of finance, investment and business strategy worldwide.
Students of business, finance, and management were present at the session as they were all interested in examining the new frontier of ethical investing, sustainability, and corporate responsibility. With the world economies making the transition to more integrated and responsible growth, the knowledge of ESG and impact investing is becoming a key concern to the future leaders and change agents in businesses.
It was initiated by the welcome note brought about by the faculty and introduction of the guest speaker. Ms. Being a top sustainability consultant and ESG advisor with a long history of experience in collaborating with organizations to create purpose-driven financial plans, Kaatya Mishra came to the sector with years of experience. The level of her knowledge and how she manages to refer to some abstract thought to some real life situation were very impressive and made the session quite interesting and influential.
Ms. Mishra introduced the session by sharing the concepts of ESG -Environmental, Social, and Governance- as this viable alternatives to evaluating the positive or negative ethical and sustainable impact of businesses and investment portfolios. She emphasized the fact that ESG is no longer a side-issue, but a making-or-breaking consideration by both investors and corporations as well as governments.
She has discussed all the three ingredients:
• Environmental: Environmental concerns like global warming, utilization of resources as well as carbon emission and environmental sustainability policies.
• Social: Human rights, community engagement, diversity and inclusion, and labor practices.
• Governance: Leadership of the company, its board, ethics and transparency.

Next, Ms. Mishra presented the topic of Impact Investment – an emerging sector in which investments are made to meet social and environmental impacts as well as financial investments. She mentioned the cases of international markets and the trend that impact investing tends to be adopted not only by the entities of charity but the mainstream investors and corporations too.
Another important aspect in the lecture was the role of the topic on the relevance of ESG and impact investment in the setting of the developing economies such as Nepal. Ms. Mishra talked about the opportunities available and challenges that are presented to the local entrepreneurs and financial institutions, to comply with the global ESG standards. To build long-term value and inclusive growth, she challenged students to think about how startups, social enterprises, and even policymakers at the city, state, and national level could engage ESG principles.
To ensure that the session was interactive, students were to evaluate the ESG profile of a fictional company and present the possibility of designing impact investments addressing problems of the local development (clean energy, access to education, or sustainable agriculture). It was a practical activity that enabled them to practise theory in practice and also facilitated some thinking in groups.
In the Q&A part, the students asked about ESG scoring, greenwashing, regulatory frameworks, and prospects in sustainable finance career. Ms. Mishra was critical and gave the response of experience, and recommended that students should be informed, have a multidisciplinary approach and practice business with a sense of purpose and performance.
In the end of the session, almost the entire college gave a formal vote of thanks, during which the college appreciated the time of Ms. Mishra and also her understanding and being able to make such complex matters understandable, and relevant to students. Participatory certificates were issued and the session had a distinct mark among the attendees.

In one feasible manner, this guest lecture was in line with the mandates of Embark College in social aware education as a continuum that is globally aligned. Through the coverage of urgent issues like ESG and the importance of impact investing, the college is making graduates responsible professionals bound to succeed in the future and be able to initiate change both in the corporate and social environment.