“When I founded SASB, the words sustainability and materiality were not uttered in the same breath,” says Rogers, who is now helping lead climate investments in emerging markets at Pegasus.

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, now part of the International Sustainability Standards Board, created standards for sustainable investing that quantified the inherent risks of climate change in dozens of industries, streamlining the process of measuring and managing such risks.

Today, it’s routine for public market analysts and institutional investors to factor in social and environmental issues when analyzing opportunities and pricing risk. “I will always come back to that — I’m a material girl at heart,” she says.

Rogers took her materiality mindset to the private markets in what she calls “a very intentional move,” first at Blackstone, as global head of ESG and a member of the investment committee, and as of last month, to Pegasus. She is applying the insights she gleaned from vetting energy transition deals to help drive impact in emerging markets. “That’s where the energy transition is really happening,” she says (see, “Ever contrarian, Pegasus Capital eyes orphaned climate projects in emerging markets”).

As a member of the investment committee at Stamford, Conn.-based Pegasus, Rogers is advising on blended finance funds focused on ocean and land health in emerging markets. The funds are anchored by the UN-backed Green Climate Fund.

“Climate risk is a systemic risk. You cannot diversify. You have to build better companies. You have to invest in solutions. You have to care about the outcomes,” she says. In a warming world, the rest is immaterial.