Climate Rising

Nancy Pfund is founder and managing partner of DBL Partners, one of the first and largest impact investing venture capital firms in the world. DBL seeks to achieve “Double Bottom Line” results for its investors: top tier financial returns as well as meaningful social and environmental impact. It currently holds over $400 million in assets under management. Through her early stage investments in Te...

Explore different approaches to modeling and managing climate risk from the vantage points of industry leaders Robert Litterman, a seasoned risk management expert; Nushin Kormi, a specialist in sustainable finance; and Kevin Stiroh, a financial regulator. The discussion, moderated by Professor Ramana Nanda, focuses on the concept of transition risk—the potential consequences if climate regulations...

How do managers within the different sectors of financial services identify and value climate risk? Professor George Serafeim talks with an asset manager, an insurer, a hedge fund manager, and an investment banker about their approaches to identifying and valuing climate risk. The discussion highlights both the bridges and the gaps between ESG metrics and climate risk management. This is one of 4...

Hiro Mizuno, former head of the Japanese Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), and Professor Vikram Gandhi discuss the steps GPIF has taken to incorporate climate risk in its investment process. Mizuno highlights the need to address the entire investment universe and challenges of his approach. This is one of 4 new episodes this summer based on live content from the Harvard Business School Cl...

State Street Chairman & CEO Ron O’Hanley describes leading one of the world’s largest financial institutions in the era of climate change. In a discussion moderated by Professor George Serafeim, he describes the roles of asset managers, shareholders, and asset owners with a focus on the concept of values vs. value in approaches to investment decisions. This is one of 4 new episodes this summer bas...

The real estate industry faces climate change challenges like difficult financing in coastal cities, more stringent regulations on where and how to build, and the need to retrofit existing properties to reduce emissions. Bryan Koop of Boston Properties, one of the largest commercial real estate development companies in the country, and Professor Arthur Segel discuss the climate change challenges c...

How will a warming climate affect a company’s bottom line? How can groups like Ceres help persuade shareholders, CEOs, and their boards to use their influence to address climate change? Mindy Lubber of Ceres and Professor Rebecca Henderson at Harvard discuss the difficult changes businesses must make now—taking a systems approach, setting long-term goals, and including sustainability metrics in th...

Wind power has more than tripled in the United States over the past decade. It's now the largest source of renewable energy in the country, accounting for more than 6% of the nation's electricity. The wind industry faces potential hurdles, however, with federal tax credits scheduled to start phasing out and delays in building major offshore wind farms. Francis Slingsby of Orsted, a global leader i...

Is increasing solar power the answer? Abby Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, and Professor Joe Lassiter discuss how to deliver reliable, clean, low cost power for people everywhere.

What influence does business have on the politics of climate change? In today’s episode, we'll look at how climate change affects different businesses, and how proposed regulations like a carbon tax could help or harm business. Weighing in with their unique perspectives are Auden Schendler from Aspen Skiing Company, Bill Eacho from the Partnership for Responsible Growth, and Professor Mike Toffel.

Agriculture contributes a quarter of the world's greenhouse gas, and 60% comes from manure and methane emissions from animals like cattle. How is the beef industry changing to address this challenge? Could plant-based or clean meat truly change our diets enough to make an impact? Nicole Johnson-Hoffman from the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, Bruce Friedrich from the Good Food Institute, a...

The massive agriculture industry feeds billions of people but also contributes heavily to climate change. How do we employ more sustainable agricultural practices and maintain our ability to feed 7.7 billion people, plus 2 billion more by 2050? Indigo Agriculture’s David Perry and Harvard Business School Professor David Bell discuss the promising opportunities to change the ways in which we grow f...

What should the future of transportation look like? The solutions will likely require us to change how often we drive cars, the types of fuels we use, an investment in public transportation, congestion charges, and more car-pooling and ride-hailing services. But, it won’t be easy to change consumer behavior. Adam Gromis of Uber; Nicole Freedman, Director of Transportation for the City of Newton, M...

Both cities and businesses need to prepare for climate change. That means changing how they do business today and in the future, but there’s potential for big financial benefits with change, too. Rachel Cleetus from the Union of Concerned Scientists and Harvard Business School Professor John Macomber discuss the importance of resilience.

Climate Rising is about the impact of climate change on business. It brings together business and policy leaders like Rachel Cleetus from the Union of Concerned Scientists, Adam Gromis of Uber, Bruce Friedrich from the Good Food Institute, Abigail Ross Harper from the Solar Energy Industries Association, and Mindy Lubber of Ceres with Harvard Business School faculty to share insights about what bu...