“I have become convinced that to avoid a climate disaster, we need to do three things: First, we have to get to zero net emissions by the year 2050. Second, we need to deploy the tools we already have, like solar and wind, faster and smarter. And finally, we need to create and roll out breakthrough technologies that can take us the rest of the way.”

Bill Gates in “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster”

Climate change is arguably the most pressing challenge facing the world today with enormous economic consequences and opportunities. Investments in decarbonizing the global economy are at various stages of invention and implementation and all will require skillful and dedicated leaders to fulfill their potential.

The Climate Solutions LAB (CSL) course will examine these different climate solution sets (including technical, financial, and/or political) to understand their potential impact and pathways to scale, as well as the challenges and frictions impeding their progress and ultimate success.

CSL is intended for students interested in pursuing careers founding, joining, leading and/or investing in climate solution companies and want to dig deeply into these topics with like minded students and experts. To that end, the course is designed as a combination of a Field and a Seminar course which will meet weekly on Thursday from 3:10 - 5:10pm.

Weekly class sessions will be dedicated to examining key topics including climate models and projections, climate technologies and commercialization frameworks, climate financing strategies & structures, carbon markets, climate policy and global geo-politics - including the relationship between the US, Europe and China, as well as the Global North and Global South. Each class will include discussion based on curated non-case readings and engagement with guests who are subject matter experts in the week’s topic(s) of interest.

The Field dimension of the course will consist of a team-based project focused on understanding and developing insights into strategies for accelerating climate solutions. Project options will include working with a leading climate solution company, climate investor, or government and policy organization. These projects may be sourced from Professor Matheson’s extensive network, or directly from CSL students who will have agency on the design and configuration of their team as well as the choice of the project topic and partner. There will regularly be class time dedicated to project team coordination, structured feedback between project teams, and shared learning across the class via project team presentations.

The final dimension of CSL will be focused on helping students design their career plan with the goal of having CSL students complete the course with a clear view of their path forward as a climate leader including their ideal first role post-HBS. Towards this end, CSL will offer optional small group discussions with climate leaders, career visioning and design exercises, as well as direct support from Professor Matheson and the HBS CPD Office.

In summary, CSL is intended to prepare the next generation of climate leaders who can fill key leadership positions across the climate landscape and help accelerate the deployment of high impact solutions. While Professor Matheson also teaches Tough Tech Ventures (TTV) in the Spring Semester, the TTV and CSL courses are quite distinct and highly complementary. Though not required, students who are committed to pursuing a career in climate technology are welcome and encouraged to take both classes.

To ensure an intimate and immersive experience, CSL will be limited to 40 students. The workload will be consistent with other full semester 3-credit courses with the primary course deliverable being a comprehensive project package and readout from the student teams to their selected project partners. Grading will be based on a combination of project performance (50%), class participation (35%), and selective other assignments (15%). Please email Professor Matheson (jmatheson@hbs.edu) with any questions about the Climate Solutions LAB.

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