Publications

06 Oct 2022
News

Untapped Potential

India, and Bangladesh alone under threat from rising sea levels by 2100, “our ability to steward the water molecule is going to be fundamental to our ability to respond to whatever inevitable climate View Details

November 2023 (Revised August 2024)
Background Note

Life Cycle Assessment: An Overview

By: Willy C. Shih, Michael W. Toffel and Kelsey Carter

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a holistic approach to quantifying the environmental impacts—including resources consumed and wastes produced—associated with the entire life cycle of a product, from the production or extraction of the raw materials used in its creation,... View Details

Keywords: Life-cycle; Environmental Performance; Design; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Measurement and Metrics; Standards; Accounting; Environmental Accounting

July–August 2023
Article

Accounting for Carbon Offsets

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Karthik Ramanna and Marc Roston

Markets for carbon trading function poorly, and many traded offsets do not actually perform as promised. Without robust protocols for monitoring offsets and in the absence of proper accounting mechanisms, market-based approaches to reducing atmospheric GHG will be... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Environmental Accounting; Environmental Regulation

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June 2011 (Revised December 2013)
Case

FIJI Water: Carbon Negative?

By: Francesca Gino, Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Seeking to go beyond global best practices in reducing environmental impacts, FIJI Water, a premium artesian bottled water company in the United States, launched a Carbon Negative campaign that would offset more greenhouse gas emissions than were released by the... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Footprint; Carbon Offsetting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Brands and Branding; Negotiation Tactics; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Fiji

17 Nov 2015
News

Carbon Neutral

HBS Business and Environment Initiative’s “Climate Change 101” The Kennedy School’s Harvard Project on Climate Agreements HBS Business and... View Details

Keywords: Michael Blanding

February 2015 (Revised March 2016)
Case

China Shenhua Energy Company

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, G. A. Donovan and Keith Chi-ho Wong

A leading Chinese energy firm, active in coal mining and electric power generation, analyzes coal-to-liquids technology in light of energy security and environmental concerns. View Details

Keywords: Environment; China; CO2; Coal Mining; Electricity; Sustainability; Energy; Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Energy Generation; Energy Sources; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; China; Asia

21 Jan 2021
News

New Menu

In 2018, Andrew D. Ive (MBA 1997) launched Big Ideas Ventures to find and support the entrepreneurs positioned to mitigate the effects of climate change View Details

05 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

The Vanguard Corporation

a sense of purpose, then it is very difficult to see beyond today's controversy. CEOs of vanguard companies know this sense of purpose helps them even when the stock price is down. They have a longer-term vision that keeps them focused View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

September 9, 2024
Article

Ten Questions for a Winning Climate-transition Business Strategy

By: George Serafeim

The move to a low-carbon economy will create opportunities for innovation and growth. To make the most of them, leaders must understand the challenges they could face along the way. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Organizational Transformations; Business Model Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Climate Change; Transformation; Leadership; Business Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Change Management; Entrepreneurship

22 Aug 2012
Working Paper Summaries

A Randomized Field Study of a Leadership WalkRounds™-Based Intervention

climate antecedent for positive, discretionary behaviors of frontline staff. We compare change in PIP in the treatment work areas to the same type of work areas in control hospitals. Results: On average,... View Details

Keywords: by Anita L. Tucker & Sara J. Singer; Health

June 2010 (Revised July 2011)
Case

China Environment Fund: Doing Well by Doing Good

By: Christopher Marquis and Nancy Dai

In early 2010, cleantech investment pioneer Tsing Capital was planning for the China Environment Fund IV and considering how to maintain its commitment to social and environmental practices. Tsing Capital embraced its philosophy of "Doing Well by Doing Good" and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business Strategy; Balance and Stability; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Energy Conservation; Business Organization; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Venture Capital; Financial Services Industry; China

16 Feb 2023
News

Clearing the Air

Animation by Richard Borge Aaron Sabin (MS/MBA Candidate) HBS senior lecturer Jim Matheson Aaron Sabin (MS/MBA Candidate) HBS senior lecturer Jim Matheson Can We Really Engineer a Climate Fix? The opportunity—and necessity—of carbon capture Photo credits: Aaron Sabin;... View Details

June 12, 2023
Article

How AI Will Accelerate the Circular Economy

By: Shirley Lu and George Serafeim

Despite living on a planet with finite resources, our economy remains largely linear and full of single-use products. The shift toward a circular economy, where companies recover or recycle resources, has hit roadblocks, including low value of used products and high... View Details

Keywords: AI; Circular; Sustainability; Innovation; Technology; Recycling; Materials Management; Operations; Environment; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Climate Change; Environmental Management; Industrial Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Technology Industry

29 Apr 2020
Book

The Key to Powerful Social Change: Small Villages

weather an Ebola outbreak. We have lived with the consequences of increasingly visible problems, such as gun violence and the volatile weather of View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

17 Jul 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: As America Recedes from Global Leadership, Its CEOs are Stepping Up

own way. As GE CEO Jeff Immelt wrote when the president announced the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, “Climate change is real. Industry must now lead and not... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

2023
Article

A Review of Commercialisation Mechanisms for Carbon Dioxide Removal

By: Conor Hickey, Sam Fankhauser, Stephen Smith and Myles Allen

The deployment of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) needs to be scaled up to achieve net zero emission pledges. In this paper we survey the policy mechanisms currently in place globally to incentivise CDR, together with an estimate of what different mechanisms are paying... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Dioxide Removal; Climate Change; Markets; Cost; Policy; Environmental Regulation