Building Integrity in Carbon Markets: A Conversation with Jennifer Jenkins of Rubicon Carbon
- 15 JAN 2025
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- Climate Rising
Dr. Jennifer Jenkins, Chief Science Officer at Rubicon Carbon, joins our host Mike
to talk about the critical role of voluntary carbon markets in achieving net-zero
goals. Dr. Jenkins shares insights on how Rubicon Carbon is advancing the integrity
and scalability of carbon credit through tools like the Rubicon Carbon Integrity Framework
(RCIF). The conversation explores the lifecycle of a carbon credit, the challenges
of managing risks like additionality and leakage, and how voluntary carbon markets
can incentivize global climate action. Dr. Jenkins also shares her outlook on the
future of carbon markets and offers advice for those pursuing careers in sustainability
and climate solutions.
Dr. Jennifer Jenkins, Chief Science Officer at Rubicon Carbon, joins our host Mike
to talk about the critical role of voluntary carbon markets in achieving net-zero
goals. Dr. Jenkins shares insights on how Rubicon Carbon is advancing the integrity
and scalability of carbon credit through tools like the Rubicon Carbon Integrity Framework
(RCIF). The conversation explores the lifecycle of a carbon credit, the challenges
of managing risks like additionality and leakage, and how voluntary carbon markets
can incentivize global climate action. Dr. Jenkins also shares her outlook on the
future of carbon markets and offers advice for those pursuing careers in sustainability
and climate solutions.
Here’s How Climate Change Is Reshaping Home Insurance Costs in California — And the Rest of the U.S.
Re: Ishita Sen
- 22 Jan 2025
- |
- CNBC
We Have to Stop Underwriting People Who Move to Climate Danger Zones
By: Ishita Sen
- 16 Jan 2025
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- New York Times
Enerjisa Üretim: The Digital Era of Electricity Generation
- DECEMBER 2024
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- Case
Launched in 2017, Enerjisa Üretim was one of Türkiye’s largest private sector electricity companies. In its early days, the company faced some financial and operational troubles. When İhsan Erbil Bayçöl, the current CEO of Enerjisa Üretim, joined the business in 2018, he implemented a series of initiatives to improve the company’s performance. He expanded its portfolio of renewable energy by developing multiple wind power plants across Türkiye. While this project aligned with the company’s growth and sustainability goals, it required significant investment in infrastructure and workforce expansion. Additionally, Bayçöl led the creation of the Senkron Remote Operation Center, a unit in the company’s headquarters whose function was to remotely operate and monitor power plants using advanced technologies. In 2022, the company achieved a major milestone by converting one of its hydroelectric facilities into Türkiye’s first “dark power plant” (i.e., a plant running without human intervention). Bayçöl knew that it would be complex to replicate the same model across all the different types of power plants scattered across the country. Building on the company’s expertise, Bayçöl led a collaboration with Microsoft in 2023 to enable Enerjisa Üretim to sell its digital offerings to third-party firms via the tech giant’s platforms. The partnership was expected to enlarge Enerjisa Üretim’s client base, so Bayçöl had to ensure the workforce was capable enough to cater for the growing demand. As Bayçöl was planning the future of Enerjisa Üretim, he wondered which business line he should give the most attention to and what priorities to focus on within each of the business lines.
Coordinating the Energy Transition: Electrifying Transportation in California and Germany
- DECEMBER 2024
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- Energy Policy
California and Germany share ambitious emission reduction targets. Yet California is ahead of Germany in electrifying transportation by several metrics, including the number of public charging stations. We show that variation in the politics of coordination in California and Germany explains the different outcomes. Transforming energy systems requires coordination across various complementary technologies and infrastructures—here between the supply of electric vehicles and the buildout of charging stations. In California, a strong electrification coalition emerged across automakers selling electric vehicles as well as utilities and third-party firms providing charging infrastructure. Power market rules made capital investments for charging infrastructure instantly profitable for California monopoly utilities. By contrast, in Germany's liberalized power market, investing in capital-intensive charging infrastructure was not profitable for electric utilities. As a result, utilities did not emerge as a political force in the electrification coalition. Instead, utilities and automakers were in gridlock, failing to coordinate electric vehicle rollout and public charging station buildout. Our findings highlight the limits of business-led coordination, raising the question which institutions help address coordination failures in clean energy transitions.
How Robust Is Your Climate Governance?
- NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2024
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- Harvard Business Review
During the past few years, as evidence of climate change and its effects has mounted, many corporate boards have added climate governance to their agendas. But the maturity of boards’ climate-oversight processes and activities varies widely. To better understand how climate issues are being handled in the boardroom and to determine what good climate governance looks like in practice, the authors interviewed 20 directors who hold leadership positions on the boards of S&P 500 companies. Drawing from those interviews and other research, they identify eight hallmarks of meaningful climate oversight. For example, “the board is knowledgeable about the company’s climate profile,” “the board has the expertise needed for effective climate oversight,” and “the board can articulate the company’s climate positioning and strategy.” The authors also offer their perspective on the set of issues associated with each hallmark that corporate leaders must grapple with as they decide how to incorporate climate issues into their company’s governance. Climate concerns are here to stay, and climate governance will increasingly be seen as a core element of good governance.
Polish Agro: Where Do We Grow From Here?
- NOVEMBER 2024
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- Case
By July 2024, Polish Agro had grown into one of Poland’s fastest-growing agribusinesses, with 230 million in revenue, 82 employees, and operations across Northern Poland. The company supported farmers with essential agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds, while purchasing, aggregating, and reselling their outputs. Led by CEO Mathias Eisert, Polish Agro had also ventured into biofertilizers, aligning with new EU sustainability regulations and aiming to differentiate itself in a highly competitive market. These innovative products offered a buffer against commoditization, yet scaling them posed challenges due to Polish Agro’s highly consultative business model and limited sales force. This case study examines Polish Agro’s growth journey amidst disruptions like COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine and evaluates strategic options for sustaining and expanding its market position, including enhancing trading capabilities, investing in brand development, and digitalizing sales channels.
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