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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,120)
- News (501)
- Research (1,176)
- Events (4)
- Multimedia (49)
- Faculty Publications (886)
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- 2023
- Chapter
Business, Climate Change and the Anthropocene
By: Andrew J. Hoffman and Sukanya Roy
This chapter will assess climate change as a concern for business, both as a stand-alone issue and as part of the broader shift that scientists are calling the Anthropocene. It will begin by examining the extent to which the market – comprised of corporations, the... View Details
Hoffman, Andrew J., and Sukanya Roy. "Business, Climate Change and the Anthropocene." Chap. 23 in Corporate Sustainability: Managing Responsible Business in a Globalised World, edited by Andreas Rasche, Mette Morsing, Jeremy Moon, and Arno Kourula, 484–505. Cambridge University Press, 2023.
- November 2023 (Revised February 2025)
- Background Note
Corporate Climate Targets
By: Willy C. Shih, Michael W. Toffel and Kelsey Carter
Companies that are addressing climate change by mitigating their greenhouse gas emissions often set reduction targets. This note describes several types of widely used carbon reduction targets, including carbon neutral, science based, net zero, real zero, and carbon... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Sustainability; Environmental Strategy; Climate Risk; Target-setting; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Accountability; Policy; Measurement and Metrics; Strategic Planning; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact
Shih, Willy C., Michael W. Toffel, and Kelsey Carter. "Corporate Climate Targets." Harvard Business School Background Note 624-041, November 2023. (Revised February 2025.)
- November 2022 (Revised March 2024)
- Case
Northvolt: Building Batteries to Fight Climate Change
By: George Serafeim, Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau
In 2016, Swedish entrepreneurs Carl-Erik Lagercrantz and Peter Carlsson founded an electric battery company called Northvolt with the dual goals of creating a company to address climate change and bringing battery manufacture to Europe. Northvolt, which succeeded in... View Details
Keywords: Batteries; Climate Change; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Green Technology; Mission and Purpose; Goals and Objectives; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Green Technology Industry; Battery Industry; Sweden; Europe
Serafeim, George, Debora L. Spar, and Julia M. Comeau. "Northvolt: Building Batteries to Fight Climate Change." Harvard Business School Case 323-042, November 2022. (Revised March 2024.)
- 2015
- Book
How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate
By: Andrew J. Hoffman
Though the scientific community largely agrees that climate change is underway, debates about this issue remain fiercely polarized. These conversations have become a rhetorical contest, one where opposing sides try to achieve victory through playing on fear, distrust,... View Details
Hoffman, Andrew J. How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate. Stanford University Press, 2015. (Winner of the 2019 Responsible Research in Business Management Award; Honorable Mention for the 2016 Best Book Award, Organizations and Natural Environment Division, Academy of Management. Czech Edition: Jak kultura utváří diskusi o klimatické změně, Muni Press, 2017.)
- October 20, 2023
- Article
How ENGOs Can Support Corporate Climate Change Efforts
Nearly half of CEOs view climate change as affecting their companies now or within the coming decade, but there is also a wide gap between what CEOs say is progress on tackling climate change and what many of their investors believe are effective actions. Companies... View Details
Keywords: Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Shareholder Relations
Toffel, Michael W. "How ENGOs Can Support Corporate Climate Change Efforts." Harvard Business Review (website) (October 20, 2023).
- 2025
- Chapter
Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change
By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones
This chapter explores when and why private regulatory governance systems became the primary form of global environmental governance. The chapter explores two different historical paths in such private regulation and how they came about. The first path involved... View Details
Keywords: Institutional Entrepreneurship; Environment; Climate Change; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Environmental Regulation; Standards; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact
Bergquist, Ann-Kristin, and Geoffrey Jones. "Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change." Chap. 1 in Climate Change and Business: Historical Perspectives, edited by Teresa da Silva Lopes, Paul Duguid, and Robert Fredona, 8–29. London, United Kingdom: Routledge, 2025.
- 24 Sep 2014
- Op-Ed
Take a Trim Tab Approach to Climate Change
attention, and thereby educate people to influence the tide of events. Prominent business leaders have a bully pulpit, if they want to take it, on the issue of climate change and environmental... View Details
- 15 Mar 2017
- Lessons from the Classroom
More Than 900 Examples of How Climate Change Affects Business
This word cloud is composed of blog posts by more than 900 students describing how individual organizations are likely to be affected by climate change. Image by Patrick Clapp Last fall, first-year MBA students at Harvard Business School received a new assignment in... View Details
- February 2023
- Article
Climate Solutions Investments
By: Alex Cheema-Fox, George Serafeim and Hui (Stacie) Wang
An increasing number of companies are providing products and services that help reduce carbon emissions in the economy. We develop a methodology to identify those companies and create a sample of publicly listed climate solutions companies allowing us to study their... View Details
Keywords: Decarbonization; Climate Finance; Climate Impact; Climate Risk; Environment; Sustainability; Carbon Emissions; Electric Vehicles; Energy; Renewables; Climate Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Emerging Markets; Investment Portfolio
Cheema-Fox, Alex, George Serafeim, and Hui (Stacie) Wang. "Climate Solutions Investments." Journal of Portfolio Management 49, no. 3 (February 2023): 72–96.
- March 2024 (Revised March 2025)
- Background Note
Physical Climate Risk
By: Michael W. Toffel, Spencer Glendon and Alison Smart
This note describes how managers can identify and manage their company’s physical climate risks, which can increase their operations and supply chain costs and risks, and affect demand for their goods and services. Can be paired with the video “Preparing business... View Details
- January 2022
- Technical Note
Accounting for Climate Change
- Article
Managing Climate Change: Lessons from the U.S. Navy
By: Forest Reinhardt and Michael W. Toffel
The U.S. Navy operates on the front lines of climate change. It manages tens of billions of dollars in assets on every continent and on every ocean, which take many years to design and build and then have decades of useful life. This means that it needs to understand... View Details
Keywords: Climate Change; Environment; Military; Disaster Relief; Refugees; Environmental Impact; Environmental Strategy; Sustainability; Energy; Energy Conservation; Energy Sources; Energy Generation; Globalization; Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Supply Chain; Operations; Logistics; Infrastructure; Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Service Industry
Reinhardt, Forest, and Michael W. Toffel. "Managing Climate Change: Lessons from the U.S. Navy." Harvard Business Review 95, no. 4 (July–August 2017): 102–111.
- 31 Oct 2007
- HBS Case
Climate Change Puts Heat on GMs
What is the responsibility of business regarding social issues? And how does that jibe with maximizing profits? In "UBS and Climate Change—Warming Up to Global Action?" Associate Professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Professor... View Details
- October 2021
- Article
Shareholder Activism and Firms' Voluntary Disclosure of Climate Change Risks
By: Caroline Flammer, Michael W. Toffel and Kala Viswanathan
This paper examines whether—in the absence of mandated disclosure requirements—shareholder activism can elicit greater disclosure of firms’ exposure to climate change risks. We find that environmental shareholder activism increases the voluntary disclosure of climate... View Details
Keywords: Transparency; Reporting; Shareholder Engagement; Shareholder Activism; Climate Change; Risk and Uncertainty; Environmental Management; Investment Activism; Corporate Disclosure; Communication Strategy; Information Publishing; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Problems and Challenges; United States
Flammer, Caroline, Michael W. Toffel, and Kala Viswanathan. "Shareholder Activism and Firms' Voluntary Disclosure of Climate Change Risks." Strategic Management Journal 42, no. 10 (October 2021): 1850–1879. (Featured in Harvard Business Review.)
- January 2015 (Revised August 2015)
- Background Note
Climate Change: An Unfolding Story
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Sid Misra and Stephanie Puzio
In some parts of the world, the impacts of climate change will prove to be relatively manageable, particularly for the rich. In some parts of the world, these will not, particularly for the poor. The only certainty is that humanity's collective actions will force every... View Details
Keywords: Global Warming; Carbon; Carbon Cycle; CO2; GHG; Greenhouse Gas; IPCC; International Panel On Climate Change; Climate Change
Lassiter, Joseph B., III, Sid Misra, and Stephanie Puzio. "Climate Change: An Unfolding Story." Harvard Business School Background Note 815-079, January 2015. (Revised August 2015.)
- Fall 2013
- Article
Engaging Supply Chains in Climate Change
By: Chonnikarn Fern Jira and Michael W. Toffel
Suppliers are increasingly being asked to share information about their vulnerability to climate change and their strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Their responses vary widely. We theorize and empirically identify several factors associated with suppliers... View Details
Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Motivation and Incentives; Risk Management; Climate Change; Supply Chain Management; Environmental Sustainability
Jira, Chonnikarn Fern, and Michael W. Toffel. "Engaging Supply Chains in Climate Change." Special Issue on the Environment. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 15, no. 4 (Fall 2013): 559–577.
- February 2024
- Case
Can Cities Beat the Heat? (A): A Comparative Analysis of Climate Actions and Change Enablers in 14 U.S. Cities
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jacob A. Small
Throughout the early 2000's, emphasis was placed on initiatives to adapt to and mitigate climate action in cities. This series presents overviews (snapshots) of 14 U.S. metropolitan regions to help identify similarities, differences, and opportunities for developing... View Details
Keywords: Climate; Climate Impact; Innovation; Mitigation Policies; Carbon Footprint; Investing; Climate Finance; Renewable; Mobility; City; Climate Change; Adaptation; Renewable Energy; Weather; Problems and Challenges; United States; Boston; Detroit; Miami; Minneapolis; St. Paul; Pittsburgh; Seattle; San Jose
- 24 Sep 2014
- Op-Ed
Tackling Climate Change Will Cost Less Than We Think
studies suggest that failing to address climate change will result in even higher overall costs. For example, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences estimates that damages... View Details
- 15 Apr 2014
- Research & Ideas
Calderón: Economic Arguments Needed to Fight Climate Change
What do Chinese coal plants and the American legislative branch have in common? They are both major adversaries in the fight against climate change, according to former President of Mexico Felipe Calderón. "The most serious problem is in the United States... View Details
- March 2023 (Revised April 2024)
- Case
Allianz Türkiye: Adapting to Climate Change
By: John D. Macomber and Fares Khrais
Allianz Turkey is a property casualty insurance company operating in a region experiencing increasing losses from natural catastrophe events related to climate change, for example hail, wildfire, and flooding. There are also substantial other natural catastrophe... View Details
Keywords: Insurance And Reinsurance; Natural Disasters; Turkey; Insurance; Climate Change; Analytics and Data Science; Insurance Industry; Financial Services Industry; Turkey
Macomber, John D., and Fares Khrais. "Allianz Türkiye: Adapting to Climate Change." Harvard Business School Case 223-074, March 2023. (Revised April 2024.)