Publications

November 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

South Pole Carbon Asset Management-Going for Gold?

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Jost Hamschmidt and Mikell Hyman

In late 2008, Christoph Sutter, CEO of South Pole Carbon Asset Management, reflects on his firm's early success at originating carbon credits in developing nations and selling them to governments and firms that seek to offset their greenhouse gas emissions voluntarily... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Non-Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Strategy

February 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

The Political Economy of Carbon Trading

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, J. Gunnar Trumbull, Mikell Hyman, Patia McGrath and Nazli Zeynep Uludere

Global climate change is an increasingly prominent political and business problem. Design of market-based systems to reduce carbon emissions has proven difficult. More broadly, national attempts to comply with the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol present both... View Details

Keywords: Policy; International Relations; Risk Management; Agreements and Arrangements; Business and Government Relations; Natural Environment; Pollutants; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Public Administration Industry

Conventional wisdom suggests that the uncertainty in emissions price under cap-and-trade regulation erodes value when compared to the constant price under a carbon tax. We show otherwise — emissions price uncertainty under cap-and-trade results in greater expected... View Details

2017
Working Paper

Carbon Tariffs: Effects in Settings with Technology Choice and Foreign Production Cost Advantage

By: David F. Drake

Emissions regulation is a policy mechanism intended to address the threat of climate change. However, the stringency of emissions regulation varies across regions, raising concerns over carbon leakage—an outcome where stringent regulation in one region shifts... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Competition; Pollutants; Taxation; Environmental Sustainability; Globalized Markets and Industries

SSRN

2018
Report

The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World: An Interdisciplinary MIT Study

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III

The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World study is the eighth in the MIT Energy Initiative’s "Future of" series, which aims to shed light on a range of complex and important issues involving energy and the environment. A central theme is... View Details

Keywords: Nuclear Energy; Carbon Emissions; Environment; Environmental Sustainability; Energy; Energy Policy; Energy Sources

2022
Case

Can Salesforce Compete in the Carbon Accounting Market?

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

This case describes Salesforce's development of Sustainability Cloud, a suite of software tools built to help companies measure, track, and report carbon emissions and other sustainability metrics. The goal of this case is to provide students with a background and... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Accounting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Accountability; Applications and Software

April 2024
Teaching Note

Harvard University and Urban Mining Industries: Decarbonizing the Supply Chain

By: Shirley Lu and Robert S. Kaplan

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 123-076. View Details

Keywords: Carbon Emissions; Blockchain; Supply Chain; Green Technology; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability

12 Apr 2022
News

We Need Better Carbon Accounting. Here’s How to Get There.

June 2022
Case

PFA Pensions: The Climate Plus Product

By: Daniel Green, Victoria Ivashina and Alys Ferragamo

The case explores whether alternative investments play a unique role in achieving low carbon dioxide emissions at the portfolio level. This case is set in April of 2020 and follows Kasper Ahrndt Lorenzen, Chief Investment Officer, and Peter Tind Larsen, Head of... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Emissions; Carbon Footprint; Alternative Assets; Alternative Investment Vehicles; Pension Fund Investing; Private Equity; Renewable Energy; Investment Portfolio; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Denmark

Fast Answer

Carbon emissions: basic information, prices

How can I get prices and basic information on carbon emissions trading? Bloomberg has data on prices. Use one of the following commands: EMIT EMIS EMMK NI ecredits (for news) View Details

March 2019
Article

Is There a Future for the Gas Network in a Low Carbon Energy System?

By: Conor Hickey, Paul Deane, Celine McInerney and Brian O' Gallachoir

This paper evaluates the potential low carbon opportunities for and challenges to the utilisation and financial performance of Ireland's gas distribution network within a series of low carbon scenarios. There has been a limited amount of academic literature published... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Investment; Risk and Uncertainty; Environmental Sustainability; Demand and Consumers; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Republic of Ireland

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

SSRN

May 2023
Case

CMA CGM: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Container Shipping

By: Willy C. Shih and Emilie Billaud

Marine transport is the most cost-effective way to move large volumes over long distances, and container shipping is the backbone of international trade in goods. Yet shipping contributed 3% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, and the deep-sea segment, which... View Details

Keywords: Container Shipping; Logistic Regression; Trade Links; Decarbonization; Environmental Strategies; Environmental Impact; Globalization; Trade; Environmental Regulation; Logistics; Supply Chain; Governance Compliance; Shipping Industry; European Union; Asia; North America

October 2023 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Recycle & Re-Match: The Future of Soccer Turfs

By: George Serafeim, Lena Duchene and Carlota Moniz

By August 2023, Re-Match, an artificial turf waste-to-value company, had operations in Denmark and the Netherlands and had recycled over 160,000 tons of waste and plastic fiber. With recent capital injection from the VC firm Verdane and a dual revenue business model,... View Details

08 Jun 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Twenty-first Century Skill: Trading Carbon Credits

mechanism." The basic concept is straightforward enough: A cap is set on carbon emissions. Companies can then buy and sell a limited number of emission permits, which allows them flexibility in their... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Energy; Utilities

September 2023
Supplement

CMA CGM: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Container Shipping

By: Willy Shih

Marine transport is the most cost-effective way to move large volumes over long distances, and container shipping is the backbone of international trade in goods. Yet shipping contributed 3% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, and the deep-sea segment, which... View Details

Keywords: Container Shipping; Decarbonization; Energy Efficiency; Logistics; Supply Chain; Trade; Environmental Regulation; Governance Compliance; Ship Transportation; Transportation Industry; Shipping Industry; Europe; Asia; North America

September 2023
Supplement

CMA CGM: Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Container Shipping

By: Willy Shih

Marine transport is the most cost-effective way to move large volumes over long distances, and container shipping is the backbone of international trade in goods. Yet shipping contributed 3% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, and the deep-sea segment, which... View Details

Keywords: Container Shipping; Decarbonization; Energy Efficiency; Logistics; Supply Chain; Trade; Environmental Regulation; Governance Compliance; Ship Transportation; Transportation Industry; Shipping Industry; Europe; Asia; North America