Publications

December 2023
Other Article

Introduction to the Special Section on Business and Climate Change

By: Rajesh Chandy, Glen Dowell, Colin Mayer, Erica Plambeck, George Serafeim, Michael W. Toffel, L. Beril Toktay and Elke Weber

Keywords: Climate Change; Adaptation; Policy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Innovation and Invention; Forecasting and Prediction

May 1, 2020
Article

COVID-19’s Hard Lessons Might Prepare Business for Climate Change

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Danielle Kost

The coronavirus pandemic caught the business world by surprise, but the catastrophe might force companies to face a crisis that has been unfolding in plain sight: climate change.
We asked faculty members affiliated with the Business and Environment Initiative at... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Health Pandemics; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability

February 2024
Supplement

Can Cities Beat the Heat? (B3): Chattanooga Climate Action Snapshot

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Coelin P. Scibetta and Jacob A. Small

Climate snapshots provide a summary of climate actions that occurred between 2018 and 2024, highlighting major green initiatives, innovations, carbon mitigation strategy, and action across multiple levels of government and the private sector. Snapshots also provide an... View Details

Keywords: Cities; Climate; Climate Impact; Innovation; Mitigation Policies; Carbon Footprint; Investing; Climate Finance; Mobility; Adaptation; Renewable Energy; Climate Change; Problems and Challenges; Sustainable Cities; United States; Tennessee

November 2023 (Revised July 2024)
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

Educators

November 2009
Article

Responding to Public and Private Politics: Corporate Disclosure of Climate Change Strategies

By: Erin Marie Reid and Michael W. Toffel

The challenges associated with climate change will require governments, citizens, and firms to work collaboratively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a task that requires information on companies' emissions levels, risks, and reduction opportunities. This paper... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Problems and Challenges; Pollutants; Risk and Uncertainty; Business and Shareholder Relations; Management Practices and Processes; Social Issues; Corporate Disclosure; Values and Beliefs; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government and Politics

Find at Harvard

2022
Working Paper

Pricing of Climate Risk Insurance: Regulatory Frictions and Cross-Subsidies

By: Ishita Sen, Ana-Maria Tenekedjieva and Sangmin Oh

We study the consequences of state-level price (rate) regulation for U.S. homeowners' insurance, a $15 trillion market that provides households protection against climate losses. Using two distinct identification strategies and novel data on regulatory filings and ZIP... View Details

Keywords: Climate Risk; Homeowners' Insurance; Price Controls; Financial Regulation; Cross-subsidization; Climate Change; Household; Insurance; Price; Governance Controls; Financial Institutions; United States

SSRN

August 18, 2017
Other Article

How the U.S. Navy Is Responding to Climate Change

By: Forest Reinhardt and Michael W. Toffel

We talk about how a giant, global enterprise that operates and owns assets at sea level is fighting climate change—and adapting to it. We discuss what the private sector can learn from the U.S. Navy’s scientific and sober view of the world. We are also the authors of... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Leadership; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Operations; Logistics

01 May 2020
In Practice

COVID-19’s Hard Lessons Might Prepare Business for Climate Change

operations and supply chain will not only better enable them to manage future pandemics, but also some of the disruptions that climate change is bringing like more intensive... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

October 26, 2022
Article

Climate Risk Is Growing. Is Your Company Prepared?

By: John D. Macomber

Most people don’t have a strategy for how to handle the worsening perils of flooding, wildfires and extreme heat. They should adopt a four-step process for protecting their property, whether it be a home or a business. First, they should prioritize how important... View Details

Keywords: Climate Risk; Climate Change; Risk Management; Crisis Management; Insurance

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2024
Working Paper

The Financial Anatomy of Climate Solutions: A Large Language Model Approach to Company Classification and Analysis

By: Shirley Lu and George Serafeim

Leveraging advancements in large language models (LLM), we study the financial characteristics of firms offering climate solutions-products and services aimed at fostering a transition to a low-carbon economy. We use a new measure that applies LLM to 10-K Item 1... View Details

Keywords: Climate; Climate Finance; Innovation; Technology; Financial Statement Analysis; AI and Machine Learning; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Analysis; Financial Statements

SSRN

February 2024
Supplement

Can Cities Beat the Heat? (B7): Milwaukee Climate Action Snapshot

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Coelin P. Scibetta and Jacob A. Small

Climate snapshots provide a summary of climate actions that occurred between 2018 and 2024, highlighting major green initiatives, innovations, carbon mitigation strategy, and action across multiple levels of government and the private sector. Snapshots also provide an... View Details

Keywords: Cities; Climate; Climate Impact; Innovation; Mitigation Policies; Carbon Footprint; Investing; Climate Finance; Mobility; Adaptation; Renewable Energy; Climate Change; Problems and Challenges; Sustainable Cities; United States; Wisconsin

06 Jan 2010
What Do You Think?

Is a Stringent Climate Change Agreement a Pot of Gold?

Summing Up Do we even need a stringent climate change agreement? Judging from this month's comments, a question can be raised about the necessity of a climate View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Energy; Utilities

March 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Climate Change & the Biden Administration

By: Gunnar Trumbull and James Barnett

Educators

February 2024
Supplement

Can Cities Beat the Heat? (B14): San Jose Climate Action Snapshot

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Hailey Chen and Jacob A. Small

Climate snapshots provide a summary of climate actions that occurred between 2018 and 2024, highlighting major green initiatives, innovations, carbon mitigation strategy, and action across multiple levels of government and the private sector. Snapshots also provide an... View Details

Keywords: Cities; Climate; Climate Impact; Innovation; Mitigation Policies; Carbon Footprint; Investing; Climate Finance; Mobility; Adaptation; Renewable Energy; Climate Change; Problems and Challenges; Sustainable Cities; Innovation and Invention; United States; San Jose

September 2023
Case

FoodCloud: Tackling Food Insecurity and Climate Change in One Bite

By: Brian Trelstad and Emer Moloney

In 2013, Aoibheann O’Brien and Iseult Ward founded FoodCloud, a non-profit social enterprise that aimed to address food waste and food insecurity issues. Through its technology platform, Foodiverse, FoodCloud connected surplus food from retailers with community groups... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Expansion; Technological Innovation; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Republic of Ireland; Europe

Educators

February 2024
Supplement

Can Cities Beat the Heat? (B6): Miami Climate Action Snapshot

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone and Jacob A. Small

Climate snapshots provide a summary of climate actions that occurred between 2018 and 2024, highlighting major green initiatives, innovations, carbon mitigation strategy, and action across multiple levels of government and the private sector. Snapshots also provide an... View Details

Keywords: Climate; Climate Impact; Innovation; Mitigation Policies; Carbon Footprint; Investing; Climate Finance; Mobility; Adaptation; Renewable Energy; Climate Change; Problems and Challenges; Sustainable Cities; City; United States; Miami