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- February 2023
- Article
National Models of Climate Governance Among Major Emitters
By: Johnathan Guy, Esther Shears and Jonas Meckling
National climate institutions structure the process of climate mitigation policymaking and shape climate policy ambition and performance. Countries have, for example, been building science bodies, passing climate laws and creating new agencies. Here we provide the... View Details
- January 2023
- Case
Natura: Weathering the Pandemic at Brazil's Cosmetic Giant
By: Brian Trelstad, Pedro Levindo and Carla Larangeira
Brazil's Natura, a multi-brand cosmetics group, has taken several measures to safeguard the livelihoods of its thousands of employees and millions of sales representatives during the COVID-19 health and economic crisis. The company has also made strides in its efforts... View Details
Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; ESG Reporting; Acquisition; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Making; Social Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Environmental Management; Climate Change; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Global Strategy; Corporate Governance; Health Pandemics; Human Resources; Human Capital; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Distribution Channels; Supply Chain; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Customer Ownership; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Networks; Partners and Partnerships; Science-Based Business; Reputation; Human Needs; Social Issues; Strategy; Equality and Inequality; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Brazil; Latin America
- January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
- Case
Elon Musk at Tesla
By: George Serafeim and Amram Migdal
This case gives an overview of Elon Musk’s career arc through the lens of the 2003 founding of Tesla and its growth through 2022. Background information is included on Tesla’s unique strategic decisions, its operational and reputational struggles and successes, and the... View Details
Keywords: Business Ventures; Decision Making; Design; Energy; Renewable Energy; Engineering; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Management; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Values and Beliefs; Governance; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Leadership; Leadership Style; Management; Goals and Objectives; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Society; Social Issues; Strategy; Transportation; Value; Auto Industry; Transportation Industry
- January 2023
- Supplement
Organizational Climate Transition Risk Model
By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta
- January 2023
- Case
EKI Energy Services: One Billion Carbon Credits
By: George Serafeim
Within nine months from the time of its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in April of 2021, EKI Energy Services (EKI) shares had increased by more than 8,000%. Equally explosive was the growth of the company’s revenues and Earnings Before Interest, Taxes and Depreciation... View Details
- January 2023
- Case
Thomas Buberl: Refounding AXA
By: Hubert Joly, Mihir Desai and Amram Migdal
In 2022, AXA and its CEO Thomas Buberl faced new types of challenges, including systemic risks such as climate change, geopolitical instability, public health crises, and social tensions caused by economic risks. AXA was one of the world’s largest insurers. Since... View Details
Keywords: Change; Change Management; Transformation; Transition; Trends; Environmental Management; Climate Change; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Finance; Insurance; Management; Management Succession; Risk Management; Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Planning; Strategic Planning; Risk and Uncertainty; Society; Human Needs; Social Issues; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Insurance Industry; Europe; France; Paris
- August 2023
- Article
Taking Stock of the Implementation Gap in Climate Policy
By: Taryn Fransen, Jonas Meckling, Anna Stunzi, Tobias Schmidt, Florian Egli, Nicolas Schmid and Christopher Beaton
A gap persists between the emissions reductions pledged by countries under the Paris Agreement and those resulting from their domestic policies. We argue that this gap in fact contains two parts: one in the policies that countries adopt, and the other in the outcomes... View Details
- 2023
- Working Paper
The Evolving Academic Field of Climate Finance
By: Matteo Gasparini and Peter Tufano
The urgency and the magnitude of climate change will affect every aspect of our economies, societies, and planet. The academic finance research has begun to study the financial implications of global warming, although this body of literature is small. The field has... View Details
- December 2022
- Case
Taylor Farms: Adding Value to Fresh Produce
By: José B. Alvarez, Forest L. Reinhardt, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Pedro Levindo
In October 2022, Bruce Taylor (HBS MBA, 1981), Chairman and CEO of Taylor Farms, the leading producer of salads and healthy fresh foods in the United States, wondered whether this was the right time for Taylor Farms to venture into the Controlled Environment... View Details
- December 2022
- Technical Note
Risks and Opportunities from the Transition to a Low Carbon Economy: A Business Analysis Framework
By: George Serafeim
The transition to a low carbon economy introduces many risks and opportunities for businesses. Risks emerge from regulatory actions, such as carbon taxes and cap and trade systems, technological innovation that develop alternatives for customers making existing... View Details
Keywords: Risk Assessment; Opportunities; Environmental Sustainability; Carbon Footprint; Risk Management; Competitive Dynamics; Business Analysis; Climate Change; Accounting; Finance; Valuation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Technological Innovation; Transition; Product Positioning; Renewable Energy; Analysis
- December 2022 (Revised May 2023)
- Case
Iberdrola: Leading the Energy Revolution
By: Juan Alcácer and Emer Moloney
At the end of 2019, Ignacio Galán, the Chairman and CEO of the world's third largest utility, Iberdrola, reflected on his almost 20 years at the company. He managed a portfolio of three very different businesses, each with their own specific opportunities and... View Details
Keywords: Energy; Energy Generation; Energy Sources; Non-Renewable Energy; Renewable Energy; Engineering; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Timing; Industry Growth; Mission and Purpose; Strategy; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Utilities Industry; Transportation Industry; Auto Industry; Spain; United Kingdom; United States; Brazil; Mexico
- December 2022
- Supplement
Driving Decarbonization at BMW - Video Supplement
Videos of Thomas Becker, Vice President of Sustainability and Mobility at BMW Group, in support of the case "Driving Decarbonization at BMW" (HBS No. 123-008) View Details
Keywords: Decarbonization; Auto Manufacturing; Carbon Accounting; Accounting; Environmental Accounting; Energy; Environmental Management; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Pollution; Product; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Production; Product Design; Transportation; Transportation Industry; Europe; United States; China
- 2022
- Article
The Pricing and Ownership of U.S. Green Bonds
By: Malcolm Baker, Daniel Bergstresser, George Serafeim and Jeffrey Wurgler
We study green bonds, which are bonds whose proceeds are used for environmentally sensitive purposes. After an overview of the U.S. corporate and municipal green bonds markets, we study pricing and ownership patterns using a simple framework that incorporates assets... View Details
Keywords: Green Bond; Pricing; Climate Finance; ESG; SRI; Sustainable; Municipal; Bonds; Environmental Sustainability; Financial Markets; Price; Ownership; United States
- 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
- November 2022 (Revised April 2025)
- Teaching Note
Driving Decarbonization at BMW
Teaching note in support of the case "Driving Decarbonization at BMW" (HBS No. 123-008) View Details
Keywords: Decarbonization; Environment; Sustainability; Carbon Accounting; Carbon; Carbon Abatement; Electric Vehicles; Automobiles; Transportation; Environmental Accounting; Accounting; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Strategy; Technological Innovation; Supply Chain; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Climate Change; Transportation Industry; Auto Industry; Germany; Europe; China; United States
- 2022
- Article
Climate Change Vulnerability and Currency Returns
By: Alex Cheema-Fox, George Serafeim and Hui (Stacie) Wang
Using measures of physical risk from climate change, we develop a methodology to allocate currency pairs according to a country’s vulnerability and construct portfolios with decreasing vulnerability to physical risk. We show that non-G10 currencies are more vulnerable... View Details
- 2023
- Article
Green Bargains: Leveraging Public Investment to Advance Climate Regulation
By: Jonas Meckling and Jesse Strecker
Climate policy has entered a new era as public investment is increasingly moving to center stage, including recovery spending and long-term climate investment plans. While essential for decarbonization, public investment is not enough – the carrots of investment need... View Details
- 2022
- Working Paper
How Do Investors Value ESG?
By: Malcolm Baker, Mark Egan and Suproteem K. Sarkar
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives have risen to near the top of the agenda for corporate executives and boards, driven in large part by their perceptions of shareholder interest. We quantify the value that shareholders place on ESG using a revealed... View Details
- 2022
- Working Paper
The Issuance and Design of Sustainability-linked Loans
By: Maria Loumioti and George Serafeim
Sustainability-linked loans (i.e., syndicated loans for which pricing is linked to a sustainability performance indicator) have rapidly evolved into a significant private debt product. We find that sustainability-linked lending has been available mostly to borrowers... View Details
- 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