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- Course
The financial significance of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors and stakeholder opinions of the acceptability of a firm’s operations (i.e., the social license to operate) is mounting yet the data, frameworks and tools informing investors, consultants and corporates is unreliable. The course provides students novel data, frameworks and tools than can guide the alignment of stakeholder opinions on ESG factors, valuation and strategy.
Estimates of the capital expenditures necessary to achieve a net-zero emissions and the 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming target exceed $50 Trillion over the next 30 years. Estimates of the economic damage caused by racial injustice in the United States alone surpass $16 Trillion. While such costs may seem overwhelming, $35.3 Trillion (36% of total global assets under management) actively weigh ESG issues in 2020, up from $13.3 Trillion (21% of global AUM) in 2012. During this same period, the share of executives, board members, and investment managers who consider climate risk, racial justice and other ESG issues to be material to their business decisions has doubled. If a business case for ESG issues can be demonstrated, pools of capital are poised to make an impact.
- Topics on: Policy, Strategy
- Course
The financial significance of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors and stakeholder opinions of the acceptability of a firm’s operations (i.e., the social license to operate) is mounting yet the data, frameworks and tools informing investors, consultants and corporates is unreliable. The course provides students novel data, frameworks and tools than can guide the alignment of stakeholder opinions on ESG factors, valuation and strategy.
Estimates of the capital expenditures necessary to achieve a net-zero emissions and the 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming target exceed $50 Trillion over the next 30 years. Estimates of the economic damage caused by racial injustice in the United States alone surpass $16 Trillion. While such costs may seem overwhelming, $35.3 Trillion (36% of total global assets under management) actively weigh ESG issues in 2020, up from $13.3 Trillion (21% of global AUM) in 2012. During this same period, the share of executives, board members, and investment managers who consider climate risk, racial justice and other ESG issues to be material to their business decisions has doubled. If a business case for ESG issues can be demonstrated, pools of capital are poised to make an impact.
- Topics on: Policy, Strategy
- Course
Climate change and environmental degradation pose some of the most complex challenges of our time. Building a sustainable future requires active and creative leadership by individuals, organizations, governments, and business firms. This half-credit (.5 cu) course integrates scholarship in leadership theory, environmental and climate management, public policy, and ethics to explore questions such as: What are the greatest challenges in environmental and climate leadership today?
How can a firm, nonprofit organization, or individual lead in this space? How can we integrate environmental and climate considerations into our vision of what makes an individual or an organization a leader? What can we learn about leadership from being in “the environment”? Through the partnership of the McNulty Leadership Program, students will engage in a highly experiential way both in the classroom and in the field on a uniquely customized Leadership Venture over Spring Break. This expedition-style experience with students and course instructors combines both “being in the environment” and engaging in discussions with organizations that are climate and LEGAL STUDIES AND BUSINESS ETHICS 2600, Sarah E. Light, Spring 2023 – Syllabus Page 2 environmental leaders. The transferable nature of the expedition is at the heart of the student’s learning, bringing hands-on lessons to real life.
- Topics on: Strategy
- Course
This course will introduce students to core concepts, learnings, and frameworks in risk and environmental management, with a focus on climate change-related risks. The class will explore a variety of approaches to risk analysis, drawing from practices across financial actors and economics sectors.
The course is broadly broken into three parts, organized into: (1) risk identification; (2) communicating and framing of risk; and (3) risk management. Classes involve a combination of lecture, student participation, guest lecture, and simulation.
- Topics on: Operations, Strategy
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The course is especially useful to those interested in using data to measure, disclose, and communicate the value created through corporate efforts focused on sustainability.
- Topics on: Energy, Reporting and Measurement, Strategy
- Course
We have 2 units out of 16 that make up the Programme of the subject. We teach international environmental cases, the evolution of legal protection from isolated species to the concept of sustainable development; the relation between environment and economy and the main international instruments that intend to protect the environment, both general and thematic.
- Topics on: Planning
- Course
The ascent of Impact Investing has been remarkable. From its early roots in social entrepreneurship and community finance, the sector has grown exponentially, with the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) reporting a market size of over $1 trillion in assets under management by 2021. This growth reflects a paradigm shift in how investors, from large institutions to individual contributors, view the role of capital in addressing critical global challenges.
In this course, we will explore the evolution of Impact Investing, its current landscape, and the challenges it faces. We will examine key concepts such as the difference between Impact Investing and other forms of responsible investing, the importance of measurability and intentionality in impact investments, and the diverse range of impact investment vehicles and strategies.
Through a combination of case studies, lectures, and guest speakers from leading practitioners, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of how Impact Investing operates across different asset classes, including private equity, venture capital, and debt. We will also discuss the role of investor intentionality, the challenges of aligning interests between asset allocators and fund managers, and the innovative financial structures emerging within this dynamic field.
In IMPACT we will focus on impact investing while in the companion course ESG Investing (ESGINV) we explore the broader landscape of Responsible and ESG Investing. We will focus on the investor’s side, while other courses such as Strategy and Sustainability (STRATS) and ESG Risk Management (ESG) take the perspective of corporate managers and focus on how to deal with these issues from the corporate side.
- Topics on: Investing
- Course
The module Sustainable Investments explores how financial investors incorporate sustainability considerations and environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into their investment decisions. The module offers an introduction to the main sustainable investment strategies, the main players (governments, supranational institutions, corporations, investment funds, banks) in the sustainable investment space and the application of sustainable investment in different asset classes. A particular focus in this module is on green and climate change-related investments, but the module also explores the social and ethical dimensions of sustainable investment.
The aim of the module is to familiarise students with the main strategies employed in sustainable investments and the role that sustainable investment can play in addressing societal challenges such as climate change. Using real-world examples and ESG data, students will learn about the key challenges and opportunities that investors incorporating ESG criteria face. Students will also be introduced to the crucial role of financial regulation and voluntary standards/principles in the sustainable investment space.
- Topics on: Investing, Technology
- Course
This course is designed to provide an introduction to the relevance of systems thinking as a way for businesses to promote sustainability:
- Understand the systemic nature of sustainability and the challenges it poses for “business as usual”.
- Appreciate and empathize with the perspectives and demands of different stakeholders brought together around sustainable development issues.
- Comprehend and apply a suite of systems thinking tools that provide insight into the causes and consequences of systemic problems, among them:
- Causal loop diagrams
- Theories of change
- Simulations and experiments
- Identify leverage points for individual and organizational impact in the context of sustainability’s grand challenges.
- Recognize and hone skills that will allow you to become an effective agent for change towards sustainability in organizational settings.
- Topics on: Investing, Technology
- Course
This course presents the economics of the world energy challenge { how to provide access to reliable and affordable energy while addressing adverse health, environmental, and climate impacts. Class lectures and discussions will examine the frictions among social, policy, and private objectives in energy and environmental markets. In this course, we will tackle questions such as the following: What role can businesses play in addressing climate change?
What can you do? Should governments subsidize renewable energy? If so, how should the subsidies be structured? What are the economic and policy barrier to decreasing carbon emissions and other air pollution from the transportation system, and how can they be overcome?
What are the short- and long-run impacts of Covid-19 on energy markets and the environment? How are electricity markets regulated and organized, and how do the regulatory institutions impact the transition to low-carbon electricity? Tech giants have committed nearly one billion dollars toward \permanent” carbon removal. How could we effectively spend this money?
- Topics on: Energy, Technology
- Course
This course aims to provide students with a fundamental grasp of key financial market issues concerning ESG, responsible business, and climate change. The course employs a blend of lectures, group presentations, and case studies. The curriculum is divided into two parts: Part 1 focuses on ESG, while Part 2 delves into climate change.
In Part 1, students will gain an overview of ESG, including its theories, various types of ESG risks, proposed causes and consequences of ESG/CSR, and its impact on performance. Part 2 concentrates on climate change matters, encompassing the pricing of climate change risks, the significance of carbon disclosures, and sustainable financing mechanisms like green bonds.
- Topics on: Finance, Investing
- Course
This course provides an introduction to social impact investing – an investment approach intentionally seeking to create both financial return and positive social impact that is actively measured.
We begin with the core belief that investment is the engine of growth, and hence all investing can be viewed as inherently impactful. Social impact investing seeks to create positive social or environmental value in addition to a financial return. It is an approach, not an asset class.
- Topics on: Finance, Justice, Strategy
- Course
This course is intended for MBA students interested in the science, economics and business impact of Climate Change and the implications of Climate Change for their career. The course is designed to provide an understanding of Climate Change through the lens of both risk and opportunity and how Climate Change is affecting decision-making in business.
What are the skills that this course is intended to develop?
• Understanding and communicating the business implications of a changing climate
• Developing strategies for business sustainability in the context of a changing climate
• Understanding the actions businesses can take to improve the climate outlook
• Helping businesses prepare for the emergence of a climate-aware economy
Co-discovery
The field of Climate Change and its relevance for business strategy is a rapidly evolving domain. Each of us brings our individual knowledge, experience and perspective to the conversation. It is my hope that each of you will share your knowledge freely with the class. For that to work, it is essential that you commit to a process of co-discovery: you are asked to go the extra mile in terms of bringing value to our class. While there is no short-list of easy solutions to the matters we will cover, there is a path forward for us in making wiser, more informed climate decisions.
- Topics on: Analytics, Decarbonization, Energy, Investing, Technology
- Course
This course explores the growth of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) investing with a particular focus on the role of public capital markets in helping to address sustainable development goals (https://sdgs.un.org/goals). ESG is increasingly mainstream – for example, the largest global network of investors, the UN-sponsored Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) has now over 3,000 signatories managing with over US$100 trillion in assets (https://www.unpri.org/about-us/about-the-pri). However, there is an active debate regarding every aspect (definitions, measurement, regulation, etc.) with claims of “greenwashing” and also a backlash against ESG which strengthens the need for a critical and evidence-based exploration of the field. This course covers some of the major ESG investing approaches (screening, thematic, integration and engagement) in capital markets and takes a global perspective. It includes a special module on Climate Finance that covers the physical, transition and regulatory risks of climate change and the need to finance a shift to a net-zero carbon economy. A few guest speakers will provide additional ideas and tools to interpret the case studies and enrich the class discussion.
Course Objectives:
- Explore the evolving ESG investing landscape both from the point of view of investors choosing investments and firms responding to investor activities
- Understand how to incorporate ESG factors into investment decisions and analyze the different approaches across a range of asset classes.
- Gain insights into climate risk and examine climate-focused investing solutions and their effectiveness in combating climate change.
- Topics on: ESG, Finance, Investing
- Course
What is the ultimate responsibility of companies? Fifty years ago, the consensus was that the answer to this question should be maximizing profit and shareholders’ value. Today, however, the answer is more complex. Companies are increasingly being held accountable for environmental and social responsibilities, in addition to their economic performance. As a result, the traditional principles of marketing developed during the 20th century are also being challenged and revised to embrace sustainability as a core component of business.
Sustainable marketing is the process of creating and delivering value to customers in a manner that respects or enhances both the environment and society. Through lectures, case studies, interactive discussions, and guest speakers, students in this course will learn about the principles of sustainable marketing across various industries (e.g., apparel, food, automotive, technology), as well as gain a deep understanding of the sustainable consumer. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to develop effective sustainable marketing plans that can drive positive change in the business world. In line with these learning objectives, the course is divided into three main modules: (1) Defining sustainable marketing, (2) Understanding the sustainable consumer, and (3) Developing a sustainable marketing plan.
- Topics on: Marketing, Strategy
- Course
The climate tech sector includes climate change solutions such as renewable energy, batteries, electric vehicles, carbon capture, hydrogen, food tech, smart agriculture, green real estate, and advanced materials. These sectors represent considerable growth opportunities in the coming decades, which means job opportunities and meaningful career paths for students. For example, Bloomberg projects that $10 trillion will be invested in solar, wind and batteries by 2050.
Through “in the trenches” input from guest speakers (founders and investors across the US) and practice-oriented assignments, students will become more fluent with certain skills and tools, such as the following: (1) sizing markets, (2) doing competitor analysis, (3) preparing to raise investor capital, (5) using investor databases, and (5) negotiating term sheets.
- Topics on: Finance, Impact, Technology
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The course concentrates in four thematic fields: Ecosystem Services, Economic Valuation, Climate Change and Water. These topics will be assessed within a business context.
- Topics on: Finance, Operations
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Plants are at the intersection of at least a dozen problems and opportunities in our food system: climate change, personal, public and planetary health, nutrition insecurity, biodiversity, social justice, food access, diversity and inclusion, soil health, law and policy, technology, animal welfare, and antibiotic resistance. Build critical systems thinking competencies at the intersection of agriculture, nutrition, climate science, behavioral science, economics, entrepreneurship and ethics with plant-centric food systems.
- Topics on: Impact, Justice
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This is a course provided by Berkeley Haas on Carbon Footprint Analysis for Innovation. The course is 1 credit for an MBA course degree program. The course code is EWMBA292T.14/MBA292T.1.
- Topics on: Strategy, Technology