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Discover climate course materials and resources.
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- Course
Understanding the behavior of consumers – what choices people will make in a given situation and how those choices can be influenced – is central to marketing, as well as a wide range of other areas including innovation, entrepreneurship, management, and strategy. Furthermore, we are all consumers ourselves, and thus understanding the behavior of consumers helps us to understand – and improve – our own decision-making. In this course, we will explore insights into consumer behavior generated by behavioral economics, cognitive science, and social psychology, and how to translate these insights into action in “real world” settings
- Topics on: Economics, Impact, Strategy
- Course
The purpose of this course is to help you think critically and move productively toward business strategies for a sustainable future. It is essential preparation for corporate sustainability leadership – in line/executive management, sustainability staff, or professional services and technology/tool development to enable corporate action. The course also supports aspiring regulators, advocates, and investors in understanding the firm-level perspective on sustainability. Business Strategies for a Sustainable Future (BSSF) has four learning goals that correspond to the PROMISE framework above, going from macro to micro. The backbone is a robust four-lens understanding of materiality. We explore the pressing environmental and societal issues facing business and society, their systemic causes, and ground you in a science-based lens on materiality and corporate sustainability. Key concepts: planetary boundaries, human rights and social foundations, limits to growth, race to the bottom, climate physical risk, life cycle impact and greenhouse gas accounting, context-based goal setting. Students learn how institutions (e.g. government policy) and markets (e.g. customers, investors, prospective employees) bring these issues to the doorstep of organizations – a stakeholder influence lens. Key concepts: collective action; governing the commons; single, double, and dynamic materiality; ESG data and aggregate confusion; stakeholder analysis; climate transition risk.
Students learn to assess strategies and solutions that aim to create value for organizations and society – the business value lens. We showcase the cutting edge of practice and where there is further opportunity for innovation.
Key concepts: enterprise carbon management; circular economy; servicizing; integrated design process; sustainability-oriented innovation; high performance work systems.
• Students clarify their personal purpose and sharpen relational skills to be an effective agent of change for sustainability. This is the basis of a purpose-based lens on materiality and corporate sustainability. Key concepts: sustainable leadership capabilities; authentic conversation; making/translating the business case.
- Topics on: Impact, Justice, Policy, Strategy
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The +Impact Studio teaches interdisciplinary student teams (e.g., MBAs, MSWs, MPH, MEng) how to use scholarly intellectual capital, business acumen and design methodologies to begin to address a wicked problem. Wicked problems are issues with societal import, that are difficult to understand, and are embedded within complex systems; for example, how might the financially precarious or the unbanked accomplish necessary financial transactions in society; how might citizens living with failing infrastructure be better served by municipality; how might we build enterprises that uplift rather than deplete their communities?
To begin to address such an issue, teams will be seeded with novel, university-generated intellectual capital (e.g., new insights on FinTech or a machine learning algorithm from Marketing research) that may provide a critical piece of the puzzle to making a sustainable, scalable positive impact. There is a trove of such capital within the University that would otherwise remain disconnected from the pressing problems of our generation. Thus, this course serves as a nexus between this intellectual capital, a wicked problem and design.
- Topics on: Impact, Policy
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How to define and deal with social impact and responsibility of the key stakeholders, including corporations; investors; international financial institutions, such as the World Bank; United Nations; foundations; donors; non-government organizations; and development agencies? How to deal with the increased complexity and the dynamic of change of the external ecosystem? What role can business, through its core activities, innovations, and innovative partnerships, play in meeting local and global societal needs in protecting the environment, improving health, education and governance, empowering communities, eradicating poverty, etc.?
Are these needs properly captured by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? What is the relationship between the SDGs and ESG? How to enhance environmental, social, and governance impact through leadership, social intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship, and disruptive social innovations? What are the challenges of measurement and reporting impact? Can technology help solve ESG related problems? Does business have a responsibility to help address these priorities? Are there limits to what can and should be done through business and innovative partnerships? What are successful examples of business and innovative partnerships approaches to meeting these needs and priorities? What is the role of GEN-Z?
- Topics on: Impact, Strategy
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Private and public sector firms increasingly use marketing strategies to engage their customers and stakeholders around social impact. To do so, managers need to understand how best to engage and influence customers to behave in ways that have positive social effects. This course consists of three distinct but connected parts. The first part of the course focuses on social marketing strategies for changing the behavior of a target segment of consumers on key issues in the public interest. The second part explores these initiatives within the context of specific issues (e.g., environmental sustainability, health behaviors, financial decisions, etc.).
The third part of the course examines the growing role of corporate social initiatives as they relate to marketing. For the first time, this course is being offered as an Academically Based Community Service (ABCS) course supported by the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. The purpose of this program is to offer more practical, collaborative problem-solving experiences as part of the learning experience. As described below, the final group project for this course will be carried out in partnership with local organizations affiliated with the Netter Center.
- Topics on: Impact, Marketing
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Students develop a basic understanding of the dynamic interdependencies in food systems and how they are inherently intertwined with critical issues of climate, health and social justice. Class brings in multiple climate oriented speakers.
- Topics on: Impact, Justice
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Graduate students who develop and apply their business, engineering, scientific, legal, and policy knowledge to optimize market opportunities for cutting-edge climate change solutions to climate tech startups.
- Topics on: Impact, Strategy, Technology
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This course is intended for people interested in working in impact sectors (climate, food, energy, environment, health, education, affordable housing, racial justice, etc.) Deep dive into asset classes and issues areas including racial justice and/or climate change.
- Topics on: Finance, Impact
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Students will work in teams of four to six, with a mix of backgrounds and areas of study. They will be assigned three technologies/business ideas. In the first half of the course, teams will be asked to evaluate the business ideas as the basis for a new venture. At the course midpoint, they will present their conclusions and choose one project to take forward into the second half of the course. In this portion, they will develop a strategy for a new venture to commercialize or pursue the idea they have chosen.
They will perform an analysis and choose the target customer, develop a business model, create an approach to developing the venture with a view to sustainability, and develop a roadmap for execution in the short term (likely a two year horizon but this is dependent on the nature of the venture and opportunity). The strategy shall be sufficient to serve as a foundation for a first operating plan for the company. Each team will be assigned projects that fall in the categories of: energy transformation, climate resilience, climate & data, and carbon sequestration.
- Topics on: Impact, Strategy, Technology
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Over the past 50 years, the notion of corporate environmentalism (later corporate sustainability) was born, grew, and evolved. Though the history of concerns about the state of the natural environment can be traced back more than 300 years, the decade of the 1960s marks the dawn of the “modern” environmental movement. Initially focused on visible forms or air, water, solid and even thermal and aesthetic pollution, attention grew over the next 50 years to include toxic substances, stratospheric ozone, climate change, water scarcity, ecosystem destruction, and species extinction.
An even more recent evolution, triggered by the publication of the Brundtland Commission 1987 report on sustainable development, has witnessed a growing concern for income inequality, living wages, fair representation, secure retirement, transparency, and safe working conditions to round out the “triple bottom line” of the sustainability agenda: environment, equity, and economy. Today, this expanded notion of sustainability has become commonly accepted within both the academy and the corporate sector. Within the academy, what began as a modest offshoot of management science in the early 1990s has grown into a maturing area of study, one that encompasses a wide range of related disciplines. Within business practice, sustainability has entered most domains of corporate activity. Corporations print annual “Sustainability Reports,” insert the term into press releases and CEO speeches, create new positions such as the Chief Sustainability Officer, and gather for conferences on the “sustainability challenge.” A survey by Price Waterhouse Coopers found that 87% of Fortune 1000 CEOs believe sustainability is important to a company’s profits.
- Topics on: Strategy
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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