Business & Environment
Business & Environment
The vital connection between the natural environment and the business world has long been a central focus of our research at HBS – from Richard Vietor’s study of business-government relations in U.S. energy policy in the 1980’s to Michael Porter’s new concept of the relationship between the environment and competition in the 1990’s. Today, our faculty members focus on corporate environmental strategy, operations and reporting; sustainable cities and infrastructure; the role of government and environmental policy; clean energy generation and demand-side energy efficiency; and the effective management of natural resources essential to human prosperity.
Initiatives & Projects
The Business & Environment Initiative and the Social Enterprise Initiative deepen business leaders’ understanding of today’s environmental challenges and assist them in developing effective solutions.
Business & Environment Social EnterpriseRecent Publications
New Belgium Brewing and Climate Change
- April 2024 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Vineyard Wind Starts Spinning: Overcoming Onshore Challenges to Offshore Wind
- March 2024 (Revised March 2024) |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
From “BIG” Ideas to Sustainable Impact at ICL Group (A)
- March 2024 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Hippo: Weathering the Storm of the Home Insurance Crisis
- March 2024 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Establishing the Foundation for Carbon Trading Markets
- March 2024 |
- Article |
- Accountability in a Sustainable World Quarterly
Continuity & Change at Boston Consulting Group
- February 2024 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Can Cities Beat the Heat? (A): A Comparative Analysis of Climate Actions and Change Enablers in 14 U.S. Cities
- February 2024 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Principles and Content for Downstream Emissions Disclosures
- 2024 |
- Working Paper |
- Faculty Research
The paper uses several consumer-product examples to develop three principles for corporate disclosure of downstream emissions. Principle 1: Only companies whose products are directly used by end-consumers (B2C companies) should be required to disclose downstream emissions. Principle 2: Only B2C companies with products that require energy for consumer use, and for which a reasonable causal link exists between the product’s sourcing and design decisions and the emissions from consumer use, should be subject to downstream disclosure. Principle 3: Since companies have limited influence on consumers’ quantity of use of their products, a B2C company’s downstream disclosures should focus on emissions per unit of consumer use, not on total emissions. The paper concludes by explaining why reports of downstream emissions are “disclosures” not “accounting.”
Addressing Climate Change with Behavioral Science: A Global Intervention Tournament in 63 Countries
- February 9, 2024 |
- Article |
- Science Advances
Generation Investment Management: Sustainable Investing in a Warming World
- January 2024 (Revised January 2024) |
- Case |
- Faculty Research