Alumni Conference

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  • 04 MAR 2020
  • Video

  Ramana Nanda: Opening Remarks

  At the March 2020 conference Risks, Opportunities, and Investment in the Era of Climate Change, Professor Ramana Nanda introduces faculty conference co-chairs Mike Toffel and George Serafeim, welcomes alumni participants, and outlines what this unique event hopes to accomplish throughout the day.
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  • 04 MAR 2020
  • Video

  Leading a Financial Institution in the Era of Climate Change

  In conversation with George Serafeim, the Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration, Ron O’Hanley (MBA 1986), Chairman and CEO of State Street Corporation, describes leading one of the world’s largest financial institutions in the era of climate change and discusses the concept of values vs. value in approaches to investment decisions.
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  • 04 MAR 2020
  • Video

  Japanese Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF): Incorporating Climate Risk in Investment Decisions

  Hiro Mizuno, Executive Managing Director and CIO of GPIF, and Vikram Gandhi (MBA 1989), Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, discuss the steps GPIF has taken to incorporate climate risk in its investment process. Mizuno highlights the challenges of pricing this risk and offers perspective on different approaches.
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  • 04 MAR 2020
  • Video

  Uncovering and Pricing Climate Risk in Long-Term Investments

  In a panel discussion moderated by George Serafeim, Wendy Cromwell, Tony Davis, Audrey Choi, and Luca Albertini discuss their significant work and various approaches to identifying and valuating climate risk. The discussion covers these approaches in the context of asset management, alternative investing, investment banking to insurance, and highlights both the bridges and the gaps between ESG measurement and climate risk management.
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  • 04 MAR 2020
  • Video

  Daniel Schrag on the Science of Forecasting Climate Change: What We Know and What We Don’t

  Harvard Professor Daniel Schrag presents the scientific projections of climate change, including the expected timing of risk, with striking examples of how this risk is already manifesting.
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  • 04 MAR 2020
  • Video

  Incorporating Climate Risk into Financial Models: Bob Litterman on Transition Risk

  In conversation with Ramana Nanda, Sarofim-Rock Professor of Business Administration, Bob Litterman, Founder and Chair of Risk Committee at Kepos Capital, and former head of Risk at Goldman Sachs discusses transition risk in detail, covering the expected timing and market implications of a carbon price in the United States.
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  • 04 MAR 2020
  • Video

  Incorporating Climate Risk into Financial Models: Sustainable Finance

  Nushin Kormi (MBA 2005), Partner and Trustee at Loring, Wolcott, & Coolidge, discusses the evolution of sustainable investing in her multi-family office and highlights her firm’s newly developed approach to incorporating climate risk into investment decisions.
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  • 04 MAR 2020
  • Video

  Innovative Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies

  Professor Mike Toffel leads a panel discussion with leaders of firms involved in innovative technologies ranging from large-scale battery storage to different applications of carbon capture and sequestration techniques. Panelists discuss surprises in the fundraising process and explain how their technologies fit in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Featured Videos

 

 

• 12 Sep 2019

Tackling Climate Change in the MBA Classroom

 

 

• 21 Jun 2018

Leadership and the Climate Change Challenge

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• • MAY 2019
  • HBS CASE

  Rio Tinto: Decommoditizing Aluminum

  Rio Tinto, a global mining company, sought to decommoditize its aluminum products by differentiating some production lines as a lower-carbon branded product. In order to create a market for this product, Rio Tinto needed the support of the global aluminum
• • 2019
  • HBS WORKING PAPER

  Understanding and Overcoming Roadblocks to Environmental Sustainability. Past Roads and Future Prospects

  This working paper examines key barriers to business sustainability discussed at a multidisciplinary conference held at the Harvard Business School in 2018. Drawing on perspectives from both the historical and business literatures, speakers debated the historical success and future opportunities for voluntary business actions to advance sustainability. Roadblocks include misaligned incentives, missing institutions, inertia of economic systems, and the concept of sustainability itself. It appears that overcoming these roadblocks will require systematic interventions and alternative normative concepts.
• • MAY 2019
  • WORKING PAPER

  How Transparency into Internal and External Responsibility Initiatives Influences Consumer Choice: Evidence from the Field and Lab

  Amid growing calls for transparency and social and environmental responsibility, companies are employing different strategies to improve consumer perceptions of their brands. Some pursue internal initiatives that reduce their negative social or environmental impacts through responsible operations practices (such as paying a living wage to workers or engaging in environmentally sustainable manufacturing). Others pursue external responsibility initiatives (such as philanthropy or cause-related marketing). Through three experiments, conducted in the field and lab, the authors compare how transparency into these internal and external initiatives affects customer perceptions and sales, and explore the psychological processes linking transparency to sales.
• • MAY 2019
  • WORKING KNOWLEDGE

  Activist CEOs Are Rising Up—and Their Customers Are Listening

  Are product sales affected by the CEO's stance on political and social issues? Michael Toffel and Aaron Chatterji study how consumers react to vocal chief executives.