
The Potential and Challenges of the Voluntary Carbon Market
- 29 JAN 2025
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- Climate Rising
Our second episode on the voluntary carbon market is a bonus episode of a panel discussion
recorded at Harvard Climate Action Week in 2024. Harvard Kennedy School Professor
Joe Aldy moderates this discussion with Nat Keohane from the Center for Climate and
Energy Solutions, Donna Lee from Calyx Global, UC San Diego Professor David Victor,
and Carolyn Weinberg, formerly of Blackrock. Together, they bring perspectives from
policy, business, and academia. The conversation explores the role of voluntary carbon
markets in mobilizing finance for decarbonization, ensuring the integrity of carbon
credits, and scaling high-quality projects. They also discuss emerging standards,
innovative financial products, and how companies can leverage VCMs to achieve net-zero
goals while addressing climate risks.
Our second episode on the voluntary carbon market is a bonus episode of a panel discussion
recorded at Harvard Climate Action Week in 2024. Harvard Kennedy School Professor
Joe Aldy moderates this discussion with Nat Keohane from the Center for Climate and
Energy Solutions, Donna Lee from Calyx Global, UC San Diego Professor David Victor,
and Carolyn Weinberg, formerly of Blackrock. Together, they bring perspectives from
policy, business, and academia. The conversation explores the role of voluntary carbon
markets in mobilizing finance for decarbonization, ensuring the integrity of carbon
credits, and scaling high-quality projects. They also discuss emerging standards,
innovative financial products, and how companies can leverage VCMs to achieve net-zero
goals while addressing climate risks.

Here’s How Climate Change Is Reshaping Home Insurance Costs in California — And the Rest of the U.S.
Re: Ishita Sen
- 22 Jan 2025
- |
- CNBC

We Have to Stop Underwriting People Who Move to Climate Danger Zones
By: Ishita Sen
- 16 Jan 2025
- |
- New York Times
Hippo: Weathering the Storm of the Home Insurance Crisis (B)
- JANUARY 2025
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- Teaching Material
Rick McCathron, CEO of Hippo, was optimistic about the InsurTech's path to profitability after navigating the financial uncertainties of 2022. By bundling their home insurance services with third-parties and established insurance incumbents, Hippo was adopting a vertical strategy aimed at diversifying risk and expanding their customer base. However, questions remained: Was this the right approach to driving sustainable growth? And in the context of the growing challenges posed by climate change, was the firm adequately safeguarding its future?
Get Cool: Air Conditioning Industry Background
- JANUARY 2025
- |
- Teaching Material
The “air conditioning paradox” is tied to climate change: the more the planet warms, the greater the need for cooling (due to the dangers of extreme heat as well as comfort within buildings), but the use of electricity-powered AC contributes to further warming. There is a need for innovation to break this cycle, but despite increases in efficiency in recent years, the industry has not changed much since its origins at the turn of the 20th century. This note provides an overview of the global industry with a particular emphasis on the United States. It presents data on global market demand, showing that the U.S. and Asia are the biggest users and the leading global manufacturers. It focuses on American market segments and distribution channels, and it outlines the role of electric utilities and incentives. It shows a consolidating industry with entrenched players, although digital tools are in increasing use. Corporate venture capital and stand-alone venture capital are being deployed in the search for new models and disruptive technologies.
Blue Frontier: Disrupting Air Conditioning
- JANUARY 2025
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- Case
Serial entrepreneur Daniel Betts founded Blue Frontier in South Florida to offer a climate-friendly solution to increase air conditioning efficiency and dehumidify using new technology he developed. Backed by significant venture capital, Blue Frontier had to choose which segment of a complex industry to enter that would help with rapid scaling to create a new industry giant. Betts focused on commercial buildings and an alternative to rooftop units at a premium price for greater efficiency, demonstrating the product on government buildings (US Defense Department). A Waffle House restaurant, and an arena in Canada. As 2025 began, Betts and team wondered how to accelerate progress in light of political backlash against incentives for climate change solutions, considering alternatives including cooling as a service, consulting to building owners, units for data centers, and a “Florida surge” to get Blue Frontier units installed on many buildings by offering financial help. How could the company build demand for a premium-priced product that was difficult to understand?
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