In November 2020, three HBS student clubs hosted three separate virtual conferences that drew over 600 attendees, demonstrating the strong and growing interest in the critical connection between business and the environment among HBS MBAs. Each of the themes, while distinct, all focused on the changes that businesses across sectors will have to make in order to confront challenges from climate change.

At the end of March, I will retire from my role as Director of the HBS Business and Environment Initiative and turn the reins to BEI’s new Director Lynn Schenk and Coordinator Elise Clarkson. What has changed since I started in the Director role in 2016?

Harvard Business School (HBS) has named Lynn Schenk as the new director of its Business & Environment Initiative (BEI), succeeding Jennifer Nash, who will retire at the end of March after 5 years as director.

In late January 2021, over seventy HBS MBA students gathered in a virtual classroom for four exciting days of a short intensive program (“SIP”) on Climate Finance, taught by professors George Serafeim and Vikram Gandhi. Through a series of conversations with leading practitioners, the SIP covered a wide range of critical topics emphasizing the roles of financial institutions in addressing the risks and opportunities of climate change.

After more than two decades in consulting, Jurgen Weiss joined the Harvard Business School faculty in 2020 as a member of the Business, Government, and the International Economy Unit. He currently teaches the first year BGIE core course and is developing an energy focused second year elective course. His research and consulting work focus on the fundamental transformation of the energy industry in light of rapid technological change and climate change-related pressures. Professor Weiss is a faculty affiliate of BEI.

In this interview with Rebekah Emanuel, Professor Weiss outlines his decision to join HBS, his plans for the classroom, and the major changes he anticipates across the energy industry to confront climate change. Emanuel is Director of Social Entrepreneurship at Harvard’s Innovation Lab and the host of the third season of BEI’s Climate Rising podcast, to be released this spring.