In early 2021, a severe winter storm knocked out Texas’ power grid for days, leaving millions shivering in the dark and killing hundreds of residents. Other states have also been caught off guard by extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change. This episode of the Deep Background podcast features , Alice Hill who led the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s effort to develop its first-ever climate resilience plan, being interviewed by Harvard Law School professor Noah Feldman. Hill explains what Texas’ electrical grid collapse means for the United States’ infrastructure at large. She also makes recommendations to start preparing infrastructure to be more resilient to extreme weather events. For transcripts and other resources, visit climaterising.org

Climate change poses two very different challenges to the U.S. Navy. First, the Navy has to buttress its billions of dollars of shoreline assets against rising sea levels. Second, it has to plan to be called on more often to address both military threats and humanitarian crises caused by climate change. In this episode of HBR Idea Cast, Climate Rising host Harvard Business School professor Mike Toffel and his colleague Forest Reinhardt discuss how the U.S. Navy is both addressing climate change and adapting to it. They explain what the private sector can learn from the Navy’s scientific and sober view of the world. Reinhardt and Toffel are the authors of the Harvard Business Review article, “Managing Limate Change: Lessons from the U.S. Navy”. For transcripts and other resources, visit climaterising.org Resources: S. Department of Defense report: DOD Installation Exposure to Climate Change at Home and Abroad (April 2021)

As the impacts of climate change mount, questions have arisen about whether the capitalist economic system we have in place is able to adequately address them. But what if, rather than upending the system, we recognized the power capitalism offers when it is properly regulated? In this episode of the Ask a Harvard Professor podcast, Harvard Business School Professor Rebecca Henderson talks through her own efforts to reconcile the climate crisis with her faith in the ingenuity of capitalism. “I believe that at the moment, our capitalism is also neither free nor fair,” she says. “The free market works when everyone can take part, and prices reflect real costs”—when polluters have to pay the cost of emitting fossil fuels. Henderson walks us through her vision for reimagining the system to address climate change by returning to its roots and building just and sustainable capitalism. For transcripts and other resources, visit climaterising.org

Many of the innovators we’ve spoken with this season are launching technologies or business models that produce less carbon than status quo approaches – leather made from mushrooms instead of cows, for example, and vehicles that run on electricity instead of fossil fuels. Other guests are finding new ways to finance those new technologies or business models. In this episode, we meet Steve Oldham, the CEO of Carbon Engineering, who is tackling climate change from a different angle – by developing a technology that captures carbon already in the air. The potential benefits of this approach are huge, but the challenges are at this point significant.

David Brand is founder and CEO of New Forests, a business that manages forests for long-term returns for institutional investors. He has an unusual climate vision. Right now the forestry business, together with agriculture and land use, is responsible for about one-quarter of the emissions that cause climate change. By unlocking the value of the carbon sequestered in forests, in conserved land, and other real natural assets, Brand aims to reverse this: Forestry, agriculture, and land use are currently responsible for producing one quarter of global emissions, but Brand wants to make the forestry industry responsible for capturing well over that percentage of emissions—all within 10 years. And he foresees a profitable way to achieve this.

Decarbonizing our economy will require shifting transportation from fossil fuels to electricity generated by carbon-free sources. Uday Khemka (HBS MBA 1995), co-Founder and Vice Chairman of SUN Mobility, aims to accelerate mass adoption of electric mobility in India by making it affordable and accessible. SUN Mobility’s battery swapping model has the potential to overcome the factors that have held back market penetration of electric vehicles in many places: high upfront costs, “range anxiety” (concern about a battery running low in the middle of a trip), and long charging times.

Generate Capital invests in and operates technologies that provide distributed clean energy and energy efficiency, electric vehicles and charging depots, and waste transformation—technologies important to efforts to mitigate climate change. CEO Scott Jacobs (HBS MBA 2007) describes how Generate Capital’s keys to success involve applying new business models and new financing models to tried and true technology and existing infrastructure, and in many cases taking on both financing and operating roles, much like a utility. Its approach seeks to bring to scale technologies critical for addressing climate change.

Shalini Vajjhala and Jamie Rhodes of re:focus partners share new thinking on how they are helping communities design and finance climate resilience projects needed to protect municipalities from the physical impacts of climate change, including more intense storms, sea level rise, droughts, and wildfires. They discuss resilience bonds, an innovative financial instrument that is enabling communities to finance large-scale infrastructure projects by capturing value from the costs they avoid to create a “revenue stream” from those savings.

Matthew Scullin, CEO of MycoWorks, is attempting to reduce the carbon impact of the fashion industry by producing leather made from mushrooms as an alternative to leather made from cow hides or plastic. His product is called Reishi, and unlike conventional leathers it produces very little greenhouse gases. And because it’s grown in a laboratory to precise product specifications, it produces far less waste as well.

David Crane tried to lead the NRG utility to transition from fossil fuel energy sources, but was ousted in 2015. He shares his lessons learned, reflects on what’s changed since then, and describes his newest venture raising funds for a climate-tech SPAC.

Nancy Pfund is founder and managing partner of DBL Partners, one of the first and largest impact investing venture capital firms in the world. DBL seeks to achieve “Double Bottom Line” results for its investors: top tier financial returns as well as meaningful social and environmental impact. It currently holds over $400 million in assets under management. Through her early stage investments in Tesla and support for companies in sectors from fashion to agriculture, Nancy has shaped the field of impact investing and demonstrated the power of venture capital to address climate change. In this episode, she describes the how she identifies double-bottom-line opportunities and some of the companies she's excited to be investing in now.

Explore different approaches to modeling and managing climate risk from the vantage points of industry leaders Robert Litterman, a seasoned risk management expert; Nushin Kormi, a specialist in sustainable finance; and Kevin Stiroh, a financial regulator. The discussion, moderated by Professor Ramana Nanda, focuses on the concept of transition risk—the potential consequences if climate regulations are imposed gradually or suddenly—and investment strategies to prepare for and mitigate this risk. This is one of 4 new episodes this summer based on live content from the Harvard Business School Climate Risk conference held earlier in 2020.

How do managers within the different sectors of financial services identify and value climate risk? Professor George Serafeim talks with an asset manager, an insurer, a hedge fund manager, and an investment banker about their approaches to identifying and valuing climate risk. The discussion highlights both the bridges and the gaps between ESG metrics and climate risk management. This is one of 4 new episodes this summer based on live content from the Harvard Business School Climate Risk conference held earlier in 2020.

Hiro Mizuno, former head of the Japanese Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), and Professor Vikram Gandhi discuss the steps GPIF has taken to incorporate climate risk in its investment process. Mizuno highlights the need to address the entire investment universe and challenges of his approach. This is one of 4 new episodes this summer based on live content from the Harvard Business School Climate Risk conference held earlier in 2020.

State Street Chairman & CEO Ron O’Hanley describes leading one of the world’s largest financial institutions in the era of climate change. In a discussion moderated by Professor George Serafeim, he describes the roles of asset managers, shareholders, and asset owners with a focus on the concept of values vs. value in approaches to investment decisions. This is one of 4 new episodes this summer based on live content from the Harvard Business School Climate Risk conference held earlier in 2020.

The real estate industry faces climate change challenges like difficult financing in coastal cities, more stringent regulations on where and how to build, and the need to retrofit existing properties to reduce emissions. Bryan Koop of Boston Properties, one of the largest commercial real estate development companies in the country, and Professor Arthur Segel discuss the climate change challenges confronting the real estate industry.

How will a warming climate affect a company’s bottom line? How can groups like Ceres help persuade shareholders, CEOs, and their boards to use their influence to address climate change? Mindy Lubber of Ceres and Professor Rebecca Henderson at Harvard discuss the difficult changes businesses must make now—taking a systems approach, setting long-term goals, and including sustainability metrics in their compensation systems—in order to mitigate the risks of climate change.

Wind power has more than tripled in the United States over the past decade. It's now the largest source of renewable energy in the country, accounting for more than 6% of the nation's electricity. The wind industry faces potential hurdles, however, with federal tax credits scheduled to start phasing out and delays in building major offshore wind farms. Francis Slingsby of Orsted, a global leader in offshore wind, discusses how the U.S. and the world is developing the wind industry and what the future looks like.

Is increasing solar power the answer? Abby Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, and Professor Joe Lassiter discuss how to deliver reliable, clean, low cost power for people everywhere.

What influence does business have on the politics of climate change? In today’s episode, we'll look at how climate change affects different businesses, and how proposed regulations like a carbon tax could help or harm business. Weighing in with their unique perspectives are Auden Schendler from Aspen Skiing Company, Bill Eacho from the Partnership for Responsible Growth, and Professor Mike Toffel.

Agriculture contributes a quarter of the world's greenhouse gas, and 60% comes from manure and methane emissions from animals like cattle. How is the beef industry changing to address this challenge? Could plant-based or clean meat truly change our diets enough to make an impact? Nicole Johnson-Hoffman from the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, Bruce Friedrich from the Good Food Institute, and Professor Max Bazerman discuss how to produce high quality protein to feed the world in the face of climate change.

The massive agriculture industry feeds billions of people but also contributes heavily to climate change. How do we employ more sustainable agricultural practices and maintain our ability to feed 7.7 billion people, plus 2 billion more by 2050? Indigo Agriculture’s David Perry and Harvard Business School Professor David Bell discuss the promising opportunities to change the ways in which we grow food.

What should the future of transportation look like? The solutions will likely require us to change how often we drive cars, the types of fuels we use, an investment in public transportation, congestion charges, and more car-pooling and ride-hailing services. But, it won’t be easy to change consumer behavior. Adam Gromis of Uber; Nicole Freedman, Director of Transportation for the City of Newton, MA; and Harvard Business School’s Ashley Whillans discuss the impact of transportation on climate change.

Both cities and businesses need to prepare for climate change. That means changing how they do business today and in the future, but there’s potential for big financial benefits with change, too. Rachel Cleetus from the Union of Concerned Scientists and Harvard Business School Professor John Macomber discuss the importance of resilience.

Climate Rising is about the impact of climate change on business. It brings together business and policy leaders like Rachel Cleetus from the Union of Concerned Scientists, Adam Gromis of Uber, Bruce Friedrich from the Good Food Institute, Abigail Ross Harper from the Solar Energy Industries Association, and Mindy Lubber of Ceres with Harvard Business School faculty to share insights about what businesses can do to confront climate change. Hosted by environmental reporter David Abel, Harvard Business School Climate Rising explores the many challenges and opportunities that climate change raises for managers.