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- January 2023
- Supplement
Organizational Climate Transition Risk Model
By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta
- December 2022
- Technical Note
Risks and Opportunities from the Transition to a Low Carbon Economy: A Business Analysis Framework
By: George Serafeim
The transition to a low carbon economy introduces many risks and opportunities for businesses. Risks emerge from regulatory actions, such as carbon taxes and cap and trade systems, technological innovation that develop alternatives for customers making existing...
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Keywords:
Risk Assessment;
Opportunities;
Environmental Sustainability;
Carbon Footprint;
Risk Management;
Competitive Dynamics;
Business Analysis;
Climate Change;
Accounting;
Finance;
Valuation;
Business and Shareholder Relations;
Technological Innovation;
Transition;
Product Positioning;
Renewable Energy;
Analysis
- 2022
- Article
Climate Change Vulnerability and Currency Returns
By: Alex Cheema-Fox, George Serafeim and Hui (Stacie) Wang
Using measures of physical risk from climate change, we develop a methodology to allocate currency pairs according to a country’s vulnerability and construct portfolios with decreasing vulnerability to physical risk. We show that non-G10 currencies are more vulnerable...
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- 2022
- Working Paper
The Issuance and Design of Sustainability-linked Loans
By: Maria Loumioti and George Serafeim
Sustainability-linked loans (i.e., syndicated loans for which pricing is linked to a sustainability performance indicator) have rapidly evolved into a significant private debt product. We find that sustainability-linked lending has been available mostly to borrowers...
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- June 2022 (Revised August 2022)
- Case
Sustainability Reporting at Dollar Tree, Inc.
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni
The cases discusses the ESG strategy of Dollar Tree Inc., a U.S. Fortune 500 company in the deep discount retail industry and the and shareholder pressure faced by the company. In 2022, the company faced a shareholder resolution from a renowned shareholder advocacy...
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Keywords:
ESG;
Sustainability;
Shareholder Activism;
Dollar Tree;
Sustainability Reporting;
ESG Reporting;
Board Of Directors;
Shareholder Engagement;
GHG;
Environmental Accounting;
Integrated Corporate Reporting;
Trends;
Communication;
Announcements;
Voting;
Environmental Management;
Climate Change;
Environmental Sustainability;
Values and Beliefs;
Corporate Accountability;
Corporate Disclosure;
Corporate Governance;
Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms;
Policy;
Reports;
Business or Company Management;
Risk Management;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Outcome or Result;
Strategic Planning;
Business and Stakeholder Relations;
Situation or Environment;
Opportunities;
Civil Society or Community;
Social Issues;
Public Opinion;
Strategy;
Adaptation;
Alignment;
Business Strategy;
Corporate Strategy;
Value Creation;
Retail Industry;
United States;
Virginia
- May 2022
- Teaching Note
Climate Action in Miami
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Catarina Martinez
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 322-101. The Miami metropolitan area is a global epicenter of climate risk from heat and sea level rise, but leaders have only recently mobilized for action to respond to this systemic challenge. Resilient 305 began a collaboration across...
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- March 2022 (Revised July 2022)
- Case
Climate Action in Miami
The Miami metropolitan area is a global epicenter of climate risk from heat and sea level rise, but leaders have only recently mobilized for action to respond to this systemic challenge. Resilient 305 began a collaboration across officials in the cities of Miami and...
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- 2021
- Working Paper
The Green Bonding Hypothesis: How Do Green Bonds Enhance the Credibility of Environmental Commitments?
By: Shirley Lu
This paper proposes and provides evidence on a green bonding hypothesis, where green bonds act as a commitment device that subjects firms to institutions holding them accountable to their environmental promises. I find that green-bond issuers face higher climate change...
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- October 2021
- Article
Shareholder Activism and Firms' Voluntary Disclosure of Climate Change Risks
By: Caroline Flammer, Michael W. Toffel and Kala Viswanathan
This paper examines whether—in the absence of mandated disclosure requirements—shareholder activism can elicit greater disclosure of firms’ exposure to climate change risks. We find that environmental shareholder activism increases the voluntary disclosure of climate...
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Keywords:
Transparency;
Reporting;
Shareholder Engagement;
Shareholder Activism;
Climate Change;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Environmental Management;
Investment Activism;
Corporate Disclosure;
Communication Strategy;
Information Publishing;
Measurement and Metrics;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Problems and Challenges;
United States
- 2021
- Article
Decarbonizing Everything
By: Alex Cheema-Fox, Bridget LaPerla, George Serafeim, David Turkington and Hui (Stacie) Wang
We analyze how the use of different climate risk measures leads to different portfolio carbon outcomes and risk-adjusted returns. Our findings are synthesized in a rules-based investment framework, which selects a different type of climate metric across industries and...
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Keywords:
Climate Risk;
ESG;
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance;
ESG Disclosure;
ESG Disclosure Metrics;
ESG Ratings;
Investing;
Investing For Impact;
Investment Strategy;
Environment;
Decarbonization;
Climate Change;
Environmental Sustainability;
Environmental Management;
Environmental Accounting;
Investment;
Strategy;
Investment Portfolio;
Investment Return
- April 22, 2021
- Article
Shareholders Are Pressing for Climate Risk Disclosures. That's Good for Everyone
By: Caroline Flammer, Michael W. Toffel and Kala Viswanathan
Does shareholder activism induce firms to voluntarily disclose climate change risks? And how do markets respond to these disclosures? New research finds that the extent of climate-risk disclosure increases by approximately 4.6% for each environment-related proposal...
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- 2021
- Working Paper
Science-Based Carbon Emissions Targets
By: David Freiberg, Jody Grewal and George Serafeim
We examine the effect of voluntarily adopting a standard for setting science-based carbon emissions targets on target difficulty and investments to achieve those targets. We find that firms with a track record of setting and achieving ambitious carbon targets are more...
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Keywords:
Target;
Targeting;
Target-setting;
Target Efficiency;
Management Control Systems;
Management Accounting;
Environment;
Environmental And Social Sustainability;
Climate Change;
Environmental Management;
Environmental Accounting;
Environmental Sustainability;
Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques
- 2021
- Working Paper
Pricing of Climate Risk Insurance: Regulation and Cross-Subsidies
By: Ishita Sen and Ana-Maria Tenekedjieva
Homeowners’ insurance provides households financial protection from climate losses. To improve access and affordability, state regulators impose price controls on insurance companies. Using novel data, we construct a new measure of rate setting frictions for individual...
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- 2020
- Chapter
Climate Change Is Going to Transform Where and How We Build
By: John D. Macomber
As fires, floods, and droughts increasingly threaten homes, businesses, and other institutions, climate risk has become financial risk. This implies that homeowners and investors have been making location decisions without properly pricing the cost of potential peril,...
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- January 2020
- Background Note
Climate Change in 2020: Implications for Business
By: Rebecca M. Henderson, Sophus A. Reinert and Mariana Oseguera
This note provides general information about climate change and its implications for business. Included is an overview of climate change science and a number of its impacts, including rising sea levels, changing weather patterns and extreme weather, pressure on water...
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Keywords:
Climate Change;
Environmental Accounting;
Agribusiness;
Economic Growth;
Energy Conservation;
Energy Generation;
Renewable Energy;
Energy Sources;
Non-Renewable Energy;
Globalized Markets and Industries;
National Security;
Government Legislation;
Operations;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Problems and Challenges;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Natural Disasters;
Natural Environment;
Environmental Sustainability;
Pollutants;
Science-Based Business;
Weather;
Society;
Technology
- 2021
- Working Paper
Shareholder Activism and Firms' Voluntary Disclosure of Climate Change Risks
By: Caroline Flammer, Michael W. Toffel and Kala Viswanathan
This paper examines whether—in the absence of mandated disclosure requirements—shareholder activism can elicit greater disclosure of firms’ exposure to climate change risks. We find that environmental shareholder activism increases the voluntary disclosure of climate...
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Keywords:
Shareholder Activism;
Climate Risk;
Corporate Accountability;
Climate Change;
Corporate Disclosure;
Corporate Governance;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Business and Shareholder Relations;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Natural Environment;
Environmental Sustainability;
Financial Services Industry;
United States
- 2018
- Book
Varieties of Green Business: Industries, Nations and Time
By: Geoffrey Jones
Published at a time of ever-increasing warnings that the pace of climate change and other environmental changes risk making the Earth unsustainable within our own lifetimes, this book looks at the past of green business to identify lessons for the future. It provides...
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Keywords:
Green Business;
Sustainability;
Business History;
Eco-tourism;
Organic Wine;
Organic Food;
Waste Management;
Sustainable Finance;
Ethics;
Finance;
History;
Entrepreneurship;
Accommodations Industry;
Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry;
Banking Industry;
Energy Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Green Technology Industry;
Tourism Industry;
Europe;
Asia;
Latin America;
North and Central America;
New Zealand
- October 2017 (Revised October 2022)
- Case
JetBlue: Relevant Sustainability Leadership (A)
By: George Serafeim and David Freiberg
In 2017, JetBlue, the airline founded on the mission to “bring humanity back to air travel,” was considering becoming one of the first companies to report its sustainability performance according to the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards. SASB...
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Keywords:
Sustainability;
Metrics;
Leadership And Change Management;
Airlines;
Innovation;
Purpose;
ESG;
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance;
Sustainability Reporting;
Change Management;
Leadership;
Financial Reporting;
Environmental Sustainability;
Mission and Purpose;
Reports;
Competitive Strategy;
Measurement and Metrics;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Air Transportation Industry;
United States
- Article
Managing Climate Change: Lessons from the U.S. Navy
By: Forest Reinhardt and Michael W. Toffel
The U.S. Navy operates on the front lines of climate change. It manages tens of billions of dollars in assets on every continent and on every ocean, which take many years to design and build and then have decades of useful life. This means that it needs to understand...
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Keywords:
Climate Change;
Environment;
Military;
Disaster Relief;
Refugees;
Environmental Impact;
Environmental Strategy;
Sustainability;
Energy;
Energy Conservation;
Energy Sources;
Energy Generation;
Globalization;
Innovation and Invention;
Leadership;
Strategic Planning;
Problems and Challenges;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Supply Chain;
Operations;
Logistics;
Infrastructure;
Strategy;
Environmental Sustainability;
Service Industry
- March 2017 (Revised June 2019)
- Case
CEO Activism (A)
By: Michael W. Toffel, Aaron K. Chatterji and Julia Kelley
This case introduces CEO activism, a phenomenon in which business leaders engage in political or social issues that do not relate directly to their companies. The case uses several examples to describe why business leaders are engaging in CEO activism and the potential...
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Keywords:
Leadership & Corporate Accountability;
Environmental And Social Sustainability;
Environment;
Climate Change;
Gender Equality;
Communication Strategy;
Moral Sensibility;
Values and Beliefs;
Leadership;
Law;
Rights;
Risk Management;
Media;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Religion;
Expansion;
Strategy;
Social Issues;
Consumer Products Industry;
Electronics Industry;
Technology Industry;
United States;
Indiana;
North Carolina