A third of the 2,000 largest publicly traded companies globally have committed to net-zero targets in their corporate strategies, most by 2050; another 10% have pledged to do so.
Despite these ambitious targets, companies cite the lack of reliable, data-driven information on the present and future of affordable low-carbon technologies, business climate transition models, and successful examples of the implementation of different technologies or in different industries, including high-quality nature-based solutions, as the greatest single challenge to transitioning to net zero. The Climate Knowledge Initiative's mission is to fill this gap.
Explore freely available background decks, business case studies and key insights throughout the site.
During a discussion at Columbia Business School, the newly reappointed EU climate commissioner stressed the need for better alignment between Europe and the U.S., the challenges of global competition, and the role of carbon pricing in reducing emissions.
“I think we need a green steel definition,” noted Marie Jaroni, senior vice president of decarbonization and ESG at Germany’s ThyssenKrupp. “Everyone is doing their own thing. It would help our clients and our customers to have one green steel definition, and I think that’s very crucial for all of us.”
For many years, steelmaking has followed a consistent, two-step process: First, iron ore is mined and mixed with coal, as well as other substances, to make molten iron. This process most often happens using highly polluting blast furnaces. Some 90% of steel-related emissions come from this first iron-producing step.
Steel is an infamously hard-to-abate sector. For one thing, steel production assets have long lifespans before they are due for expensive upgrades. For another, the sector’s energy requirements are massive and will likely tax emerging clean energy systems. Some of these roadblocks can be circumvented — at least for the time being — with an embrace of transitional, “messy middle” technologies and processes, which can represent decarbonization potentials of between 10% and 50% (though they still carry significant green price premiums).
Martin Whittaker is a leader in the field of sustainable finance, impact investing, and responsible business and founding CEO of JUST Capital, a nonprofit dedicated to aligning corporate behavior with the values of the American people.
Judy Samuelson — founder and executive director of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program and author of The Six New Rules of Business: Creating Real Value in a Changing World — discusses how and why the rules of business are changing for the better.
Given that this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference was hosted by a petrostate and led by a fossil-fuel CEO, climate campaigners understandably had low expectations. Yet the summit did deliver some new commitments, and there is good reason to think that they are more than just empty words.
CBS Professors Bruce Usher and Gernot Wagner share their insights on the the annual climate gathering and the School's role in shaping the future of climate education.