Climate and Sustainability

EVs shouldn’t be a luxury item, but Biden’s tariffs mean they may remain so.

CBS hosted a workshop geared toward tackling soaring steel emissions as part of its Climate Knowledge Initiative.

A CBS center dedicated to addressing issues at the intersection of business and society is expanding to address the global climate crisis.

Why would Stripe, a payment-processing software company, be involved in funding carbon dioxide removal solutions? Nan Ransohoff recently visited CBS to share why the company is building up its capacities to take on climate change.

Columbia Business School Faculty Provide Insights into Vital Topics that Can Transform Outcomes for our Planet

In another session devoted to climate change, host Professor Ray Horton talks about an unconventional way of halting global warming — known as solar geo-engineering — with Professor Gernot Wagner, faculty director of the Climate Knowledge Initiative at the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise and senior lecturer at Columbia Business School.

During a recent workshop at Columbia Business School, experts addressed the challenge of soaring emissions, highlighting the urgent need for a comprehensive transformation across the industry.Explore the Full "Decarbonizing Steel" Deck (PDF)Explore the Full "Decarbonizing Steel" Deck (PPT)Average Reading Time: 11 minutes

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).

Host Professor Ray Horton speaks with Professor Geoffrey Heal, an economist and conservationist whose teaching and research on climate change have left an indelible mark on the School.