Climate Rising

By Harvard Business School Business & Environment InitiativeBusiness Science Management Natural Sciences

Climate Rising episodes

September 30 Powering AI and the Energy Transition: Why Permitting Reform Matters
Permitting reform has become one of the most consequential—and controversial—topics in U.S. climate and energy policy. As electricity demand rises due to AI, data centers, electrification, and economic growth, many argue that the country’s permitting, transmission, and
interconnection processes are too slow to support the clean energy transition.
In this special crossover episode jointly produced by the Climate
Rising and CleanLaw podcasts, Mike Toffel and Harvard Law School Professor Jody Freeman speak with Nat Keohane, President of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES). They discuss why permitting reform has emerged as a rare area of bipartisan interest, the challenges of modernizing America’s electric grid, and the tradeoffs between accelerating infrastructure development and maintaining environmental safeguards.
The conversation examines how permitting, transmission planning, utility incentives, AI-driven electricity demand, and federal-state governance intersect—and why solving these challenges may be essential to both climate progress and American competitiveness.
1 hr 10 min
September 16 Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly Program: Can Sustainability Labels Change How Consumers Shop?
How can companies make sustainability information useful to
consumers at the moment they make a purchase?
Justine Mahler and Cameron Westfall of Amazon join Climate Rising to discuss Climate Pledge Friendly, Amazon’s sustainable shopping program. They explain how Amazon uses third-party certifications to identify products with sustainability attributes, how the company evaluates which
certifications qualify, and how it translates complex standards into
information consumers can quickly understand.
The conversation also explores what Amazon has learned about consumer behavior since launching the program in 2020. Cameron shares research
showing a sales lift for products after joining Climate Pledge Friendly, while Justine explains why the environmental impacts that matter most differ across product categories. They also discuss how customer feedback, experimentation, and evolving sustainability science continue to shape the program.
41 min
September 02 How Companies Tell Climate Stories: Lessons from New Belgium, Allbirds, and Microsoft
Climate action requires more than technology, policy, and capital. It also requires communication.
In this special curated episode of Climate Rising, we revisit three past conversations to explore how companies communicate about climate change to different audiences.
The episode features excerpts from Mike Toffel’s conversations with leaders of New Belgium Brewing, Allbirds, and Microsoft that illustrate
distinct approaches to climate storytelling. New Belgium used products and campaigns to engage consumers directly. Allbirds embedded sustainability into product design and customer experience. Microsoft focused internally, translating climate ambition into governance structures and decision-making processes.
Taken together, these leaders highlight how climate communication can influence customers, employees, policymakers, and business leaders—and why storytelling remains an essential part of accelerating climate
action.
24 min
August 19 Carbon Trust: How Carbon Labeling Shapes Climate Communication and Consumer Choice
Carbon labeling has become one of the most visible ways climate actions enter everyday consumer decisions.
In this episode of Climate Rising, Julia Nicoara, Marketing and Communications Director at the Carbon Trust, explains how carbon labeling systems, certification standards, and corporate partnerships are helping organizations measure, reduce, and communicate their climate impact.
The conversation explores how carbon labels evolved from early experimental initiatives into widely adopted transparency tools, how companies balance credibility and communication in sustainability claims, and how regulation is shaping the future of green marketing
30 min
August 05 Potential Energy Coalition: Why Climate Messaging Fails - and How to Fix It
Addressing climate change isn’t just a technology or policy challenge - it’s a communication challenge.
John Marshall, founder of Potential Energy Coalition, joins Climate Rising to discuss how marketing techniques can accelerate climate action. Drawing on decades of experience advising major corporations, John
explains how his team uses behavioral science, focus groups, large-scale
experimentation, and data-driven messaging to shift public perception on climate and energy.
The conversation explores why traditional climate messaging often fails, how concepts like “net zero” and “climate crisis” can backfire, and why trust, identity, and local relevance matter more than abstract global narratives. John also discusses the role of AI in reshaping marketing and the risks and opportunities it presents for climate communication
47 min
July 22 Good Power: How Climate Communication Can Accelerate the Energy Transition
Transforming the energy system isn’t just a technical
challenge - it’s a communication challenge.
Leah Qusba, CEO of Good Power, joins Climate Rising to discuss how public perception, political engagement, and storytelling are shaping the pace of the clean energy transition. Good Power operates at the intersection of behavioral science, data, and campaigning, working to
accelerate renewable energy adoption and counter misinformation.
The conversation explores how permitting bottlenecks, disinformation campaigns, and community resistance are slowing renewable energy
deployment—and how targeted communication strategies can overcome these barriers. Leah also discusses the role of peer-to-peer storytelling, the importance of trusted messengers, and how digital media ecosystems influence climate outcomes.
The episode also examines Good Power’s expansion into regenerative agriculture, the role of demand creation in scaling sustainable food systems, and how emerging technologies like AI are reshaping climate communication.
46 min
July 08 McKinsey on Climate Adaptation: The Global Resilience Gap
Climate adaptation is emerging as one of the most critical—and least understood—challenges in the climate transition. Mekala Krishnan, Partner at the McKinsey Global Institute, joins Climate Rising to discuss McKinsey’s new research assessing adaptation needs, costs, and gaps around the world.
The conversation explores why the world is already
underinvesting in resilience, and how climate risks are distributed unevenly across geographies and income levels. Mekala explains the concept of the “resiliency gap,” highlighting that billions of people remain under-protected despite the existence of cost-effective solutions.
The episode also examines how climate risks will evolve in the coming decades, why adaptation spending needs could rise to over $1 trillion annually, and what barriers—beyond finance—are preventing action. The
discussion concludes with insights into how businesses, governments, and
financial institutions are beginning to respond, and what it will take to scale adaptation globally.
47 min
June 24 Rain: Using Autonomous Aircraft to Stop Wildfires Before They Start
Wildfires are becoming larger, more destructive, and more expensive every year. But what if the most effective intervention happens not after a fire grows, but within the first few minutes after ignition?
Max Brodie, co-founder and CEO of Rain, joins Climate Rising to discuss how autonomous aircraft could transform wildfire response. Rain is developing AI-powered wildfire suppression systems that upgrade helicopters with autonomous capabilities, enabling faster response times and more effective intervention during the critical first minutes of a fire.
The conversation explores the economics of wildfire prevention, the role of autonomy in aerial firefighting, the challenges of balancing suppression with ecological fire management, and the growing relationship between wildfire risk and climate change. Max also discusses the broader implications of autonomy, public-private partnerships, and how emerging technologies can accelerate climate adaptation and mitigation.
40 min
June 10 IBM’s Chief Sustainability Officer on AI, Efficiency, and the Future of Sustainable Business
Artificial intelligence is reshaping how businesses operate — but it is also reshaping how companies think about sustainability. Christina Shim, Chief Sustainability Officer at IBM, joins Climate Rising to discuss how AI, cloud infrastructure, and emerging technologies like quantum computing are transforming corporate sustainability strategies. Drawing on her background across consulting, government, investing, startups, and technology, Christina explains how IBM is redefining sustainability from a compliance function into a core business capability.
The conversation explores the “efficiency stack” of AI — from chips and data centers to software models and enterprise applications — and how improvements in efficiency can reduce costs, emissions, and operational
waste. Christina also shares examples of how IBM and its partners are applying AI to urban heat islands, sustainable materials discovery, infrastructure maintenance, and enterprise sustainability management.
The episode also examines the tension between AI’s growing energy demand and its efficiency gains, the role of “fit-for-purpose” models,
and why Christina believes the social and governance implications of AI deserve even more attention than the environmental ones.
36 min
May 27 Using AI to Unlock Geothermal Energy at Scale: Zanskar
Geothermal energy has long been seen as a promising, but challenging,
clean energy resource. Unlike wind or solar, geothermal requires finding heat hidden deep underground, often with little surface indication of where to look.
Joel Edwards, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Zanskar, joins Climate Rising to explain how advances in geoscience, data science, and machine learning are transforming geothermal exploration. By combining publicly available geologic data with modern modeling techniques, Zanskar is working to reduce the risk and cost of finding new geothermal
resources.
The conversation explores how geothermal systems work, why exploration has historically been challenging, and how Zanskar’s approach is enabling “blind discoveries”—finding viable geothermal resources that lack surface expressions such as hot springs or geysers. Joel also discusses the economics of geothermal, the role of data centers as a potential catalyst for growth, and what it will take to scale the industry.
50 min

About Climate Rising

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Climate Rising is about the impact of climate change on business. It brings business and policy leaders and Harvard Business School faculty together to share insights about what businesses are doing,…