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.

Working with Companies and Investors to Address Climate Change

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, can do, and should do to confront climate change. It explores the many challenges and opportunities that climate change raises for managers, such as decisions about where they choose to locate, the technologies they develop and use, their strategies with respect to products, marketing, customer engagement, and policy—in other words, the full spectrum of business concerns.

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In this episode in our adaptation series, Peter Hall, Managing Director at Resonance Impact Advisory, draws upon his experience in global engineering and professional services firms to share how consulting and advisory companies can help their clients assess their risks and take actions to become more resilient to climate change. He walks through several adaptation frameworks and roadmaps recently developed by governments, civil society, and private companies to help provide clarity and guidance on the steps necessary for more resilient companies and societies. 
For notes and resources visit; climaterising.org

Helping Companies Become More Climate Resilient

This episode in our adaptation series focuses climate change’s implications on the insurance industry. Claudine Blamey, Group Director of Sustainability at Aviva, describes how climate change evokes both transition risks and physical risks for insurance companies, and affects how insurance companies are assessing and pricing risk in their underwriting process, and influences their investment strategy. Claudine also describes innovative insurance products such as parametric and catastrophe insurance that are emerging to address natural disasters that are exacerbated by climate change. 
For resources and other episodes visit climaterising.org

How Insurance Companies are Addressing Climate Risks

This episode in our climate adaptation series features HBS Professor John Macomber. John discusses how companies and governments need to incorporate climate resilience as they develop and finance real estate and infrastructure to address the risks of flooding, wildfire, extreme heat, drought, and sea level rise. John describes “five R” options to address these risks—to reinforce, rebound, retreat, restrict, and rebuild—and highlights best practices from insurance companies and the governments of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Singapore. He also identifies entrepreneurial opportunities to foster adaptation and resilience. Climate Rising Host: Professor Mike Toffel, Faculty Chair, Business & Environment Initiative Guest: John Macomber, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School. 
For transcripts and other resources, visit climaterising.org

Building Climate - Resilient Cities and Infrastructure

This episode continues our series on adaptation, and features Jay Koh who co-founded the Lightsmith Group, the first growth private equity firm focused on climate adaptation. Jay discusses the firm’s investment strategy, the sectors his firm invests in and their investment criteria process. He also shares thoughts on the role of public policy and offers career advice. 
Climate Rising Host: Professor Mike Toffel, Faculty Chair, Business & Environment Initiative 
Guests: Jay Koh, Co-Founder and Managing Director of the Lightsmith Group
For transcripts and other resources, visit climaterising.org

The Lightsmith Group’s Adaptation Investment Strategy

In this first episode of our series on adaptation, host Mike Toffel sits down with Spencer Glendon and Alison Smart of Probable Futures. They discuss how Probable Futures tools are educating decision makers to better understand how their organizations will experience climate change, and how adaptation and resilience requires a paradigm shift in planning decisions. They describe a five-step process managers can use to identify and manage adaptation risks posed by climate change. 
For transcripts and other resources, visit climaterising.org

Working with Companies and Investors to Address Climate Change

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