Climate Rising

Large corporations play a critical role in addressing climate change—but transforming complex global supply chains is no small task.

This episode, originally from the Invested in Climate podcast hosted by Jason Rissman, features a conversation with Katie Anderson of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Chris Adamo of Danone. It explores how a major food company and a nonprofit partner are working together to reduce methane emissions in dairy supply chains.

The discussion examines why methane has become a priority in agricultural climate strategies, how Danone became the first food company to set a me...

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 r...

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 Cl...

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.

Ta...

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

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 abstrac...

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-t...

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 evolv...

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...

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, emi...

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...

AI and geospatial technologies are transforming how industries understand and respond to climate challenges. David Potere, Managing Director and Partner at BCG X, joins Climate Rising to describe how sensing, decision-making, and automation are reshaping and decarbonizing sectors like agriculture and energy.

The conversation examines how satellite data, AI models, and real-time sensing systems are enabling new levels of transparency—from methane emissions in energy systems to crop yields and wildfire risks. David discusses the concept of “Industry 4.0” in outdoor environments, where deploying technology is significantly more complex than in controlled factory settings.

The episode also h...

As climate risks intensify, understanding their financial implications is becoming critical for businesses, investors, and homeowners alike. Ed Kearns, Chief Science Officer at First Street, joins Climate Rising to explain how climate data is being translated into actionable financial risk insights.

The conversation explores how First Street models physical climate risks—including flooding, wildfire, and extreme weather—and translates them into property-level financial impacts. Ed discusses why traditional tools like FEMA flood maps fall short in a changing climate, and how new approaches combine physics-based modeling with high-resolution data.

The episode also examines how climate risk...

Patagonia Provisions General Manager Paul Lightfoot joins Climate Rising to discuss why Patagonia expanded beyond apparel into food, and how regenerative organic agriculture is central to its mission of addressing climate change. Patagonia’s food business was built on the belief that agriculture is one of the largest drivers of environmental degradation—and therefore one of the most important opportunities and levers for change.

The conversation explores how Patagonia’s early transition to organic cotton shaped its approach and evolution into regenerative organic agriculture. Paul that Patagonia’s focus seeks to encourage regenerative practices that improve soil health...

Alyse Russel, Senior Manager of Global Sustainability Programs at VF Corporation, joins Climate Rising to discuss how one of the world’s largest apparel companies is embedding sustainability across a complex, multi-brand supply chain. VF owns major global brands including Vans, The North Face, and Timberland, and is working to reduce product-related emissions by transforming how key materials are sourced and produced.

The conversation explores why raw materials—such as cotton, leather, rubber, and wool—account for the majority of VF’s emissions footprint, and how the company is prioritizing regenerative agriculture to address this challenge. Alyse explains...

Simon Haldrup, founder and CEO of Agreena, joins Climate Rising to discuss how regenerative agriculture can scale beyond early adopters by focusing on farmer economics, data-driven decision-making, and flexible practice “toolboxes” rather than rigid labels. Based on Copenhagen, Agreena combines agriculture, finance and technology to work with 10,000 farmers across 20 countries.

The conversation explores why adoption remains challenging despite long-term benefits, including thin margins, short planning horizons, and the risk of yield dips in the initial transition years. Simon also explains how Agreena uses satellite imagery, machine learning, and outcome-based verification to support both carbon credits and carbon inse...

Indigo Ag is one of the most active companies at the intersection of agriculture, carbon markets, and regenerative agricultural practices. A.J. Kumar, Vice President of Sustainability Sciences at Indigo discusses how the company is working with farmers, food companies, and carbon credit buyers to scale regenerative agriculture and unlock environmental and financial benefits. He explains how Indigo supports farmers with both biological inputs and sustainability incentives—from seed coatings and microbial sprays to data-driven tools and market access for carbon credits. A.J. also outlines the challenges farmers face adopting new practices, how Indigo addresses concerns around additionality and pe...

Tom Brennan, a partner at McKinsey & Company, joins Climate Rising to unpack what regenerative agriculture means in practice and why it is increasingly central to conversations about climate resilience, farm economics, and food system risk. Drawing on McKinsey’s work with farmers, agribusinesses, and food companies, Tom explains how regenerative agriculture differs from more prescriptive models like organic farming, emphasizing outcomes such as soil health, reduced erosion, and long-term productivity. Across this two-part conversation, Tom explores both the foundations of regenerative agriculture and the challenges of scaling it. He discusses how farmers evaluate new practices through the lens of ri...

Tom Brennan, a partner at McKinsey & Company, joins Climate Rising to unpack what regenerative agriculture means in practice and why it is increasingly central to conversations about climate resilience, farm economics, and food system risk. Drawing on McKinsey’s work with farmers, agribusinesses, and food companies, Tom explains how regenerative agriculture differs from more prescriptive models like organic farming, emphasizing outcomes such as soil health, reduced erosion, and long-term productivity. Across this two-part conversation, Tom explores both the foundations of regenerative agriculture and the challenges of scaling it. He discusses how farmers evaluate new practices through the lens of risk an...

Jamey Mulligan, Head of Carbon Neutralization Science and Strategy at Amazon, joins Climate Rising to share how Amazon is tackling its net-zero climate goals, particularly through its engagement in the voluntary carbon market. Jamey explains Amazon’s three-part strategy under the Climate Pledge: emissions measurement, value chain decarbonization, and high-impact carbon mitigation. He describes Amazon’s major clean energy investments, its electric delivery fleet partnership with Rivian, and how it is developing long-term carbon credit procurement strategies.

Jamey also walks through Amazon’s approach to addressing the credibility crisis in carbon markets, including its launch of the Abacus...

In this episode of Climate Rising, Erik Berglöf, Chief Economist at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), shares how this relatively young multilateral development bank is helping emerging economies finance climate and nature-based solutions. Erik discusses AIIB’s approach to climate policy—including infrastructure decarbonization, green finance, and biodiversity credits—and offers a behind-the-scenes look at its work with Brazil, including its $1B climate policy loan and support for the landmark Tropical Forest Forever Facility.

Erik explains the importance of integrating nature and climate in development finance, the need for finance ministries to lead coordination, and how cou...

Marcelo Medeiros, co-founder and CEO of re.green, joins Climate Rising to discuss how his company is restoring millions of hectares of degraded land in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest and Amazon biomes by producing high-quality nature-based carbon removal credits.

Marcelo explains how re.green combines data science, forest restoration, and long-term land ownership to deliver durable carbon sequestration—and why they chose a for-profit model to scale impact. He discusses price transparency, quality verification, and how re.green is preparing for a future where compliance carbon markets may accept removal-based offsets from nature-based solutions.

Marcelo also...

As bonus episode of Climate Rising, we feature a conversation among Tata Power CEO Dr. Praveer Sinha, Harvard Business School Professor Vikram Gandhi, and HBS Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Brian Kenny  that explores how India’s largest private power company is navigating its net-zero commitment while supporting a rapidly growing economy. With energy demand projected to quadruple by 2047, Tata Power has committed to phasing down coal and expanding renewables, distributed generation, and smart grid investments.

This conversation, based on the HBS case “Tata Power and India’s Energy Transition” and originally recorded for the HBS Cold Call podc...

Parth Jindal and Prabodha Acharya of JSW Group join Climate Rising to discuss how one of India’s largest industrial conglomerates is reducing the carbon intensity of its steel business while scaling infrastructure for a fast-growing economy. They share how JSW built vertically integrated operations—from power to cement to ports—through industrial symbiosis, and why energy efficiency, renewable power, and circular practices are at the heart of its decarbonization roadmap.

The conversation explores India’s dual challenge: meeting rising domestic steel demand while managing its climate vulnerability. Parth and Prabodha explain JSW’s green investments, hydrogen pilots, ca...

Galen Nelson, Chief Climate Officer at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) explains how the state is helping accelerate climate innovation through early-stage grants, equity investments, and infrastructure support. Galen outlines how MassCEC targets “market failures” where private investors hesitate—such as pilot and demonstration projects—and how these public investments help attract follow-on capital, inform policy, and build economic resilience.

Galen shares examples across climate tech verticals including energy efficiency, carbon-intensive materials like cement, and urban heat resilience. He also discusses how MassCEC is responding to the shifting federal policy landscape, its new authority to fund climate...

Jonathan Schrag, Deputy Climate Chief for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, joins Climate Rising to discuss how the state is tackling emissions, electrifying infrastructure, and responding to a shifting federal policy landscape. Jonathan shares how Massachusetts’ newly created Climate Office coordinates across agencies—from housing to public health to corrections—to embed climate action into all corners of state government.

He discusses the state’s emissions targets, the role of local municipalities in building codes and EV infrastructure, and the growing headwinds from federal rollbacks, tariffs, and canceled clean energy grants. He also reflects on market uncertainty, offshore wind, ge...

Hui Wen Chan, Senior Director of Sustainability at Crusoe, describes how the rapid rise of AI is reshaping energy demand and Crusoe’s efforts to design more sustainable data centers. She explains how Crusoe leverages stranded energy sources, repurposed electric vehicle batteries, on-site renewables, and innovative energy-efficient cooling technologies to design and build gigawatt-scale AI data center infrastructure that reduces water and carbon footprints.

She also shares why Crusoe emphasizes modularity and location-based energy sourcing, and how its customers—ranging from AI startups to tech hyper-scalers—are integrating climate into their computing strategy. Hui reflects on her path f...

Danielle Rapson, HBS alum and Co-founder and COO of Mantel, joins Climate Rising to explain how her company is developing a novel molten-based carbon capture system for hard-to-abate industrial sectors. Danielle shares the story of how Mantel spun out of an MIT lab, what sets its technology apart from existing amine-based carbon capture, and why the economics of steam reuse are critical to its efficiency. She also discusses how Mantel’s early projects in pulp and paper and oil refining are shaping its path to commercialization, and what policy and regulatory incentives—like 45Q and Canada’s carbon tax—mean for...

Fred Krupp, president of the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), describes EDF’s work to address climate change through scientific, economic, and legal analyses, working with

governments and companies, and public and legal advocacy for stronger climate and other environmental practices and policies. Fred joined us to talk about MethaneSAT, EDF’s new satellite that was recently launched to monitor emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from oil and gas operations. Fred describes why EDF entered the satellite business, how its satellite differs from others already in orbit, the many partners EDF enlisted to design and

Eric Adamson, Robotics Executive at Oishii and co-founder of Tortuga AgTech, joins Climate Rising to share how automation and AI are transforming fruit farming. Eric explains how his team designed a strawberry-harvesting robot capable of operating in outdoor tunnels and vertical farms, bringing operational efficiency, labor savings, and climate resilience to high-value crops. He discusses why harvest is the hardest—and most impactful—problem in agriculture to automate, what it took to move from lab demo to field-scale deployment, and how they integrated custom robotics and 17 on-device AI models to achieve 97% picking accuracy. Eric also shares his climate thesis on w...

Microsoft’s Brian Marrs, Senior Director of Energy and Carbon Removal, and Chestnut Carbon CFO Greg Adams share their perspectives as a major buyer and developer of carbon removal credits. Their 2025 deal is one of the largest carbon removal deals in the U.S. and seeks to deliver 7 million tons of nature-based carbon credits over 25 years. 

Brian explains Microsoft’s carbon negative strategy and targets, and the role of carbon removal credits. He also describes how Microsoft is using its Climate Innovation Fund and procurement efforts to “build missing markets” in decarbonized energy, materials, and transportation. 

Greg des...

Ashley Fill, Global Director of Sustainability at P&G Home Care joins Climate Rising to discuss how consumer behavior and innovative technologies can reduce household carbon and water footprints. Ashley shares how life cycle assessments reveal that 87% of the emissions in P&G’s Home Care portfolio come from product use, particularly dishwashing. She describes how their products are engineered to deliver superior performance while reducing water and energy. Ashley also discusses P&G’s partnerships with appliance manufacturers, NGOs, and coalitions like the 50L Home Coalition to encourage sustainable home practices. She reflects on regional water use trends, beha...

ClimateAi co-founder and CEO Himanshu Gupta explains how his company uses machine learning to forecast extreme weather and help businesses adapt to climate volatility. Himanshu shares his journey from rural India to co-founding ClimateAi while he was an MBA student. He describes how ClimateAi's "biophysics-driven AI" combines limited weather and crop yield data to inform procurement, logistics, and planting decisions for a quarter of the top 200 food and beverage companies. He also shares examples of government partnerships focused on food security and national supply chain resilience and offers insight on the future of adaptation technologies and enterprise AI. Finally...

This episode is another in our series on Climate Resilience featuring Alex Berkowitz, Founder and CEO of Coastal Protection Solutions (CPS), a startup developing nearshore infrastructure that reduces wave energy and enhances climate resilience. Alex shares how her personal experience with Hurricane Sandy in her hometown of Rockaway Beach led to the creation of the Wave Breaker—an innovative floating barrier designed to protect coastal communities from storm surge and erosion.

She explains how CPS integrates landscape design, marine engineering, and microgrid energy into its solution, and how it differs from traditional seawalls or breakwaters. Alex also di...

In this Climate Rising episode in our series on climate resilience, Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Acumen shares how impact investing is agriculture is helping smallholder farmers build climate resilience. Jacqueline shares insights from two decades of investing in poverty alleviation that includes climate resilience and adaptation social enterprises engaging in agriculture and off-grid solar. 

She explains how Acumen uses blended capital, including philanthropic first-loss investments and commercial impact funding, to scale business models in underdeveloped markets where traditional investors hesitate. Jacqueline also shares examples of companies solving food insecurity and extreme climate risks for smallholder f...

This episode, part of the Climate Rising series on climate resilience, features Sarah Russell, General Manager of Project Bellwether at X, The Moonshot Factory at Alphabet (formerly Google X). Sarah shares how geospatial data and artificial intelligence can help communities and businesses anticipate and respond to climate risks. Sarah shares insights from her work building predictive wildfire risk models using satellite imagery, AI, and systems design to enable more targeted insurance underwriting and disaster preparedness. 

She also explains how Bellwether is creating geospatial AI infrastructure and tools to support natural disaster response by the National Guard. Sarah a...

Patrik Frisk, CEO of ReJu, joins Climate Rising to discuss his company’s mission to recycle textile waste and build circular supply chains for apparel made of polyester fabric. Patrik brings his prior experience leading Under Armour and other global brands across the textile and footwear industry for over 35 years. 

Patrik describes how ReJu turns discarded apparel made of polyester blends into new polyester, and how it tackles the logistical and technical challenges of sorting, processing, and regenerating blended fabrics at scale. Patrik also describes relevant policy trends such as extended producer responsibility and offers advice for tho...

James Reinhart, CEO of ThredUp, one of the largest online resale platforms for secondhand clothing. James co-founded the company while he was a Masters’ student at Harvard and has spent the last 15 years scaling a national logistics and digital infrastructure platform for resale. 

In this episode James describes why the company decided to handle physical goods rather than act as a pure marketplace, how ThredUp helps brands run their own resale channels, and how AI and automation are reshaping their operations. James also describes related public policies like extended producer responsibility (EPR) and provides advice for those pur...

In the latest episode of Climate Rising from Harvard Business School, Karen Pflug, Chief Sustainability Officer of Ingka Group (IKEA), shares how IKEA is embedding circularity throughout its business model. 

She discusses how IKEA is redesigning iconic products like the Billy bookcase to make them easier to disassemble and repair, how secondhand retail pilot programs at IKEA stores are reaching new customers, and how investments like RetourMatras are developing circular solutions for end-of-life mattresses. Karen also describes how policy, design, and customer nudges can accelerate circularity at global scale—and offers advice for those seeking careers in cir...

Lauren Rodriguez, who leads partnerships at Circular Services, a Closed Loop Partners company, joins host Mike Toffel to discuss building the infrastructure and investment models needed to scale the circular economy.

Lauren explains how Closed Loop Partners supports the transition from a linear to a circular economy through capital management, innovation initiatives, and operating companies like Circular Services. She shares how their private equity, venture capital, and catalytic credit strategies are helping scale recycling, reuse, and circular supply chains.Lauren also explores the critical role of policy—especially extended producer responsibility(EPR) laws—in driv...