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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Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly Program: Can Sustainability Labels Change How Consumers Shop?
Wednesday, September 16, 2026 • Duration 40:24
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.
How Companies Tell Climate Stories: Lessons from New Belgium, Allbirds, and Microsoft
Wednesday, September 2, 2026 • Duration 23:35
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.
Carbon Trust: How Carbon Labeling Shapes Climate Communication and Consumer Choice
Wednesday, August 19, 2026 • Duration 29:52
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
Potential Energy Coalition: Why Climate Messaging Fails - and How to Fix It
Wednesday, August 5, 2026 • Duration 46:23
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
Good Power: How Climate Communication Can Accelerate the Energy Transition
Wednesday, July 22, 2026 • Duration 45:17
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.
McKinsey on Climate Adaptation: The Global Resilience Gap
Wednesday, July 8, 2026 • Duration 46:09
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.
Rain: Using Autonomous Aircraft to Stop Wildfires Before They Start
Wednesday, June 24, 2026 • Duration 39:51
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.
IBM’s Chief Sustainability Officer on AI, Efficiency, and the Future of Sustainable Business
Wednesday, June 10, 2026 • Duration 35:04
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.
Using AI to Unlock Geothermal Energy at Scale: Zanskar
Wednesday, May 27, 2026 • Duration 49:33
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.
David Potere at BCG X: Using AI & Satellites in Climate Solutions
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 • Duration 38:26
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 highlights emerging applications in agriculture, energy infrastructure, and climate resilience, and explores how advances in AI and data systems are lowering barriers to innovation. David reflects on the future of consulting, the democratization of technology, and the growing role of builders in solving climate challenges.