New briefing paper highlights the business impacts of climate change
Today’s MBA students will face a complex set of global business and societal challenges when they graduate. A new “MBA EDGE” briefing from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business aims at helping students understand the business implications of one of these challenges—climate change.
“Climate change will affect almost every industry in coming decades—whether that’s through direct risks to physical assets or through supply chain disruptions or reputational pressure from customers or employees,” says Katie Kross, managing director of Fuqua’s Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment, which produced the briefing. “There’s money to be made and lost. Every MBA student today should be thinking about where the opportunities will be, and how they will adapt their investment portfolios and operations in the future.”
The 6-page briefing document, called “Climate Change & Business: What Every MBA Needs to Know,” summarizes the business risks and opportunities related to climate change in a concise, accessible format for MBA students. Drawing on examples from Toyota, Starbucks, and Amazon as well as research reports from Blackrock, Munich Re, and others, the briefing asserts, “The impacts of climate change will affect where offices and manufacturing facilities are located, how leaders plan for and respond to crises, how investors think about the cost of capital, how customers perceive the brands they buy, where and how raw materials are sourced, and even, potentially, what materials are available for new products in the future.”
The briefing, “Climate Change & Business: What Every MBA Needs to Know,” is available in PDF format for free.
—