This month, 380 MBA students from 47 different business schools gathered at MIT’s Sloan School of Management to discuss climate and energy trends, risks, and opportunities at the 8th ClimateCAP MBA Summit. Founded at Duke in 2018, the Summit invites students from across the country and internationally to come together for networking, socializing, and thought-provoking conversation.
Over 25 students from Duke attended the Summit this year, including Emma Derr (MBA’27), a first-year MBA. “It was really inspiring to see the intersection of business and climate at scale,” she said of the weekend. “The chance to come together with other students passionate about affecting change in the business world was a powerful reminder of collective influence.”
The Summit featured plenaries, workshops, and panels on a wide range of topics. Brandon Sixto (MBA’27), who also attended, commented, “One of the most interesting moments for me was getting a crash course on what critical minerals actually are, and how they are accessed and transformed for use in batteries and other technologies.”
Topics on the agenda ranged from corporate climate strategy to energy finance, carbon markets, regenerative agriculture, AI impacts, climate adaptation, and more. Speakers from New Balance, Mastercard, Bezos Earth Fund, Heatmap News, and S&P Global were among the keynotes.
Derr added, “My favorite part of ClimateCAP was diversity of thought. The summit moved beyond easy answers and opened an opinionated dialogue that surfaced the complex realities and interrelated effects of geopolitics, supply chain disruptions, environmental changes, and economic growth.”
One new feature of this year’s event was an Innovation Showcase, featuring 16 startups including Quaise Energy, Apollo Atomics, and Hera Materials. Students who arrived early also had a chance to participate in pre-conference tours of local facilities like Greentown Labs and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center Wind Turbine Testing Center.
Jessica Wingert (MBA’14), Duke’s Program Lead for ClimateCAP, summarized the driving force behind the Summit in her closing remarks: “In today’s market, MBA graduates across every role and every industry need to understand climate as a defining force shaping the global economy. Those who do will be better equipped to navigate risk, identify opportunities, and lead in a business environment that is being reshaped in real time.”
Students report that the after-hours socializing with other MBA peers is not bad, either.
~