“What Every MBA Needs to Know” – Announcing our new content platform

Outside the classroom, business is happening in a complicated world.  Social and environmental issues are bombarding businesses with new risks, costs, and challenges—as well as new investment and innovation opportunities.  What do today’s MBA students need to know to get up to speed?  Our new thought leadership platform—MBA EDGE—features a series of briefing papers specifically […]

The Blue Economy: What every MBA needs to know

New briefing paper highlights the business opportunities inherent in the Blue Economy In coming decades, oceans will play an important role in addressing the world’s biggest challenges, including food security, climate change, and economic development. Together, ocean-related industries—including shipping, ports, fishing, energy, tourism, marine biotechnology, and related industries—contribute over $2.5 trillion to the global economy […]

Water & business: What every MBA needs to know

New briefing paper highlights the business impacts of water Water will become an ever-more important issue for businesses in coming decades.  Water-related risks for businesses are increasing—including financial, reputational, and operational risks.  As water stresses increase (demand for water is expected to exceed supply by as much as 40% by 2030), businesses may be held […]

The next phase of industrialization will happen in our oceans

oceans shipping photo

By Dan Vermeer, Associate Professor of the Practice and Executive Director, EDGE Oceans cover more than 70% of the planet’s surface, hold almost 95% of the world’s biodiversity, and produce over two-thirds of our oxygen.  However, it is less well-known that ocean-related industries are a major part of the global economy; in fact, the ocean […]

Sustainability on the Seas: Karina Spiegel (MEM/MBA ‘12) on creating a sustainable future for Carnival

Karina Hilton Spiegel

Karina Hilton Spiegel graduated in 2012 from Duke with a dual degree MBA (with a focus in Strategy and Energy & Environment) and Master’s of Environmental Management (with a focus in Environmental Economics & Policy). Growing up, Karina has always been passionate about making a difference in the environment. After graduation, she began working as […]

Duke to host U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development meeting

USBCSD meeting

Duke University’s Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment will host the Winter meeting of the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development (USBCSD) on Jan. 11-12, 2017.  Focused on the theme of “Making Markets, Moving Markets,” the meeting will bring together industry professionals and academics to explore the ways business can use market mechanisms […]

Together now: Good governance and better business discussed at the World Ocean Summit

Sarah Hoyt

by Sarah Hoyt (MEM/MBA ’16) Leaders in business, government, academia and nonprofit convened in San Francisco at The Economist’s World Ocean Summit last week to address the role of ocean health in a thriving global economy. I was fortunate to attend, representing Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Fuqua School of Business. Over […]

Why companies should value water

stream

by Dan Vermeer, Executive Director of EDGE If water is so valuable, then why is it so cheap? Economists have long been fascinated by the water paradox – clean, abundant water keeps us healthy, provides our food, sustains our ecosystems, and keeps our businesses operating.  Yet we have routinely undervalued water, and have been willing […]

Connecting the dots on agriculture, water, and energy

by Dan Vermeer, executive director, EDGE In Thomas Homer-Dixon’s book The Ingenuity Gap, he describes a growing chasm between the world’s knotty problems and its lagging ability to develop robust and integrated solutions.  An “ingenuity gap” emerges when a society’s ability to solve problems is outpaced by the scale, complexity, speed of change, and unpredictability […]