Climate change is making headlines daily—through intense heat waves, catastrophic wildfires, stronger hurricanes, prolonged droughts, and rising sea levels. Societies worldwide have felt its impact, and businesses must adapt. Harvard Business School Online is now offering a course to help you and your organization navigate the unprecedented challenges associated with climate change.
Business and Climate Change is an online certificate course that helps business professionals and managers understand the science, economic impact, and policy implications of climate change. You’ll explore how companies in various industries are adapting to and preparing for climate change and learn how to identify and communicate emerging opportunities and risks.
“Climate change is impacting societies and businesses worldwide and professionals often grapple with how to manage these challenges,” says HBS Online Senior Managing Director Simeen Mohsen. “We created this course that blends business, science, economics, and public policy to help individuals and organizations think critically and creatively about how to respond to and prepare for climate change’s effects on their industry and role.”
The course is taught by two notable and uniquely qualified Harvard Business School professors: Forest Reinhardt, the John D. Black Professor of Business Administration, and Michael Toffel, the Senator John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management.
Professor Reinhardt, who teaches HBS Online’s course called Global Business, wrote the first Harvard Business School case on climate change more than 30 years ago. He has since published numerous articles, papers, and cases analyzing environmental and natural resource management problems. Professor Toffel’s research examines how companies address climate change in their operations and supply chains. He's the co-founder and host of the School’s Climate Rising podcast, serves as faculty chair of the HBS Business and Environment Initiative, and co-leads the Climate and Sustainability Impact Lab of Harvard’s Digital, Data, and Design Institute.
In Business and Climate Change, you’ll learn from various Harvard faculty and business leaders from several industries, including energy, real estate, agriculture, health care, and transportation. These experts will share real climate change scenarios they’ve faced. As their stories unfold, you’ll apply course concepts to understand, analyze, develop, and communicate business decisions you can apply to your industry or role.
Enrollment will be accepted until Monday, March 18, 2024, and the first offering of this five-week course will begin on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. To learn more about this course and enroll, visit our Business and Climate Change page.