How the climate crisis is changing professionals’ priorities

In the fight against climate change, every fraction of a degree of warming averted is a tiny triumph. Some see victory in the everyday—eating less meat, for instance, or driving an electric car. Some devote their time and energy to political campaigning. Yet others see their professional lives as the place to make the biggest difference. They seek a new job built on the principle of fighting climate change, or at least to increase their focus on climate issues in their current role. In my experience, that is often what motivates them to join Economist Education’s course on climate change in business, which I lead.

Deciding to shift professional priorities is the easy part. Far harder is developing the knowledge, finding the resources and building the connections to make a measurable impact on your firm’s carbon emissions. Climate change is a vast subject with countless sub-disciplines, all of which rely on the contributions of talented people. But few corporate executives are likely to retrain as atmospheric scientists or electrical engineers. To act on climate change, they need to find a way to build climate strategy into their existing careers.

Economist Education’s course on climate change provides practical insights into the climate crisis and wider debates over “sustainability", explaining the impacts for business. It describes what’s at stake for companies if they fail to act on global warming, and demystifies buzzwords like “net zero”, “circularity” and the “ESG” (environmental, social and governance) approach to investing. It also offers concrete strategies and tools for executives looking to tackle climate-change risks at their organisations.

One vital tool is carbon accounting, or understanding the extent of your organisation’s greenhouse-gas emissions. Only then can the process of reduction begin. Drawing on the work of authorities such as Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the Science Based Targets initiative, the course lays out a step-by-step path to decarbonisation. Along the way it incorporates insights from speakers at corporate giants such as BMW, a carmaker, and Franklin Templeton, an asset-management firm—not to mention The Economist’s climate journalists. How can companies incentivise managers to meet sustainability targets? What is “greenwashing”—and how can executives avoid being accused of it? The course equips learners with the answers. 

It also provides a platform for dialogue among course participants. In my experience as head tutor, they find learning from their peers, who bring diverse perspectives on climate change and business, one of the most rewarding aspects of the course. This makes it as much a forum for exchange as for receiving information. When the news on climate change seems depressingly negative, a community can help sustain the will to act. And as the course lays out, the costs of inaction are immense.