COP26

Sustainability: 7 articles to inspire business leaders

Evie Burrows-Taylor — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 09:21:33 +0000

Sustainability: 7 articles to inspire business leaders

Evie Burrows-Taylor Fri, 17/02/2023 - 09:21

20 February 2023

Sustainability is a core area of research at Imperial Business School, with academics focusing on themes including climate, energy and sustainable business models. Here, we take a look at some of our most popular sustainability-themed articles

1. What is climate risk?

The financial implications of climate risk are increasingly discussed. In this article, Imperial Business School researcher Bob Buhr explains how he is helping investors, lenders and regulators address the financial implications of climate change.

2. Phasing out coal would save the world $78 trillion

The most common concern voiced with phasing out coal is that it would be too costly. But Imperial Business School researchers have found the move would save 1.2 per cent of current world GDP every year until the end of the century.

3. Why renewable energy outperforms fossil fuels

Analysis by Imperial’s Centre for Climate Finance & Investment shows how renewable energy has benefitted from technological improvements, policy support and lower financing costs.

4. 6 ways to reduce the environmental impact of your business

It is now widely accepted that climate change exists – and that there are ways we can help to stop the worst of its effects. Here, Imperial Business School researcher Mili Fomicov reveals six ways you and your business can help in the fight against climate change.

5. Why tackling climate change requires nothing less than a business revolution

Climate change is arguably the biggest crisis to face humanity in our history. But effecting a true green recovery will require changes that are even more profound, and which involve a fundamental reassessment of how businesses operate.

6. Banks are already considering climate change in their lending decisions

New research shows larger banks are lending less to small farms affected by abnormally high temperatures, with potentially huge repercussions for a large portion of the world’s population.

7. Agribusiness is not ready for the sudden shocks of climate change

Climate change models suggest temperatures will gradually rise, but the agriculture sector is not prepared for the acute risk of extreme weather events.

Centre for Climate Finance and Investment

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2022 in business: 10 of the top IB Knowledge articles of the year

Evie Burrows-Taylor — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 09:33:12 +0000

2022 in business: 10 of the top IB Knowledge articles of the year

Evie Burrows-Taylor Thu, 22/12/2022 - 09:33

22 December 2022

We take a look at some of this year's most-read IB Knowledge articles

Over the past year, Imperial Business School academics have written about subjects as varied as climate change, AI and digital transformation, healthcare, and the challenges of scaling up a business. From practical tips for entrepreneurs and business owners to cutting-edge research, they've covered a lot of ground.

Here's a selection of some of our most popular articles of 2022.

1. What African tech startups can teach us about digital innovation

During the last decade, the African continent has pushed the frontiers of digital innovation. As the African tech startup landscape undergoes radical change, we take a look at what is helping certain businesses thrive in this new environment.

2. 9 digital transformation mistakes all organisations make – and how to avoid them

When it comes to digital transformation, we tend to focus on the success stories but 87 per cent of digital transformations fail to meet expectations. In this article, three experts reveal how you can avoid some of the most common digital transformation mistakes.

3. Could engaging in corporate social impact work damage your career?

These days many people are looking for more from their professional roles than the duties listed in their job description, and corporations are increasingly offering employees the chance to engage in social impact work. But is doing social good also good for your career?

4. Ukraine: what armed conflict means for climate change

The question of the impact of climate change on geopolitical risk has been circulating in research circles for a while. But, until now, few have turned the question around and asked: “How do armed conflicts affect the fight against climate change?”

5. 3 AI trends to look out for in 2022

Artificial intelligence looks set to transform every sector of the global economy. Here, we look at some of the most interesting AI trends for business, including creative AI, the metaverse and cybersecurity.

6. What is climate risk?

The financial implications of climate risk are increasingly discussed. In this article, an Imperial Business School researcher explains how he is helping investors, lenders and regulators address the financial implications of climate change.

7. 6 ways to reduce the environmental impact of your business

It is now widely accepted that climate change exists – and that there are ways we can help to stop the worst of its effects. Here, an Imperial Business School researcher reveals six ways you and your business can help in the fight against climate change.

8. The pandemic divide: how COVID-19 has increased health inequalities

The pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities, hitting people on lower incomes and those from ethnic minority backgrounds hardest. But why did these groups experience the most disruption to hospital care from cancelled and delayed hospital appointments?

9. Phasing out coal would save the world $78 trillion

10. How to scale up in an emerging market

Launching a business is certainly a challenge, but sustaining it and scaling up is something else entirely. Luckily, a new form of entrepreneurial support is here to help.

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Phasing out coal would save the world $78 trillion

Patrick Bolton — Wed, 10 Aug 2022 12:35:01 +0000

Phasing out coal would save the world $78 trillion

Patrick Bolton Wed, 10/08/2022 - 12:35

10 August 2022

Imperial Business School researchers find the move would save 1.2 per cent of current world GDP every year until the end of the century

The heatwave that hit India and Pakistan earlier this year put “unprecedented pressure on power demand in India and Pakistan, where people... had to endure hours of cuts amid the crippling heat. On Friday [29 April], peak demand in India touched an all-time high of 207,111 MW,” according to official figures reported by The Guardian.

It is a tragic irony that India’s and Pakistan’s immediate response to this period of extreme heat has been to expand electricity production from coal-fired power plants, which can only worsen the intensity of future heat waves.

How can we stop this infernal cycle of increased energy demand leading to more carbon emissions and a hotter planet? As hard as international negotiators have tried to reach an agreement to phase out coal (and despite the promise of a historic breakthrough at the COP26 in Glasgow), so far, all attempts to get the world to phase out coal have failed. More recently, in response to the war Russia started against Ukraine, even the countries that had given up on coal have been revising their stance.

Phasing out coal is a source of economic and social gain

The most common concern voiced with phasing out coal is that it would be too costly. We are told replacing coal with renewable energy would be too expensive. We have undertaken a systematic quantitative analysis of this claim and obtained a baseline estimate that phasing out coal would bring the world a net total gain of £77.89 trillion. This represents around 1.2 per cent of current world GDP every year until 2100. We call this the “Great Carbon Arbitrage”.

The flaw with the argument that phasing out coal is too costly is it ignores the benefits from lower carbon emissions. These benefits are real economic gains in terms of lower expected physical damages from climate change, leaving aside all the attendant benefits to economic activity and innovation the investments in renewable energy will bring.

A global agreement to phase out coal was not reached at the COP26; the 197 parties of the convention could only agree on accelerating independent efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power. But what is needed is a far more ambitious agreement to phase out coal that links investments in renewable capacity to replace coal, along with financing of these investments, and compensation of coal companies for lost profits.

Conditional climate financing for phasing out coal and phasing in renewables

A broad policy implication from our analysis is that, if compensation were built into an agreement to phase out coal, and if the promised transfers for green investments to developing countries were to be made conditional on phasing out coal, the social gains from such an agreement would still be enormous, and the agreement would be far more likely to succeed.

To gain further insight into the size of transfers that may be required to pay for the replacement of coal with renewable energy, we break down where these costs would be incurred by region. We find the present value of total conditional climate financing needs to end coal globally are around $29 trillion, in line with renewable investment needs estimated in other studies.

This represents an annual global climate financing need between $0.5 trillion and $2 trillion, with a front-loaded investment this decade, which we estimate to be up to $3 trillion. Investment costs for the developed world to cover these global annual climate financing needs would be in the range of 0.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent of wealthy countries’ GDP.

A public-private partnership to end coal

This clearly represents a major challenge. But our analysis shows the social gain from these investments far exceeds the cost. Some prominent commentators have argued no government in the world has enough money to make such sizeable investments and have called on the private sector to steer the required funding to renewable energy investments.

Most of the funding for these investments can indeed come from the private sector, but a significant amount of public money to enhance them will still be needed. If, for every dollar of public funds, nine dollars of private financing could be tapped through blended finance arrangements, the overall strain on public finances would not be inordinate. And when one considers the large social benefits to be gained from phasing out coal, it doesn’t seem like an unreasonable cost at all.

This article draws on findings from "The Great Carbon Arbitrage" by Tobias Adrian (International Monetary Fund), Patrick Bolton (Imperial London) and Alissa M. Kleinnijenhuis (Stanford University).

Centre for Climate Finance and Investment

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Agribusiness is not ready for the sudden shocks of climate change

Climate change models suggest temperatures will gradually rise, but the agriculture sector is not prepared for the acute risk of extreme weather events

Phasing out coal could generate "social benefits" worth $78 trillion

Replacing coal with renewable energy would greatly benefit society, according to a new working paper from Imperial Business School.

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Finance sector must be a driving force for change if we are to reach COP26 targets: Mili Fomicov writes in Forbes

Evie Burrows-Taylor — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 09:42:34 +0000

Finance sector must be a driving force for change if we are to reach COP26 targets: Mili Fomicov writes in Forbes Evie Burrows-Taylor Tue, 21/12/2021 - 09:42

13 December 2021

Climate Change

Finance

COP26

COP26

Sustainability: 7 articles to inspire business leaders

Sustainability is a core area of research at Imperial Business School, with academics focusing on themes including climate, energy and sustainable business models. Here, we take a look at some of our most popular sustainability-themed articles

Monthly newsletter

2022 in business: 10 of the top IB Knowledge articles of the year

We take a look at some of this year's most-read IB Knowledge articles

1. What African tech startups can teach us about digital innovation

2. 9 digital transformation mistakes all organisations make – and how to avoid them

3. Could engaging in corporate social impact work damage your career?

4. Ukraine: what armed conflict means for climate change

5. 3 AI trends to look out for in 2022

6. What is climate risk?

7. 6 ways to reduce the environmental impact of your business

8. The pandemic divide: how COVID-19 has increased health inequalities

9. Phasing out coal would save the world $78 trillion

10. How to scale up in an emerging market

Phasing out coal would save the world $78 trillion

Imperial Business School researchers find the move would save 1.2 per cent of current world GDP every year until the end of the century

Phasing out coal is a source of economic and social gain

Conditional climate financing for phasing out coal and phasing in renewables

A public-private partnership to end coal

Monthly newsletter

Finance sector must be a driving force for change if we are to reach COP26 targets: Mili Fomicov writes in Forbes

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