Sustainability

Three Yale faculty on the causes and consequences of the Volkswagen emissions scandal.

Yale's Brad Gentry on the state of the climate change talks and what a recent Global Network survey of MBA students tells us about the change in the discourse.

When the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meets in Paris in December, business leaders will be part of the discussion for the first time.

In the Financial Times, Yale SOM’s David Bach writes that the Volkswagen emissions scandal could destroy an iconic German company and set back efforts to use technology to achieve environmental sustainability.

Organic food is booming. Even after a dip during the financial crisis, organics have continued to grow at an impressive clip worldwide. But organic food remains a small fraction of total food consumption. Will organics will ever be able to break into the mainstream? Yale Insights talks with Denis Ring ’84, founder of organic chocolate company Ocho Candy and creator of Whole Foods’ 365 organic store brand.

Tradeoffs are an inevitable part of doing business. And sustainability work in particular involves spending a great deal of time in the tug of war of competing priorities. Eric Spiegel, president and CEO of Siemens USA, discussed that company’s efforts to minimize tradeoffs.

With global population projected to rise to 9.6 billion by 2050, the pressure on natural systems that provide food, energy, water, and other resources necessary for human life is a major strategic challenge for business and society. China, with its large population and rapid economic development, is a big piece of the puzzle.

What obligations does a corporation have to society? The way that question is answered has evolved over time. So have the tools of those working to expand the role of corporate social responsibility and sustainability.

Over the last few decades, society has started to take on some of the environmental problems caused by industrialization. But sometimes solving one problem creates or aggravates another. Yale environmental chemist Paul Anastas argues that managers who take a systemic approach to sustainability are needed to create lasting solutions.

Modeling the economic consequences of climate change is difficult, uncertain work. In addition, any result is sure to be subjected to political attack. For decades, Yale's William Nordhaus has been developing models that can inform policy decisions.