Climate change guest speaker ideas

This week Avinash Persaud gave a guest lecture to my class at the Harvard Kennedy School. Avinash has always been an inspiration to me - he's a global leader in climate finance, the architect of the #BridgetownInitiative and a policy entrepreneur designing new ways to finance the energy transition. Hosting Avinash has been one of the highlights of teaching this semester, and he was fittingly mobbed by admirers after the session! A few key points from our discussion: 🌍 The Global South needs $2.4 trillion a year in new climate finance - more than half must be private cross-border investment. This requires lowering the cost of capital, or projects will not be able to raise the money. 💵 An effective avenue to lower the cost of capital is by mitigating foreign exchange risk - the credit risk of climate projects in the Global South is not much greater than advanced economies, but currency depreciation makes local projects uninvestable as inflation devalues project revenues in USD terms. 🧠 Policy entrepreneurship can help! An FX guarantee mechanism could provide a hedge against currency devaluation, or creating inflation-adjusted PPAs would let investors face the real inflation rate, not the nominal one.

Professor John Nolon was recently featured on Booked on Planning, a podcast cohosted by Stephanie Rouse and Jennifer Hiatt that explores the books and ideas shaping contemporary planning practice through conversations with their authors. In the episode, Professor Nolon discusses his book Choosing to Succeed: Land Use Law & Climate Control and introduces the “land use wedge”, a framework demonstrating how local governments can influence up to 75% of CO₂ emissions through decisions related to buildings, transportation, sequestration, distributed energy, and renewables. The conversation highlights why land use planning remains central to climate action and examines practical, court-tested tools for advancing compact, walkable, and climate-resilient communities. The episode also features real-world case studies and a discussion of the Climate Resilient Development Workshop Series and framework, a student-led initiative developed at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University under Professor Nolon, designed to help planners, attorneys, and local officials move from plans to ordinances to measurable impact. 🎧 Listen to the episode here: https://bit.ly/3L4mJM7 #PaceEnviroLaw #LandUseLaw #ClimateResilience #LocalClimateAction #UrbanPlanning #EnvironmentalLaw #ClimatePolicy #SustainableCommunities

Sustainability Voices to Follow in 2025 🌍 Sharing is caring, and in the realm of sustainability, accessing the right voices can profoundly shape our understanding and actions. This list represents a curated selection of professionals whose work I consider exceptionally insightful and beneficial for anyone looking to deepen their knowledge of sustainable practices in various sectors. David Carlin: Climate and Sustainability Leader, Advisor, and Expert; Founder, D.A. Carlin and Company Vojtech Vosecky: LinkedIn Top Green Voice | The Circular Economist | Helping you make less more! Harald Friedl: Circular economist | Keynote Speaker | Masterclass Coach Roberta Boscolo: Climate & Energy Leader at WMO | Climate Risks & Policy Expert | Advisory Board Member | TEDx Speaker | GTEX IMPACT Leader Elena Doms: CEO at #EARTH, nature tech for land regeneration | Keynote Speaker on Bold Ideas & Nature-Based Innovations Katharine Hayhoe: Climate Scientist | Distinguished Professor, Texas Tech | Chief Scientist, The Nature Conservancy | Author, SAVING US | LinkedIn Top Voice Alessandro Blasi: LinkedIn Top Voice | 115,000+ | Energy - Economy - Sustainability - Climate | Works at IEA, the global leading energy authority Kate Brandt: Google's Chief Sustainability Officer and leads sustainability across Google's operations, products, and supply chains worldwide Sophia Kianni: Founder of Phi | Founder of Climate Cardinals | Stanford | Forbes 30 under 30 | Youngest UN Advisor Adam Elman: Sustainability Director at Google | Previously leading sustainability at Amazon, M&S (Plan A), and Klockner Pentaplast Dan Sherrard-Smith: CEO | Dragons' Den best ever deal | Founder -> impact | Creates tools for how to leverage LinkedIn to grow quality leads, income & impact Oliver Bolton: CEO at Earthly | Optimistic Keynote Speaker | Host of Wilding Earth | On a mission to Restore >1% of the Planet by 2030 This list is built on the personal relevance of the content creation from these individuals; however, I recognize that many names are missing here, each equally deserving of mention for their contributions to sustainability. #sustainability #sustainable #business #esg #climatechange #education

A student recently commented to me that the news cycle feels dominated with climate pessimism. But I disagreed. As I thought more about it, I realized that it is more important than ever to remain resilient and to fill our own news cycle with climate optimism. Everyday I try to spend time honoring the accomplishments and contributions of individuals actively driving sustainability initiatives for communities worldwide. I thought I would add some climate optimism to your feed today! ⭐ Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Founder of Urban Ocean Lab, is a marine biologist and policy expert working at the intersection of conservation and social justice. ⭐ Vanessa Nakate, a climate justice activist from Uganda, is committed to amplifying the voices of African activists and raising awareness about the impact of climate change on the continent. ⭐ Catherine Coleman Flowers, a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, is a leading environmental justice advocate and author, working to address sanitation and water issues in marginalized communities. ⭐ Dr. Dorceta E Taylor, an environmental sociologist, is a leading scholar on environmental justice, sustainability, and diversity in the environmental movement.    These leaders exemplify the importance of cultivating a global workforce with green skills and the powerful role that women play in this field. From their research, speeches, podcasts, articles, and so much more, their work has unlocked insights that are changing the world.     #SustainabilityLeaders #Inspiration

This summer, I particiapted in the “Conversation with Leaders in Sustainability” series through Stanford’s Ecopreneurship Program. The program hosts guest speakers every session with a small circle of participants who are also pursuing their climate startups, research, and initiatives. Speakers shared their journey of starting their initiatives, businesses and impact funds, which were totally mindblowing. Cases and protagonists are: 1. Ocean 14 Capital— Max Gottschalk: Launching ocean-focused impact fund by applying hedge fund approach to a new asset class 2. Activate — Nicole Systrom (currently at Galvanize Climate Solutions): Incubating deeptech ideas to overcome the valley of death in climate R&D 3. DBL Partners — Nancy Pfund: Starting a double bottom line venture fund outside the traditional VC investing 4. Tideline— Ben Thornley: Responding to the emerging needs of asset managers to upscale impact investing / sustainability monitoring and mesurement 5. Ceres — Mindy Lubber: Mainstreaming key ideas about sustainability and owning the narrative 6. Capricorn Investment Group — Eric Techel: Backing a new impact investment strategy in Environmental Litigation 7. TPG NEXT — Pamela Pavkov: Building a new investment program for emerging fund managers to enhance diversity and inclusion in the sector 8. Generation Investment Management — Colin Le Duc: Starting a climate fund in 2004 and evolving the new concept of VC + Project co-mingled fund (Just Climate) 9. AXA Investment Managers — Matt Christensen (Currently at Allianz): Starting and leading impact investing in a traditional (and massive) asset manager 10. Andreessen Horowitz — Scott Kupor: Looking at impact investing and climate finance from the traditional venture capital world As the cases show, it was a unique opportunity to hear firsthand from pioneers who blazed trails in sustainability and impact investing. They shared their initial moments of diving into uncharted territories, launching climate funds after leaving high-profile roles, and promoting the novel concept of multiple bottom lines. As I research the nexus of water and agriculture challenges, their stories became invaluable source of inspiration for me. They reinforced the importance of courage, optimism, and authenticity in addressing complex system challenges, especially at the earliest stage when even protagonists didn’t quite know the full potentials of their solutions. A huge thank you to the incredible speakers who generously travelled to Stanford campus to share their stories and Kunal S. Doshi, who led the entire series. And a big shout out to the Ecopreneurship team (Keegan Cooke, Adelaide Renee Coman, and Sophia Malaekeh)and my outstanding peers for this enriching experience! Stanford University Graduate School of Business Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability I wrote a reflection blog: https://lnkd.in/g3JBw5kJ

One of the best things about teaching at Bard College is bringing in expert practitioners to guest lecture, providing MBA students with invaluable real-world perspectives and practical insights. This year, I had the privilege of hosting some truly inspiring guest speakers who generously shared their time, expertise, and stories to enrich our learning experience. A heartfelt thank you to these incredible professionals for their contributions! If you’re interested in learning more about these topics, I highly recommend connecting with them: • Yiyi Huang, PhD - on using data science in climate risk modeling as a quantitative researcher Bloomberg and former research scientist at NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration • Melanie Rua, MBA - former student and Bard alum now leading ESG intelligence on nature and biodiversity risk at Bloomberg • Che Flowers - on data architecture and operations, and his experience as technical solutions architect at EY  • Grady Young MPSA☁ - on net zero cloud solutions and the ESG policy landscape from his experience as ESG technology consultant at Salesforce • Eugénie Schwob - on using data science and analysis to inform sustainability risk management at BlackRock • Reid J. Steadman - on integrating data governance into values-based indexing at Bountiful Financial • Aurora Archer - on how The Opt-In™ utilizes a mindset change metric for pursuing cultural competency in organizations Learning from these experts has been a powerful reminder of the diverse ways we can tackle pressing challenges in sustainability and technology. The opportunity to learn from one another is invaluable, and I’m excited to see the innovative solutions these professionals will continue to pursue and achieve.