By Derry Wade

Newswise — Industry experts, scholars and MBA students from around the globe will convene 21–22 February at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business for ClimateCAP: The Global MBA Summit on Climate, Capital, & Business.

Drawing an audience of graduate business students from 18 schools, this annual event will feature leading investors and executives who will discuss the latest approaches that companies are taking to reduce climate impact, seize competitive advantage, mitigate risk and navigate a dynamic, climate-shaped business environment.

Climate change represents one of the most pressing issues for business and society. Moody’s estimates that the global economic damage caused by climate change will be $69 trillion by 2100, even if efforts are successful to hold planetary warming to 2° C. Yet, climate change also offers a multitrillion dollar business opportunity for forward-thinking business leaders, creating massive new markets for clean technology and sustainable infrastructure solutions.

Through ClimateCAP, MBA students will gain a deeper understanding of how climate change is shaping industries and markets, where the biggest financial and operational risks exist, and what promising innovation and entrepreneurship opportunities are emerging. Darden faculty, consistently ranked among the world’s best, will have a leading role in the summit, including Professors Mike LenoxEd FreemanElena LoutskinaPedro MatosMorela Hernandez and June West.

This year’s summit has been organized by Darden’s Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which supports the School’s Business Innovation and Climate Change Initiative. This multiyear initiative has resulted in a series of “Path to 2060” reports, briefings and podcasts exploring the decarbonization potential across critical industry sectors, including agriculture, industry, energy and transportation.

ClimateCAP is generously sponsored this year by Carrier, Dominion Energy and Apex Clean Energy. Through their support, Darden is proud to provide a vital platform for business leaders to educate and prepare MBA students for this important global challenge.

More than 40 speakers will set the stage for subsequent in-depth panel discussions on product innovation and supply chains, incumbent firm strategies, communicating climate progress, policies and partnerships, and intrapreneurial action. Keynote speakers will include:

  • Scott Price (MBA/MA ’90), chief strategy and transformation officer, UPS
  • Wendy Srnic, Ph.D., leader of integrated field science, Corteva Agriscience
  • Mark Kaye, CFO, Moody’s
  • Bruno Sarda, president, CDP North America
  • Matt Arnold, managing director and global head of sustainable finance, JPMorgan Chase

Panels will also feature executives and representatives from companies such as Walmart, Fannie Mae, Mars, AB InBev, Intel, Coca-Cola and Ogilvy, among others. See the complete list of speakers at https://www.climatecapsummit.org/2020-speakers

ClimateCAP was created in 2018 by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. The summit is facilitated in partnership with business schools at UVA, Penn, Harvard, Duke, Stanford, Yale, MIT, University of London, Michigan, Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia, UNC–Chapel Hill, NYU, Georgia Tech, Northwestern, Texas–Austin and Georgetown.

For additional information, visit the ClimateCAP summit website. Current MBA students interested in attending can also register on the conference website.

About the University of Virginia Darden School of Business

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business delivers the world’s best business education experience to prepare entrepreneurial, global and responsible leaders through its MBA, Ph.D., MSBA and Executive Education programs. Darden’s top-ranked faculty is renowned for teaching excellence and advances practical business knowledge through research. Darden was established in 1955 at the University of Virginia, a top public university founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Journal Link: ClimateCAP: The Global MBA Summit on Climate, Capital, & Business, 21–22 February