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We study commitments to reduce emissions by firms subject to the European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS), the world's largest cap-and-trade program. Commitments are associated with a drop in the number of carbon allowances surrendered, consistent with firms taking actions to reduce their emissions. However, firms subsequently increase their sales of allowances on the secondary market, transferring the right to pollute to others and potentially leaving aggregate emissions unchanged.
This study examines the spillover effect of environmental enforcement through private lending networks. Financial lending institutions face growing public and regulatory pressures to manage and reduce environmental risks relating to their lending activities and therefore are motivated to monitor corporate borrowers’ environmental practices.
Can investing in polluting industries be a tool for fostering sustainability? Yes, according to research by Kenan Institute Distinguished Fellow Jacquelyn Pless, and it may be more effective than divesting.
Pless, a Kenan Institute Distinguished Fellow, will discuss the degree to which divestment versus continued investment in polluting industries might help drive the transition to a cleaner economy.
Oct 5, 2022
How U.S. Nuclear Power Can Rise Again
The high cost of building plants and safety concerns are among the obstacles blocking U.S. nuclear power’s return to relevance as an energy source, but the opportunity is there and government action will play a part.
Nuclear power’s star has dimmed in recent years, diminished by the rise of solar, wind and natural gas as well as the 2011 disaster at Japan’s Fukushima plant. Now many nations, suddenly in need of a secure, clean energy source, have plans to reopen or extend the lives of their existing facilities.
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and his family will transfer ownership of the company – valued at roughly $3 billion – to two newly created environmental trusts. In this Kenan Commentary, we ask four questions to determine how Chouinard’s move fits into the framework of the institute’s annual theme, stakeholder capitalism, and whether a better comparison is the laudable but more common idea of an altruistic business owner.
Mark Little, executive director of the Kenan Institute-affiliated center CREATE, provided expert testimony in a process that resulted in a May 11 settlement agreement regarding contracting and hiring practices for Dominion Energy’s $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind renewable energy project.
The idea of the Federal Reserve using monetary policy to help mitigate climate risk has gained traction in some circles, but Director of Research Christian Lundblad writes in a new piece for Fortune that such a shift would come with its own set of risks. In addition, nothing the Fed might do would change the fact that Congress must lead any governmental response to climate change.
Mar 16, 2022
Can Entrepreneurs Save The Planet?
Society faces a series of major problems, such as climate change, which require transformative technological change as part of the solution. From our 2022 Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Conference, MIT Sloan School of Management Professor Jacquelyn Pless, Duke University Professor Emeritus Eric Toone and Kenan Institute Chief Economist Gerald Cohen explore the potential and limits of entrepreneurship in solving these problems.
With a recent report from the United Nations warning that climate change has already begun to cause irreversible damage, experts during the 2022 Kenan Institute Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Conference discussed the role innovation can – and should – be playing to combat these ill effects. This week’s insight explores the topic through Q&A with Dr. Eric Toone, executive managing director and technology lead at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, and Dr. Jacqueline Pless, the Fred Kayne (1960) Career Development Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan School of Management.
Tighter Regulatory Oversight of ESG Is Coming, and It’s a Good Thing
UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School Clinical Associate Professor of Finance Arzu Ozoguz discusses the SEC's anticipated new rules around sustainability.