A Biotech Solution to Palm Oil Deforestation

A Biotech Solution to Palm Oil Deforestation

Author: Harvard Business School Business & Environment Initiative July 3, 2024 Duration: 50:11
Today’s episode is the fifth in our series on decarbonizing the roots of value chains, where we’re looking deep into supply chains that serve many industries. Previously we talked about green concrete, green steel, regenerative agriculture, and lab-grown cotton.  Today we’re discussing palm oil – a widely used product that’s also associated with climate change due to some palm oil plantations arising from clearing and burning tropical forests, releasing carbon and destroying habitat and biodiversity. We talk with Shara Ticku, Co-founder and CEO of C16 Biosciences (and HBS alumna), which uses fermentation to produce a palm oil substitute. She describes how she and her partners built their start-up, including how they decided which products to develop, and which customers to pursue. She also shares advice for those interested in working at climate tech startup companies like hers. Climate Rising Host: Professor Mike Toffel, Faculty Chair, Business & Environment Initiative (LinkedIn) Guest: Shara Ticku, Co-founder and CEO, C16 Biosciences, and HBS alumna (LinkedIn)

Hosted by the Harvard Business School Business & Environment Initiative, Climate Rising moves beyond abstract warnings to examine the concrete realities facing companies today. Each episode features candid conversations with senior executives, policymakers, and HBS faculty, dissecting the operational and strategic choices that define a business's relationship to a warming planet. You’ll hear how leaders are navigating pressures from investors, customers, and regulators while making pivotal decisions on everything from supply chain logistics and new technology investments to long-term risk assessment and competitive positioning. This isn't a theoretical discussion; it's a ground-level look at the practical dilemmas and innovations shaping industries. The podcast delves into the nuanced trade-offs managers face, turning climate change from a looming threat into a series of actionable, if complex, business problems. For anyone curious about how the private sector is actually responding-the successes, the stalled efforts, and the evolving playbooks-this series offers an essential and sobering dialogue. Tune in for a direct line to the thinking that is quietly redrawing the corporate map.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Climate Rising
Podcast Episodes
Using AI to Optimize Energy Demand [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:24
In this episode, host Mike Toffel speaks with Pasi Miettinen, CEO of Sagewell, a company that uses AI to help utilities and their customers manage energy demand efficiently. Pasi explains how Sagewell’s technology helps…
Joel Makower @ Greenbiz [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:24
This is the fourth episode in our series on business and climate change in the media and entertainment industry, where we’re diving into the business of news and storytelling around climate change. Our prior episodes fea…
Sam Read, Sustainable Entertainment Alliance [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:13
This episode is the third in our series on how the media and entertainment industries are integrating climate change into their storytelling and TV show and film production processes. This episode features Sam Read, Exec…
Drawdown Fund: Scaling the Impact of Climate Technology [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:01
Erik Snyder, Founder and CEO of Drawdown Fund discusses financing climate tech startups through growth equity. He describes how he started the Drawdown Fund with Paul Hawken, editor of the New York Times best-selling boo…
Decarbonizing Fashionable Materials [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:31
Today’s episode focuses on some innovative alternative low-carbon natural materials being used in fashion. Bolt Threads CEO Dan Widmaier describes Mylo, a substitute for leather that’s derived from mushrooms, via the TED…