Governing Climate Action: Massachusetts’ Strategy for Decarbonization and Resilience

Governing Climate Action: Massachusetts’ Strategy for Decarbonization and Resilience

Author: Harvard Business School Business & Environment Initiative October 29, 2025 Duration: 44:53
Jonathan Schrag, Deputy Climate Chief for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, joins Climate Rising to discuss how the state is tackling emissions, electrifying infrastructure, and responding to a shifting federal policy landscape. Jonathan shares how Massachusetts’ newly created Climate Office coordinates across agencies—from housing to public health to corrections—to embed climate action into all corners of state government. He discusses the state’s emissions targets, the role of local municipalities in building codes and EV infrastructure, and the growing headwinds from federal rollbacks, tariffs, and canceled clean energy grants. He also reflects on market uncertainty, offshore wind, geothermal pilots, and the promise of small modular nuclear reactors.

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: 50

Climate Rising
Podcast Episodes
McKinsey on Climate Adaptation: The Global Resilience Gap [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:09
Climate adaptation is emerging as one of the most critical—and least understood—challenges in the climate transition. Mekala Krishnan, Partner at the McKinsey Global Institute, joins Climate Rising to discuss McKinsey’s…
Rain: Using Autonomous Aircraft to Stop Wildfires Before They Start [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:51
Wildfires are becoming larger, more destructive, and more expensive every year. But what if the most effective intervention happens not after a fire grows, but within the first few minutes after ignition? Max Brodie, co-…
Using AI to Unlock Geothermal Energy at Scale: Zanskar [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:33
Geothermal energy has long been seen as a promising, but challenging, clean energy resource. Unlike wind or solar, geothermal requires finding heat hidden deep underground, often with little surface indication of where t…
David Potere at BCG X: Using AI & Satellites in Climate Solutions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:26
AI and geospatial technologies are transforming how industries understand and respond to climate challenges. David Potere, Managing Director and Partner at BCG X, joins Climate Rising to describe how sensing, decision-ma…