Tracking and measuring carbon emissions play important roles in the university’s efforts to decarbonize its supply chain.
Harvard University aims to be fossil-fuel neutral by 2026 and totally free of fossil fuels by 2050. As part of this goal, the university is trying to decarbonize its supply chain and considers replacing cement with a low-carbon substitute called Pozzotive®, made with post-consumer recycled glass.
ROBERT KAPLAN: Karthik and I published the article November 2021 in HBR. A couple of faculty at the university said, “This could be of interest to the university,” because Harvard is trying to decarbonize, and its own emissions are fairly small. Occasionally, one of us goes on a plane and that plane emits, so we get charged in effect for those emissions.
BRIAN KENNY: How do you measure greenhouse gas emissions? What are the approaches that Harvard’s using? BRIAN KENNY: The case describes E-liability accounting, and by no means am I familiar with accounting practices, generally speaking. Can you break that down for us in a way that maybe people like me can appreciate what E-liability accounting is?
BRIAN KENNY: Okay. Shirley, let me turn back to you for a second, because you mentioned that the manufacturing of cement produces about 8% of the global gas emissions around the world. So, what makes it so intense where it comes to producing a high carbon footprint? BRIAN KENNY: I would imagine that the concrete market itself, it’s part of a mature industry, it’s probably some very well-established players in it around the world. How do you even begin to penetrate a market like this with a product that has not really been proven or tested?
SHIRLEY LU: Exactly. Like Bob described, Harvard doesn’t use Pozzotive directly. Actually, there’s quite a long supply chain between Harvard and then, at the end, the construction material. So Harvard will have a general contractor. The general contractor will then find a contractor for the concrete that they’ll probably buy from, potentially, Boston Sand and Gravel.
ROBERT KAPLAN: Well, there’s a lot of issues on ESG. We’re just talking about E, and one particular E, which is greenhouse gases, and not water or other forms of pollution. But in general, when stakeholders, including investors, but also communities, want to hold corporations accountable for performance, they don’t just mean their own company’s performance, they actually mean their supply chain performance.
BRIAN KENNY: Do you think that Harvard’s willingness to consider this signals some broader change in the way that firms are thinking about other ways to reduce their carbon footprint? Or, is Harvard like an outlier? Because, for us, it’s such an important initiative overall.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
The Real Harvard Scandal: A Henry A. Kissinger Professorship of Statecraft and World OrderCarolyn Eisenberg is a professor of U.S. history and american foreign policy at Hofstra University. She is the author of the recently published Fire and Rain: Nixon, Kissinger, and the Wars in Southeast Asia.(Oxford University Press). She is a Co-Founder of Brooklyn for Peace.
Read more »
Harvard Docs Train Ukrainian Counterparts 2 Years Into WarBoston program aimed to mentor specialists whose medical education was forged in the remnants of the old Soviet system.
Read more »
Harvard study follows nonviolent Bexar County inmates who were given free bailHarvard researchers are studying the impact that pretrial incarceration has on people charged with nonviolent crimes in Bexar County.
Read more »
Judge dismisses class action lawsuit against Harvard Med over stolen remains caseA Massachusetts judge has dismissed the class action lawsuit filed against Harvard Medical School, in connection with the case of stolen human remains from the
Read more »
Harvard Crimson Schedule, Live Scores & ResultsStay Up-To-Date With The Latest Harvard Crimson Schedule, Live Scores, And Results For The 2023-2024 NCAAB Season!
Read more »
Harvard Crimson vs Cornell Big Red Line MovementCollege Basketball line and odds movement for Harvard Crimson vs Cornell Big Red on Feb 16, 2024.
Read more »