The pledge that is getting future business leaders to commit to climate action

livemint.com:

At one of the world’s oldest universities, two M.B.A. candidates are trying to do something that has never been done before—get future business leaders to make a careerlong commitment to combat climate change. Collin Janich and Peter Golding, students at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, are creating a pledge for M.B.A.

candidates at the world’s top business schools to commit to championing sustainable initiatives and fighting for a net-zero future for the rest of their careers. “Nothing exists challenging future business leaders," Janich said. “We’re in a position to impact change so this is a call to action to transform business leadership and put climate change into business leadership." The duo, who met on the first day of their program in September, launched the Climate Legacy Commitment, or CLC, last month.

It was founded on the idea that M.B.A. students hold a level of power when it comes to effecting change in future business practices, and that after graduating they will have more control when it comes to enacting day-to-day business decisions. So, if climate awareness is integrated, then operations as a whole can become more sustainable, they say.

“A core tenet for us is that in every decision we want sustainability principles to be integrated. Something to carry forward as a philosophy for every decision no matter how big or small," Golding said. So far, the pair have signed on close to 300 candidates from the top seven business schools in the U.S., including Columbia Business School, Harvard Business School and MIT, as well as eight schools in Europe, such as the University of Oxford’s Saïd and HEC Paris.