Bring science into business schools to train the leaders of tomorrow
The next generation of managers must be fit for a net-zero, nature-positive economy.
Professor of Sustainable Finance, Matthew Agarwala, writes this week in Nature about how some people fail to recognise the essential roles of nature in underpinning businesses and how business schools can be part of the solution for a sustainable future.
Nature loss, volatile energy prices and air pollution all undermine productivity. Fail to address such issues and the resulting spiral will be vicious. Natural capital provides environmental goods and services — raw materials, climate stability and flood protection. Depleting such assets means losing the economic benefits, too.
Matthew explains that business schools must do more to be part of the solution. Climate and biodiversity are increasingly central to business risk and strategy, supply-chain management, regulatory and disclosure requirements, brand management and customer engagement. Bridging the science–business divide — through research, teaching, outreach and engagement — can equip graduates with the skills to create a net-zero, nature-positive economy.
Business school’s should acknowledge that science is foundational to sustainability and that teaching and research must be integrated with ecological and planetary-systems sciences.
Read the full article in Nature:
