Climate change is the most important megatrend putting pressure on business leaders worldwide, according to PwC’s 27th Annual Global CEO Survey. Yet the report also shows that, aside from energy-efficiency efforts, most companies don’t have the comprehensive strategies required to manage climate risks and benefit from opportunities that arise from climate-friendly reinvention. 

Typically, this is where professional service/management consulting firms add tremendous value to organizations by providing expert guidance to inform strategy and implementation. However, the scale of acceleration and complexity of climate-related business disruption challenges even the fast-paced consulting industry and firms that have developed deep internal knowledge and leadership around sustainability issues.  This is why, in the last couple of years, we have seen a significant increase in organizations coming to MIT Sloan School of Management for custom executive education programs focused on understanding and upskilling on sustainability issues–including some of the world’s leading management consultants like Accenture, Bain & Company, Russell Reynolds Associates, and others. 

Research, rigor, and relationships  

Sustainability is a vast, interconnected and overarching issue that touches science, policy, and business acumen. No one is an expert in all of these areas in equal measure. Still, universities are uniquely positioned to offer a wide range of insights and frameworks rooted in rigorous research and to create a generative and supportive space for professionals to learn from faculty and importantly, from one another. University-based executive education like MIT Sloan offers companies access to leading experts and cutting-edge research presented through the lens of business strategy and leadership. 

At MIT Sloan, faculty do a remarkable job at level setting in a way that makes everybody feel comfortable and willing to learn, exchange, and explore. Participants in executive education programs learn from the brightest minds in climate science, material sciences, agriculture and urban planning, economics and sociology, systems thinking, and more. The breadth and depth of expertise available within universities make it possible for organizations to design programs that address specific business challenges and to learn from other industries and fields. 

For consulting firms, MIT’s motto of Mens et Manus–Mind and Hand–is especially relevant, as the knowledge they gain in our classrooms needs to be immediately applicable in the guidance they provide for their clients. In fact, some organizations bring their own clients to our programs to learn together, further strengthening their relationships and ability to drive change. Not every organization has a Chief Sustainability Officer, and every company manages its sustainability portfolio and activities differently. But everybody who comes to our programs is actively engaged in these issues and is senior enough in the organization to make a meaningful impact. 

Scale of impact 

Working with management consultant organizations offers our faculty a broader reach for their research insights among business leaders in positions of great influence over the sustainability strategy of their companies. To name just a few examples: 

• More than 300 client-facing senior team leaders participated in the Accenture Green Cloud Advisors program, representing a wide range of industries including banking, insurance, communications and media, life sciences, aerospace and defense, technology, utilities, automotive, energy, consumer goods, and travel. “Green Cloud” refers to sustainable cloud solutions that have the potential to reduce the environmental impact of data storage and at the same time create new business transformation opportunities. 
• The MIT Bain Sustainability in Action program delivered an online learning experience focused on climate and sustainability topics via asynchronous modules in 60 live online sessions to overlapping cohorts amounting to nearly 1,200 participants across Bain’s offices. The sessions weren’t just about independent learning; they included interactive simulations that enabled consultants to apply theoretical frameworks to real-world sustainability challenges, viewing them from various stakeholder perspectives.
• Russell Reynolds Associates collaborates with MIT Sloan on a sustainability leadership program tailored to the needs of their client base. The firm chose MIT Sloan as its education partner specifically because of the work of the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, a research center committed to advancing systems change for an equitable and sustainable world by using systems thinking, system dynamics, and modeling of complex human + environment interactions. 

The business management consultancy Oliver Wyman sent forty participants over the last few years to attend Strategies for Sustainable Business, an MIT Sloan Executive Education open enrollment course, as part of the firm’s internal Climate Academy, a learning and training curriculum designed to give all consulting staff the tools they need to execute high-impact strategies for clients through the climate transition.

Amplifier effect 

The PwC’s 27th Annual Global CEO Survey points out that “many CEOs report having no plans for a range of other climate actions.” Some may not look beyond the activities of their own company without considering its supply-chain interdependencies. Others may only factor climate risks into their insurance in relation to recent extreme weather events but without long-term planning for worsening planetary conditions. Whatever the reasons may be, “fewer than half of all respondents have incorporated climate risk into financial planning—and nearly one-third have no plans to do so,” according to the survey. 

This is why management consultants play such an important role–these experts can have a tremendous effect in helping their clients see and understand the risks of climate inaction. Equipped with the knowledge, tools, and frameworks based on rigorous academic research, they can advise their clients on sound sustainability strategies to help build a better, more resilient future for all. 

Michael Kavanagh is a Director at MIT Sloan Executive Education. One of his areas of focus is designing and delivering custom executive education programs for organizations that leverage interest and knowledge in sustainability issues for strategic advantage.