Top-quality research and teaching are essential to understand growing inequalities which hinder the urgently needed ecological transition, to interrogate the ESG factors, and to leverage theory and the most ambitious empirical methods. To do so, HEC scholars work with public and private regulators, peers from leading European academic institutions, CEOs and administrators to develop, test, and evaluate novel strategies, policies and practices designed to tackle inequalities in their field. In this Knowledge@HEC issue, we share academic knowledge and highlight professional experiences on those topics. Find the pdf of that issue here.
Because of Europe’s strong social welfare tradition, the social dimension of business has an additional legitimacy and urgency here. Top-quality research and teaching have an essential role to play in understanding growing inequalities which hinder the urgently needed ecological transition, in interrogating the environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, their interplay and their promise and limitations, in leveraging theory and the most ambitious empirical methods. As a leading business school and research center in France and Europe, HEC Paris’ faculty has a responsibility in providing science-based evidence and practical tools to reinvent the business of tomorrow.
Global warming is one of the most pressing issues of the 21st century. In order to meet this unprecedented challenge, States and sub-state entities have decided to use an original regulatory instrument: a trading system wherein pollution rights can be exchanged (i.e. a ‘carbon market’). HEC Paris Professor Van Waeyenberge explains why the collaboration between countries has not yet led to satisfying results, and what can be done about it. Given the urgency of the situation, one cannot possibly reconceive or reimagine the current system from scratch, but one can improve it by encouraging complementary measures through the coordination of the various existing initiatives. This coordination could take place via the connections and interlinkages between the different carbon markets initiatives and through the use of new technologies such as the blockchain to implement it.
By Arnaud Van Waeyenberge
