A promising $19 trillion has been put toward the energy transition. The bad news? We need $18 trillion more—and that’s just to reach 2030 goals. As the world gears up for COP28, the UN’s climate conference, Maurice Berns, chair of BCG’s Center for Energy Impact, explores how to close this gap.   

 Learn More: 

Climate Vision 2050: Climate Vision 2050 (chtbl.com)

Energy Transition: https://on.bcg.com/3RkyP40 

Bridging the $18 Trillion Gap in Net Zero Capital: https://on.bcg.com/3R0Ki7b 

A Blueprint for the Energy Transition: https://on.bcg.com/46uEvg4 

Ahead of COP28, the UN’s climate conference, we explore the unique ways public-private partnerships help achieve sustainability goals. Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk; Pascal Soriot, CEO of AstraZeneca; and Christine O’Brien, lead for BCG’s climate and sustainability practice in health care, discuss the projects and success of the markets.org/taskforces/health-systems-taskforce/">Sustainable Markets Initiative Health Systems Task Force.

The Task Force brings together global health leaders to enhance individual, societal, and planetary health. Together, they have launched sector-first commitments, actions, and recommendations to accelerate the delivery of net zero, patient-centric health systems.

 Learn More: 

markets.org/taskforces/health-systems-taskforce/">https://www.sustainable-markets.org/taskforces/health-systems-taskforce/  

For more about Pascal: https://www.astrazeneca.com/our-company/leadership.html#

For more about Lars: fruergaard-jorgensen.html">https://www.novonordisk.com/about/executive-management/lars-fruergaard-jorgensen.html

For more about Christine: https://on.bcg.com/3R9xbSJ)

https://on.bcg.com/47KDWQp

It’s 2050 and we’re exploring how the world radically reduced carbon emissions and saved itself from climate catastrophe. What have our cities done to accommodate massive population growth? And how do businesses, governments, researchers and everyday people work together to build sustainable supply chains, agricultural practices and transportation infrastructure?

This is Climate Vision 2050, a podcast series from BCG.

In this episode, Nairobi’s green tech and innovation boom make it a 2050 powerhouse. That success comes with climate challenges that the city is addressing. Urban planner Bailey Muthoni lives in housing built from plastic waste and gets around on an electric motorbike. She stages a tactical urbanism intervention advocating for improved walkability around the city's parliament.

We are closing in on the first anniversary of the public release of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and GPT-4. And yet the ever-changing field of human-machine collaboration remains poorly understood. François Candelon, global director of the BCG Henderson Institute, explains the findings of recent research that explores where AI work is more effective than people and where it isn’t.  

Learn More: 

•  https://on.bcg.com/3Sszzos 
• https://on.bcg.com/3u3jUBV 

Downtowns were built for a 9-5 world that no longer exists. Santiago Ferrer, BCG’s North American lead for cities, real estate, and infrastructure development, says civic leaders have an opportunity and responsibility to rethink the best use of buildings, transportation systems, and other infrastructure.  

Learn More: 

•  https://on.bcg.com/46FFo6s 
• https://on.bcg.com/471A6lj 

A price is an expression of value and part of a conversation with customers. Jean-Manuel Izaret, BCG’s global leader of pricing, discusses the importance of designing a pricing strategy that creates value for customers and companies alike. Businesses must know when to leave money on the table and be careful to avoid prices so high they actually hamper sales. Jean-Manuel highlights seven pricing games companies should consider playing and other lessons to build pricing strategy from his new book, Game Changer.

Learn More:

• https://on.bcg.com/3RT5A8Z

Should the workplace of the future consist of a mostly in-office, remote, or hybrid model? Deborah Lovich, leader of BCG’s work on people strategy, argues we’re asking the wrong question entirely. Organizations should focus on creating productivity for themselves and joy for their employees. It will take more than a memo from the top to create this new working model. Time, resources, and strong managers are all necessary.   

In 2015, the UN established Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030. In 2023, we are halfway there and have achieved only about 12% of those goals. Rich Hutchinson, global leader of BCG’s Social Impact practice, suggests that companies both can help achieve those goals and boost their bottom line. Organizations need to set ambitious goals. Leaders need to do more than treat ESG as a checklist. And governments can also provide incentives that encourage private sector innovation.  

Cost-cutting gets a bad rap, but the exercise is actually an opportunity to find money that can be reinvested in the business. Mark Austin, BCG’s global topic leader of cost and zero-based transformation, challenges executives to create more efficient and effective operating models by empowering employees to find areas of unnecessary spending in places that may not be obvious. They can then look to their people and their industry to find the most effective ways to funnel that money back into the organization.  

As the school year approaches, we are reaching into The So What from BCG archives. Join us as we revisit our examination of why education remains rooted in a bygone era of neat orderly rows of desks and lesson plans, even as the world races ahead into the metaverse and beyond. In this wide-ranging conversation first published in June 2022, Leila Hoteit, managing director and senior partner who leads BCG’s education, employment, and welfare work, argues for a lifelong approach to learning inside and outside the classroom—one that teaches people to solve hard problems and develop soft skills.

She talks about why students should think about the fairytale “Little Red Riding Hood” from the perspective of the wolf, how the technology that treats autism can help others learn better, and why people from different cultures may come up with different answers to the famous trolley problem.