ESG Initiative News Archives

Sarah E. Light Appointed Inaugural Mitchell J. Blutt and Margo Krody Blutt Presidential Professor

Sarah Light smiles into the camera wearing a green shirt and a black cardigan.

(Outlet: Wharton Press Release) Penn Interim President J. Larry Jameson and Wharton Dean Erika H. James are delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Sarah E. Light as the inaugural recipient of the Mitchell J. Blutt and Margo Krody Blutt Presidential Professorship at the Wharton School, which is one of three Presidential Professorships Dr. Mitchell J. Blutt, C’78, M’82, WG’87 and Mrs. Margo Blutt have generously established at the University of Pennsylvania. The three Presidential Professorships are at the Wharton School, Penn Arts & Sciences, and the Perelman School of Medicine, the three Penn schools Dr. Blutt attended.…Read More

ESG Investments Lead to Higher Sales

A hand holds up an iPhone and takes a photo of a QR code on the tag of a shirt.

(Outlet: Knowledge at Wharton) Consumers really do care about ESG, according to research by Wharton visiting professor Jean-Marie Meier.…Read More

10 Leading Executive Education Courses In Climate & Sustainability For 2024

Cupped hands hold a globe wrapped in two leaves.

(Outlet: Poets & Quants) Today, business leaders are tasked not just with delivering a healthy bottom line to stakeholders, but to be good stewards of the environments in which they operate – both in regards to natural resources and society at large. Leading B-schools around the world are adding a range of executive education courses to train leaders on business sustainability. The Wharton ESG Executive Certificate for Senior Leaders is ranked #4 on this list of the top 10 Executive Education Courses in Climate & Sustainability for 2024. …Read More

A Look At The High Fees Making Hiring H-1B Visa Holders Challenging

A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in New York City.

(Outlet: Forbes) Hiring and retaining foreign-born scientists and engineers is expensive for employers in the United States. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services fee rule represents the latest federal action making it more costly to employ H-1B visa holders. …Read More

Republican Plan to Cut Florida Taxes Amid Insurance Crisis Sparks Pushback

In an aerial view, single-family homes are shown in a residential neighborhood in Miami, Florida.

(Outlet: Newsweek) In response to Florida’s escalating insurance costs, Senate leaders have issued a tax reduction strategy proposing a 1.75 percent cut on insurance premium taxes for homeowners with properties valued at $750,000 or below, sparking a debate over its adequacy and focus.…Read More

A flood insurance quirk makes basements a bad place to keep your stuff

A Johnson, Vermont, resident removes items destroyed in flooding of a finished basement.

(Outlet: CNBC) American basements are a hodgepodge of personal property, leveraged as storage units, man caves, game rooms, wine cellars, home bars and secondary living rooms. The problem is: If your basement floods, your flood insurance policy likely won’t cover damages to most — if any — of your belongings.…Read More

Experts Say Proposed Vehicle Emissions and Fuel Rules Not an EPA ‘Ban’ on Gas-Powered Cars

Cars travel along Interstate 80 on Jan. 16 in Berkeley, California.

(Outlet: FactCheck.org) Pending regulations under review by the Biden administration could greatly increase the number of electric vehicles sold in the U.S. But if implemented, the proposals to reduce tailpipe emissions and raise the fuel efficiency standards of cars and trucks would not “ban” the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles, as a trade group for fuel makers falsely suggests in an ad campaign.…Read More

How Corporations Are Taking the Lead on Environmental Governance

(Outlet: Wharton Business Daily) In this episode of Wharton Business Daily, Wharton legal studies and business ethics professor Sarah Light explains private vs. public environmental governance, and how the former is now an accepted and powerful environmental policy tool, as discussed in her new book, Private Environmental Governance.…Read More

Space Parasol Folly

A spaceshield hovers in front of the earth in outer space, casting its shadow over the African continent.

(Outlet: The New York Times) In this Letter to the Editor, Eric W. Orts, professor of legal studies and business ethics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, responds to “Fringe Climate Proposal, a Giant Space Parasol, Gains Interest” (front page, Feb. 3).…Read More

“Cookstoves Reduce Charcoal Use By 40%” – Susanna Berkouwer, Assistant Professor of Business Economics & Public Policy

Susanna Berkouwer smiles into the camera in front of a building with a wall of windows. They wear a grey jacket and button down shirt.

(Outlet: Carbon Herald) In this interview, Susanna Berkouwer, Assistant Professor of Business Economics & Public Policy at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, explains what their cookstove research in Kenya has revealed.…Read More