The Yale Program on Climate Change and Communication has published a new report, "Rising leaders on social and environmental sustainability."
In collaboration with the Yale Center for Business and the Environment and the Global Network for Advanced Management, we surveyed 2,035 students from business schools based in 30 different countries on their beliefs and attitudes about global warming, environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and business school education.
The authors found that business school students want more sustainability education from their schools. For example, 70% of students want more experiential learning focused on sustainability, 65% want more case studies highlighting sustainability issues, and 62% want better career services focused on sustainability jobs.
Importantly, there is strong evidence for a "carbon tax on talent." That is, the findings suggest that businesses with poor environmental records will have a harder time recruiting talented employees. We find that 78% of students say, all else equal, they would choose to work for a company with good environmental practices over one with bad environmental practices. Perhaps even more importantly, 51% of students say they would accept a lower salary in order to work for a company with better environmental practices.
The business community will play an important role in solving a variety of environmental and social problems. These findings highlight the importance of building climate change and sustainability into business school curricula, and in supporting rising business leaders to make a positive impact in their respective industries. Read the new report here.