During my internship, I had the opportunity to contribute to the Climate Knowledge Initiative (CKI), within the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change, conducting research on sustainable proteins. As a CKI fellow, I focused on mapping the global CO2 emissions profile of protein production, the available supply-side and demand-side solutions, and the corresponding investment landscape. In analyzing and consolidating the latest data on food system emissions and available technologies, I contributed to CKI’s mission to provide business leaders with the actionable knowledge needed to select investable and scalable green technologies. It was incredibly exciting to dive into the complexities of a global food system and a sector with significant decarbonization potential, despite historic underinvestment. I learned tremendously from being part of a team of researchers with climate and policy backgrounds. I am proud to have been a part of shaping CKI, a new initiative, as Columbia Business School (CBS) aims to advance its climate finance curriculum and contribute to the business world’s efforts to advance the push to a net zero economy.

My internship enabled me to apply the knowledge I gained from my first-year core curriculum at CBS. I used my time to strongly advance my knowledge of corporate finance, accounting, and fundamental analysis. In conducting diligence this summer on private and public market solutions for decarbonizing global protein production, I leveraged and further developed my ability to conduct quantitative and qualitative analysis of a business’s growth potential. I leaned on my growing understanding of capital markets in order to better contextualize the current investment landscape. At the same time, I gained invaluable perspective from utilizing policy knowledge from my teammates. Given the challenges associated with the divergence of business and public interests, it was critical to learn from our productive debates on the trade-offs inherent in decarbonization solutions. I am excited to bring this knowledge to my climate courses this upcoming semester at CBS.

The largest challenge I faced emerged from breaking down the available emissions data on global food systems and developing a clear point of view on recommended solutions. As is common across several sectors amidst the green transition, it can be incredibly challenging to find consistent, reliable, up-to-date, and standardized reporting on the various sources of emissions for food systems. In particular, given the nature of land use and its potential as a carbon sink, many sources slice and dice this data and its various intricacies in different ways. In addition to the nuances of the underlying data, it was challenging to dissect the complexities of an interconnected food system, its deeply cultural roots, and the global variations in emissions. Yet it was an exciting challenge to distill our recommendations on scalable solutions. These learning experiences reinforced the importance of pulling from diversified viewpoints, clear storytelling, and leaning into the challenges of conflicting public and private sector interests. I am excited to bring these lessons with me as I dive further into understanding the green transition.

I am incredibly grateful for my summer contribution to CKI. I sought to learn as much as possible about the climate transition and contribute to CBS’s research. My weeks of research on sustainable proteins enabled me to efficiently develop a framework of how to best approach breaking down the sector-by-sector challenges of decarbonization. I was able to do so while learning from the immense expertise of Professor Gernot Wagner and all other CKI fellows, all of whom brought invaluable perspectives to the table. While just the beginning of my learning journey, I now feel even more passionate about continuing to contribute to addressing the global challenges of the climate crisis. Given the immense investment gap within the food sector, in particular, as it relates to the capital required to decarbonize, my research underscored the importance of the innovation economy, the evolving role of philanthropic capital, and the need for public-private partnerships.