"Over the course of the summer, I worked as a research assistant for Professors Bruce Usher and Geoffrey Heal, two faculty members at Columbia Business School. The focus of the research project, Tracking the Transition, is to evaluate corporate pledges of S&P 500 companies towards net zero or net neutral carbon emissions. By evaluating corporate pledges, our goal is to determine the net total effect of the projected carbon emissions reductions, accounting for inconsistencies in emissions reporting and questionable validity of carbon offset projects. In constructing a quantitative analysis of corporate carbon emissions reduction pledges, we will better understand the impact that these businesses have on the environment and how that translates to their social responsibility in terms of climate change,. Currently, there is no consensus on how to accurately account for the net total emissions of companies whose supply chains or product lifecycles are interconnected. By defining a robust methodology to resolve this issue, our project stands to benefit not only the companies, but also our community as we will better understand where our carbon emissions are now and what it will take to achieve a reduction level that curtails climate disaster in the coming decades.

The tools I gained through pursuing a BS in applied mathematics and an economics minor have been invaluable throughout this research. The numerical techniques that I have been exposed to in the applied mathematics major at Columbia have been directly applicable to the data analysis relevant to this project. Similarly, the curriculum included in the economics minor has granted me a working proficiency of both the macroeconomic and microeconomic impacts that our results may have on the economy. Furthermore, the economics courses I have taken have enabled me to think critically about the market forces that are causing the wide range of corporate pledges that we have studied, contextualizing a given company’s pledge to becoming net carbon neutral within its market sector. Perhaps most importantly, my studies thus far at Columbia have enabled me to communicate effectively about the technical and economic aspects of our research, helping me to work constructively with other members of the team and describe our findings in a way that can be understood by anyone, regardless of background.

Currently, there is no mandate that requires companies to disclose their emissions; all carbon disclosures are voluntary. If a certain company is a large emitter, there is nothing preventing them from concealing that information or advertising other statistics about their activity that obscures the true magnitude of their emissions. In this way, it is difficult to find accurate figures for each company’s carbon emissions through publicly available information. However, there is an international nonprofit charity, Carbon Disclosure Project, that seeks to resolve this issue with the use of an extensive questionnaire given to companies that are willing to disclose all or part of their emissions. Additionally, Carbon Disclosure Project, CDP, makes their datasets available for purchase. One difficulty that we faced was determining which aspects of the data that CDP offers would be beneficial to our research and whether the data was worth the cost. This experience has opened my eyes to the difficulties of research as a question with a seemingly simple answer — what are the carbon emissions of a given company? — evolved into a complicated issue involving each company’s willingness to report accurate figures and what the monetary value of those figures is from the perspective of an entity that has taken great care to record them accurately.

My work on the project this summer opened my eyes to the value of great leadership and the nuances of conducting research. The opportunity to work with Professor Usher and Professor Heal has been invaluable. I am incredibly grateful to have been exposed to two experts in the field of environmental economics who have accelerated my own understanding of climate change and its connection to the economy. Additionally, this summer gave me an opportunity to work with the finer details of conducting research on corporate metrics. What appeared to be a simple process turned out to be fraught with uncertainty and times when the best way forward was unclear; I had underestimated how often our research would require a judgement call, even when seeking quantitative answers. For example, accounting for carbon emissions is categorized into three scopes. However, not all companies disclose all three scopes of emissions and certain companies disclose figures for their emissions without specifying which scopes the figures account for. Hence, it was a judgement call to discern the validity and coverage of the figures reported by companies. Under Professor Usher and Professor Heal’s guidance, I became more attuned to the difficulties of our research and began to enjoy how the conversations transitioned from describing issues to constructing a methodology to solve them. This experience has invigorated my motivation to work on projects in the vein of building a sustainable future and I will be continuing to work on this research through the upcoming academic semester."