The GreenWave Podcast by Synergy International Episode 81: The Cost of Climate Retreat

Join SYNI, your pod hostess who considers the Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge Report as light summer reading, for today’s pod is titled “The Cost of Climate Retreat.” Across boardrooms and national capitals, climate targets are being softened, delayed or dropped. The public argument usually starts with cost: expensive equipment, higher prices and political trade-offs. Far less attention goes to the value created by a credible target, or the investment lost when that signal disappears. That omission is commercially dangerous. Suppliers build capacity when they can see future demand. Banks lend when customers commit to buying. Boards approve capex when policy and procurement point in the same direction. Remove the target, and every decision becomes harder. A July 2026 Harvard Business School Working Knowledge report gives us unusually clear evidence of this phenomenon. Go ahead, share some of your summer holiday time with us!