Climate Rising

Alyse Russell, Senior Manager of Global Sustainability Programs at VF Corporation, joins Climate Rising to discuss how one of the world’s largest apparel companies is embedding sustainability across a complex, multi-brand supply chain. VF owns major global brands including Vans, The North Face, and Timberland, and is working to reduce product-related emissions by transforming how key materials are sourced and produced. The conversation explores why raw materials—such as cotton, leather, rubber, and wool—account for the majority of VF’s emissions footprint, and how the company is prioritizing regenerative agriculture to address this challenge. Alyse explains how VF is scaling regenerative cotton, rubber, and wool programs across different geographies, while navigating trade-offs related to cost, verification, and supply chain complexity. The episode also examines how VF collaborates with farmers, NGOs, and researchers to implement regenerative practices, the challenges of measuring outcomes like soil carbon and biodiversity, and the evolving role of traceability and certification in validating sustainability claims. Alyse also reflects on the future of regenerative agriculture in the apparel sector, including the need for better standards, broader environmental metrics beyond carbon, and stronger industry-wide coordination.

Simon Haldrup, founder and CEO of Agreena, joins Climate Rising to discuss how regenerative agriculture can scale beyond early adopters by focusing on farmer economics, data-driven decision-making, and flexible practice “toolboxes” rather than rigid labels. Based on Copenhagen, Agreena combines agriculture, finance and technology to work with 10,000 farmers across 20 countries. The conversation explores why adoption remains challenging despite long-term benefits, including thin margins, short planning horizons, and the risk of yield dips in the initial transition years. Simon also explains how Agreena uses satellite imagery, machine learning, and outcome-based verification to support both carbon credits and carbon insets, and how its two-sided platform aligns farmer incentives with corporate climate commitments. The episode closes with Simon’s perspective on the role of policy, finance, and technology in making regenerative agriculture the “new normal,” and advice for those interested in careers at the intersection of agriculture, climate, and systems thinking.

Indigo Ag is one of the most active companies at the intersection of agriculture, carbon markets, and regenerative agricultural practices. A.J. Kumar, Vice President of Sustainability Sciences at Indigo discusses how the company is working with farmers, food companies, and carbon credit buyers to scale regenerative agriculture and unlock environmental and financial benefits. He explains how Indigo supports farmers with both biological inputs and sustainability incentives—from seed coatings and microbial sprays to data-driven tools and market access for carbon credits. A.J. also outlines the challenges farmers face adopting new practices, how Indigo addresses concerns around additionality and permanence in soil carbon projects, and how advances in AI and remote sensing are changing what’s possible in sustainable agriculture. This episode is a part of our series on Regenerative Agriculture, which includes two prior episodes featuring McKinsey & Company Partner Tom Brennan and our next episode with Agreena CEO & Founder Simon Haldrup. Visit climaterising.org to learn more

Tom Brennan, a partner at McKinsey & Company, joins Climate Rising to unpack what regenerative agriculture means in practice and why it is increasingly central to conversations about climate resilience, farm economics, and food system risk. Drawing on McKinsey’s work with farmers, agribusinesses, and food companies, Tom explains how regenerative agriculture differs from more prescriptive models like organic farming, emphasizing outcomes such as soil health, reduced erosion, and long-term productivity. Across this two-part conversation, Tom explores both the foundations of regenerative agriculture and the challenges of scaling it. He discusses how farmers evaluate new practices through the lens of risk and profitability, why the benefits of regenerative practices often show up most clearly in extreme weather years, and what slows adoption despite growing interest. He also examines the role of food companies, insurers, data, and emerging technologies in lowering barriers to adoption and supporting system-level change.

Tom Brennan, a partner at McKinsey & Company, joins Climate Rising to unpack what regenerative agriculture means in practice and why it is increasingly central to conversations about climate resilience, farm economics, and food system risk. Drawing on McKinsey’s work with farmers, agribusinesses, and food companies, Tom explains how regenerative agriculture differs from more prescriptive models like organic farming, emphasizing outcomes such as soil health, reduced erosion, and long-term productivity. Across this two-part conversation, Tom explores both the foundations of regenerative agriculture and the challenges of scaling it. He discusses how farmers evaluate new practices through the lens of risk and profitability, why the benefits of regenerative practices often show up most clearly in extreme weather years, and what slows adoption despite growing interest. He also examines the role of food companies, insurers, data, and emerging technologies in lowering barriers to adoption and supporting system-level change. Part 1 focuses on defining regenerative agriculture and why it matters for farmers and climate resilience. Part 2 examines the economics, adoption barriers, and what it would take to scale regenerative agriculture across supply chains. This episode is the first in our series on Regenerative Agriculture. We also have guests such as A.J. Kumar from Indigo Ag. Visit climaterising.org to learn more.

Jamey Mulligan, Head of Carbon Neutralization Science and Strategy at Amazon, joins Climate Rising to share how Amazon is tackling its net-zero climate goals, particularly through its engagement in the voluntary carbon market. Jamey explains Amazon’s three-part strategy under the Climate Pledge: emissions measurement, value chain decarbonization, and high-impact carbon mitigation. He describes Amazon’s major clean energy investments, its electric delivery fleet partnership with Rivian, and how it is developing long-term carbon credit procurement strategies. Jamey also walks through Amazon’s approach to addressing the credibility crisis in carbon markets, including its launch of the Abacus carbon credit label in partnership with Verra and other climate experts, and he explains how Amazon is working to improve access to quality carbon credits for its value chain partners. Lastly, Jamey shares his advice for those who are looking to work in the field of carbon neutralization. This is a bonus episode in our series on Voluntary Carbon Markets. Explore more of this series at climaterising.org

In this episode of Climate Rising, Erik Berglöf, Chief Economist at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), shares how this relatively young multilateral development bank is helping emerging economies finance climate and nature-based solutions. Erik discusses AIIB’s approach to climate policy—including infrastructure decarbonization, green finance, and biodiversity credits—and offers a behind-the-scenes look at its work with Brazil, including its $1B climate policy loan and support for the landmark Tropical Forest Forever Facility. Erik explains the importance of integrating nature and climate in development finance, the need for finance ministries to lead coordination, and how countries like Brazil are using platforms like Eco Invest to blend public and private capital for nature and resilience projects. This episode is part of our Global South series, which also includes episodes with JSW Steel, Tata Power from India and re.green, a carbon offsetting platform from Brazil. Visit climaterising.org for more.

Marcelo Medeiros, co-founder and CEO of re.green, joins Climate Rising to discuss how his company is restoring millions of hectares of degraded land in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest and Amazon biomes by producing high-quality nature-based carbon removal credits. Marcelo explains how re.green combines data science, forest restoration, and long-term land ownership to deliver durable carbon sequestration—and why they chose a for-profit model to scale impact. He discusses price transparency, quality verification, and how re.green is preparing for a future where compliance carbon markets may accept removal-based offsets from nature-based solutions. Marcelo also shares how winning the Earthshot Prize brought global visibility, how AI is improving ecosystem planning, and how the company works with clients like Microsoft and Telefónica under long-term offtake agreements. This episode is a part of our Global South series. Explore more episodes at climaterising.org.

As bonus episode of Climate Rising, we feature a conversation among Tata Power CEO Dr. Praveer Sinha, Harvard Business School Professor Vikram Gandhi, and HBS Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Brian Kenny that explores how India’s largest private power company is navigating its net-zero commitment while supporting a rapidly growing economy. With energy demand projected to quadruple by 2047, Tata Power has committed to phasing down coal and expanding renewables, distributed generation, and smart grid investments. This conversation, based on the HBS case “Tata Power and India’s Energy Transition” and originally recorded for the HBS Cold Call podcast, explores how Tata Power balances profitability and purpose, the role of technology and grid modernization, and how energy transition in the Global South differs from the Global North. Dr. Sinha also shares insights on employee reskilling, engaging customers as “prosumers,” and why long-term vision is critical to executing a climate-aligned business strategy. This episode is part of Climate Rising’s Global South series, which features companies and organizations at the intersection of business and climate in India and Brazil. Explore more episodes at climaterising.org.

Parth Jindal and Prabodha Acharya of JSW Group join Climate Rising to discuss how one of India’s largest industrial conglomerates is reducing the carbon intensity of its steel business while scaling infrastructure for a fast-growing economy. They share how JSW built vertically integrated operations—from power to cement to ports—through industrial symbiosis, and why energy efficiency, renewable power, and circular practices are at the heart of its decarbonization roadmap. The conversation explores India’s dual challenge: meeting rising domestic steel demand while managing its climate vulnerability. Parth and Prabodha explain JSW’s green investments, hydrogen pilots, carbon capture initiatives, and why cost competitiveness, stakeholder pressure, and industrial policy shape the path forward. This is part of our Global South series, which also features Tata Power and organizations in Brazil at the intersection of business and climate. Explore more episodes at climaterising.org.