Take it from the Top with Two Climate Innovators: Albemarle and Duke University

As climate change continued to impact business, regulators, investors, and other stakeholders expected boards to take accountability for implementing effective climate oversight to protect their respective organizations' financial and long-term success.

The event featured a two-part fireside chat with climate innovators who were leading their institutions’ sustainability efforts and leveraging their organizations’ unique strengths to help build a more resilient world.

Kent Masters and Toddi Steelman addressed their organizations’ sustainability efforts and their companies' broader roles in advancing society’s climate resilience. They shed light on leading-edge initiatives and shared practical advice from their journeys to help directors enhance climate oversight in their boardrooms.

READ ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Albemarle Corporation provided critical components for electric vehicle (EV) batteries and the transformation underway in mobility. Headquartered in Charlotte, Albemarle Corporation was a global leader in transforming essential resources into critical ingredients for mobility, energy, connectivity, and health. The company partnered with others to pioneer ways to move, power, and connect with people and the planet in mind. Starting as a board member in 2015, Kent Masters had served as Albemarle's Chairman and CEO since 2020 and had integrated advancing sustainability as a key pillar of the company's corporate strategy.

1. What were the key elements Albemarle employed in developing its "culture," including within the board itself?
2. What were some recent successes, and how did the organization maintain diligence regarding "red flags"?
3. How did management inform and solicit the best ideas from the board when it came to the unique challenges posed by multinational regulators, investors, and competitors?
4. What role did the board play in developing best practices specific to Albemarle, and how did it define success in those areas?

Based in Durham, NC, Duke University was consistently ranked among the top 10 leading research universities. It had maintained a school of the environment and a marine lab for over 80 years. Duke had made climate a central focus, with a university-wide effort to unite education, research, operations, and public service across four areas: energy transformation, climate and community resilience, environmental and climate justice, and data-driven climate solutions. Having served as Dean of Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment since 2018, Toddi Steelman had been elevated to lead its university-wide Climate Commitment the previous year. At the time, Duke was expected to be among the first universities to achieve carbon neutrality in 2024.

1. How had Duke University engaged its trustees in setting and executing that vision?
2. How had the university educated its trustees on the risks and opportunities of this long-term journey?
3. What did the board need to know about the capabilities and limitations of climate models? What questions should trustees have been asking their teams to ensure risks were being evaluated effectively?