Business Leaders Bridging The Climate Gap – Voices From The Earth Day Women’s Summit
Release Date: 06/10/2025
Electric Ladies Podcast - Women Leaders Discuss Careers, Trends, Technologies and Innovation in Energy, Climate, and Corporate Responsibility
“(A.I.) is so energy intensive as a technology, and that's the thing that we have to get, the infrastructure of AI… Right now we do not have an electricity grid that is, that is built for this purpose. There's the water requirements of it as well. And we also need to just think about the energy, the actual fuel that's being used to fire up and power the electricity grid.” Dr. Stephanie Hare on Electric Ladies Podcast Artificial intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous today and advancing faster than we can imagine. It’s being used in many ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change, too, and...
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“Energy efficiency…is doing more, using less. The megawatt not used is the cheapest megawatt and there's so many things, either by using technology, old technology like insulation or digitalization, that allows us to really stretch what we can get out every single megawat, a kilowatt electron that we use. And so that's what we're talking about. If we had the kind of massive adoption that we need, we could get to a big 40% reduction.” Paula Glover on Electric Ladies Podcast With the Energy Star program and other energy efficiency programs under attack and misunderstood, we decided to...
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“For anyone, women especially who are interested in the energy and climate space, I would say that you shouldn't feel that you need to choose between the public sector, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector. I've been able to continue to build my expertise in the energy and climate space, but from multiple different perspectives. My advice would be to just not feel that you need to pick one of those lanes and, and to take the risk to bounce between those different segments of our economy.” Claire Seaborn on Electric Ladies Podcast Summer is a good time to think about your next...
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“Carbon Recycling International…is converting CO2 into sustainable methanol…(W)e have technology, which takes CO2 as a waste, and it takes hydrogen and turns it into methanol…and it is used today both like into chemicals. So, the chemical sector is a big consumer of methanol, which is a very large known product in the world today. …(and into) a sustainable fuel...playing a pretty big role in the energy transition.” Bjork Kristjansdottir on Electric Ladies Podcast As the Trump administration sends mixed signals on carbon capture technologies – keeping the tax credits for them...
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“There are those individual actions that we can take. But if I can work with my community or work inside of my company, or if I can work inside of my house of worship and we can build some community and some action that way, it will have a much bigger impact than anything that I can do as an individual… The communities that they're already a part of, whether they're residential, like in their neighborhoods, or it's the nonprofits that they're a part of, or the places where they have other kinds of communities like religious communities, and start conversations there. What could we do as a...
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“Our job is to recycle so that we can recover all of that scrap and goods that you and I are recycling in our garbage bins every week or recycling as we get new cars. And our job is to recover that because we make steel in a very clean and efficient process through what's called an electric arc furnace. So, we take all of that scrap, we melt it down, and we make new steel. It does not degrade. It has a continuous reusable life.…Depending on the different products of steel, that actually determines the recycled content that goes into them for the finishes and the quality of the steel that's...
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“If you cannot change the system, change the frigging system… Women, when we have our money, are more likely to start an impact fund business or something. So, we have really got to get out of our way and just take the risk. " Tracy Gray at The Earth Day Women’s Summit 2025 Innovative financing models are urgently needed to tackle the climate crisis, but significant gaps persist. Research shows that women and people of color deliver stronger returns yet continue to be underrepresented. Meanwhile, the insurance industry must confront the mounting risks of climate...
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"The climate crisis has roots in fossil fuels, but at the same time, fossil fuels fund this Russian invasion to Ukraine. So it means this is a fossil fuel war. If we will actually fight against our overall actually dependency on fossil fuels in the same way we will fight against climate change." Svitlana Krakovska on Electric Ladies Podcast The climate emergency is a security threat, and a “threat multiplier,” as former Defense Undersecretary Sherri Goodman has written. Looking at security in the same way as it has been is no longer working. The old view leaves us very vulnerable....
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“Food systems have to do with everything from production to processing, distribution, and the utilization. Then of course, end of life for food systems which includes food waste. In the United States, 40% of the food that we produce goes to waste. This means with distribution challenges that not everybody has equitable access to the kinds of foods that they need and want, at the times that they need them." Robin Currey on Electric Ladies Podcast Climate change is disrupting our food and agriculture systems, including the critical supply chains that feed and clothe us. Yet,...
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“Most things when it comes to corporate sustainability do not happen in a vacuum. I am part of an environmental sustainability team, but we would not be able to accomplish anything without our energy teams, our network teams, and more. The ability to take what can be a complex idea and translate that into a compelling business case often comes down to dollars and cents. While it takes time, that's how we've been able to drive change.” Rosie Austin on Electric Ladies Podcast In a poll at The Earth Day Women’s Summit in Dallas, Texas, 100% of respondents said that business is...
info_outline“Most things when it comes to corporate sustainability do not happen in a vacuum. I am part of an environmental sustainability team, but we would not be able to accomplish anything without our energy teams, our network teams, and more. The ability to take what can be a complex idea and translate that into a compelling business case often comes down to dollars and cents. While it takes time, that's how we've been able to drive change.”
Rosie Austin on Electric Ladies Podcast
In a poll at The Earth Day Women’s Summit in Dallas, Texas, 100% of respondents said that business is not doing enough to address the climate crisis. With climate change fuelling more frequent and ferocious weather events, and the current U.S. federal leadership defunding climate- and clean energy-related initiatives, businesses now have an opportunity, and a responsibility, to lead. Will they?
The good news is, many of them are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint and increase their climate resilience. How? Listen to this live recording of a session at The Earth Day Women’s Summit at Earthx2025 with a panel moderated by Electric Ladies Podcast’s Joan Michelson.
You’ll hear how businesses are keeping the momentum going and stepping in where federal leadership has stepped back.
The panel includes:
- Danielle Azoulay, Founder, The CSO Shop and former head of CSR and Sustainability at L’Oreal and at Bed, Bath & Beyond, who shares insights into what consumers care about, and how this is shaping business decisions.
- Helle Bank Jørgensen, CEO and Founder of Competent Boards training programs, on the importance of boards in keeping businesses focused on the long term.
- Jana Gerber, President, Microgrid North America at Schneider Electric, on what companies are focusing on to meet their climate goals.
- Rosie Austin, Principal Program Manager - Global ESG Reporting at AT&T, on why resilience doesn't occur in a vacuum.
- Joan Michelson, Executive Producer of The Earth Day Women’s Summit and host of Electric Ladies Podcast.
“If you look five years out, 10 years out, what is it that you want to look back at and say, Yes, I was part of this, or, or I did this. There’s a ton of roles if you look at these 17 biggest pain points in the world (the 17 sustainable development goals). Where is it that I can make a difference? I want to educate myself in this, so I can go out and help organizations, perhaps even the organization that you are working in right now.”
Helle Bank Jørgensen on Electric Ladies podcast
You’ll also like:
- Marci Jenks, Eco Material Technologies, on green cement innovations.
- Helle Bank Jørgensen, CEO and Founder, Competent Boards on the importance of ESG and boards.
- Jessica Filante Farrington, AT&T, Director of Global Sustainability, on climate resilient infrastructure.
- Tensie Whelan, Founding Director of the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business, on why sustainability is good for business.
- Joan Michelson’s Forbes article on What Business Can Do To Address Climate Crisis Despite The Backlash
Read more of Joan’s Forbes articles here.
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