Center for Sustainable Business
NYU Stern CSB Convenes Sustainability and Finance Leaders to Connect Climate Action with Business Value
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Climate Week NYC discussion with CLAI and WBCSD explored how stronger CSO–CFO collaboration can inform financial decisions.
NEW YORK — The NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business (CSB), the Climate Liabilities and Assets Initiative (CLAI), and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) convened senior leaders on September 23, 2026, at NYU Stern for “CSOs and CFOs: Speaking the Same Language.” Held during Climate Week NYC, the event explored how collaboration between chief sustainability officers and chief financial officers can connect climate-related risks and opportunities to financial decision-making.
The invite-only session brought together leaders in sustainability, finance, accounting, investing, and risk. Discussions focused on linking sustainability to capital allocation, operations, risk management, and enterprise value—and building the cross-functional support needed to move from ambition to action.
Making Sustainability Finance-Ready
Speakers explored what makes a sustainability issue “finance-ready,” how climate risks can be reflected in financial reporting and business decisions, and how to make the case for investments in resilience, clean energy, supply chains, and decarbonization.
The panel featured:
- Paul Munter, former Chief Accountant at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission;
- Elyse Douglas, former CFO of Hertz Global Holdings and Senior Research Scholar at NYU Stern CSB;
- David Barahona, Senior Director for Sustainable Investing at PepsiCo;
- Vivek Adhia, Chief Sustainability Officer at UltraTech Cement; and
- Neil Kaufman, Senior Vice President, Strategic Resilience and Risk, at Chubb.
The discussion was held under the Chatham House Rule to support candid exchange.
Applying the Financial Lens
Participants explored these questions through interactive case studies addressing three business decisions:
- Physical climate resilience: Building the business case for flood and heat resilience in commercial real estate.
- Lower-carbon sourcing: Linking carbon tariffs to sourcing decisions across the supply chain.
- Clean energy and efficiency: Evaluating investments and their financial implications over a multiyear horizon.
The exercises connected sustainability considerations to concrete investment and operating choices, providing a practical focus for collaboration across finance and sustainability functions.
Connecting the Conversation to CSB’s Research
The convening reflected CSB’s work to help companies identify, quantify, and capture the financial value of sustainability. Through its Return on Sustainability Investment (ROSI™) methodology, the Center helps business leaders connect sustainability strategies to financial performance, supporting more informed decisions about risks, opportunities, and long-term value creation.