Boosting Investment in Climate Solutions

Duke conference convenes leaders in government, industry, academics and nonprofits

Ronnie Chatterji, left, talks with John Podesta during the conference exploring ways to increase private and public investment in fighting climate change.
Ronnie Chatterji, left, talks with John Podesta during the conference exploring ways to increase private and public investment in fighting climate change.

Reducing climate change’s growing threat to the planet requires an unprecedented partnership between government, academia, nonprofits, businesses and others, speakers said Wednesday during an all-day conference at Duke.

“To address our most pressing climate challenges will require extraordinary levels of investment from both private and public sources,” Duke President Vincent E. Price said in his opening remarks. “They will also require thoughtful and sustained partnership among elected leaders, government agencies, private industry, academic institutions and nonprofits.”

The event, “From Billions to Trillions: The Inflation Reduction Act as a Catalyst for Private Investment,” held at the Fuqua School of Business examined “enablers and barriers” to significantly boosting private sector investment in climate solutions in the United States.

The event also sought to identify the future role of government in the effort and make the most of Duke’s academic assets and convening power as part of the university-wide Duke Climate Commitment.

Speakers also discussed how the influx of federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), CHIPS Act and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will affect and stimulate private green investment. 


Keynote speaker John Podesta, tapped in January as global climate adviser to President Biden, said the IRA “incentivizes” a broad section of state and local governments, nonprofits, businesses and others to invest in cleaner energy.

The conference attracted business leaders, elected officials, scholars and community activists to discuss building partnerships and growing investment to address climate change.

That has led to good jobs in both urban and rural communities, he said, noting under the IRA and other efforts there’s been $650 billion in manufacturing investments since Biden took office. In North Carolina, this includes investment in companies in the hybrid vehicle supply chain, he said.

“Everything from investments in environmental justice to forestry, across the board, what the IRA did was (assist) every sector, every city, not just power,” said Podesta, a former chief of staff to President Clinton and adviser to President Obama. 

“And I think one of the things that’s really quite different from what we’ve seen over the previous couple of decades is that you have … 10 years of certainty about what you can take advantage of … and claim credits. There’s a provision that permits you to transfer credit. It gives businesses the opportunity to plan much bigger projects, to plan for the future.”

Podesta said he thinks the IRA and other federal programs should continue even if Biden loses the November election because of the way they’re structured. 

"Now, the question is, how do we bridge public and private investments to move the needle from billions to trillions and meet our climate goals?” said Fuqua professor Ronnie Chatterji, who served as the Biden White House CHIPS coordinator, overseeing the implementation of the $52 billion CHIPS and Science Act. The conference was organized by the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, the Fuqua School of Business, Fuqua's Center for Energy, Development and the Global Environment, and Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship.