Gernot Wagner

Grist: "Wall Street is betting big on clean energy tech"

When the NASDAQ opens on Wednesday morning, the exchange will include a new ticker symbol: FRVO. The company, Fervo Energy, is in the geothermal electricity business and aims to raise $1.8 billion. An initial public offering of that magnitude would be one of the biggest Wall Street debuts for renewable energy in U.S. history and a promising sign for clean tech’s future.

“This is a very, very big deal,” said Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia Business School. “Money speaks.”

“If Fervo demonstrates that there is money to be made for investors,” said Wagner, that “is going to draw a lot of attention well beyond just the narrow advanced geothermal community.” 

Quoted in: "Wall Street is betting big on clean energy tech" by Tik Root, Grist (13 May 2026).

Advice for the Class of 2026: Get ready for uncertainty

It's a cliche by now to say we live in unprecedented, uncertain, erratic times. We are. The path is indeed highly uncertain. The end result, meanwhile, may not be.

Take climate: It's clear that all paths essentially lead to an unprecedented—there's that word again—disruption to the current, fossil-fueled economy. The end result: a fully electrified transport sector—yes, EVs are only a question of when, not if—and the building sector and even industry aren't far behind. The path to get there is highly uncertain and could happen in any number of ways.

The career advice, here and elsewhere? Keep that end state in mind—working against it won't, can't, be the basis for a career that spans the next 3, 4, or 5 decades—while also getting ready for any number of uncertainties along the way.

Quoted in: "Advice for the Class of 2026" by Jonathan Sperling, Columbia Business School (8 May 2026).

Climate Investment Funds: "GHG Baseline Modelling for Industry Decarbonization"

"Economics of Decarbonizing Cement"
12 May 2026, 8:00-9:45 a.m.

Slides [PDF]

Part of a Virtual Clinic on: "From Measurement to Investment: GHG Baseline Modelling for Industry Decarbonization" (8:00-11:00 a.m.), organized by the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) as part of the World Bank's Sustainable Industrialization Program:

This program equips industrial companies, policymakers, and ecosystem partners with practical tools and specialized knowledge to build productive, resilient, and value‑adding industrial systems. It strengthens technical and strategic capabilities across resource‑efficient manufacturing, circularity, digitalization, environmental and social performance, and low‑carbon transitions. Delivered through three progressive modules, the program enables participants to apply learning in practice, upgrade industrial value chains, and support long‑term, sustainable growth. The program provides specialized knowledge and practical tools to support the development of productive, resilient, and value added industrial systems through sustainable industrialization.

Grist: "American homes need heat pumps, not space heaters"

The U.S., though, can’t simply replace all of its furnaces and space heaters with heat pumps and call it a day, energy experts said. It must happen alongside a push to make homes more efficient, like by installing proper insulation and double-pane windows. That is, a home needs to retain more heat in the winter and cool air in the summer, so a heat pump would need to run less. “Step one, don’t burn fossil fuels in your home, basically,” said Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia Business School, who wasn’t involved in the new report. “Step two: insulate, insulate, insulate. And both of those go hand-in-hand.”

The grid, too, needs upgrades if heat pumps are to reach their full potential. For one, ideally you’re powering them with electricity coming entirely from renewables like wind and solar, otherwise you’re still burning fossil fuels to warm homes. (Though to be clear, because heat pumps are so efficient, this is still better than sticking with gas furnaces.) And two, heat pumps join electric vehicles and induction stoves in increasing demand on the grid.

Quoted in: "American homes need heat pumps, not space heaters" by Matt Simon, Grist (5 May 2026).

KONTEXT Zirkel

KONTEXT Zirkel mit Tina Deutsch

10:55 – 11:10 | Gast-Impuls (15 Min)

Gernot Wagner, Climate Economist - Columbia Business School: über die aktuelle geo- und klimapolitische Lage