The Energy Transition: Where Business Meets Science

On-Campus: June 16 - 27 Summer 2025
 

Applications will open towards the end of the year for Summer 2025.
 

We invite you to pre-register your interest for 2025 to be alerted when the application portal opens.

Why this Summer Program ?

Constantly striving to bring you cutting edge content, this program builds on the success of the former Business & Climate Change summer program to meet the needs and demands of a rapidly changing business environment.
 

• Explore the scientific principles that are propelling the shift towards sustainable energy across various sectors.
• Learn to deal with real life business cases and improve your knowledge of the energy industry.
• Accessible to students of all backgrounds who wish to have an impact on the global governmental and environmental landscape by thinking about energy in new and progressive ways.
• Enjoy the HEC pedagogy of applying theory to real-world cases.
• Unparalleled opportunity to collaborate with like-minded peers from around the world and present your project for international peer-review.
• Created and taught by leading professors and experts in energy from a variety of sectors, including finance.
• Top feedback from our participants (see Students & Faculty page).

Overview

The world is changing. Science has shown that the impacts of climate change are happening now, and faster than we had predicted, hitting populations from the Bahamas to Mozambique through to Australia, Western Europe, and the United States. Global temperatures are rising because of carbon emissions, largely caused by human activity.  International reports indicate that we must limit global warming to 1.5° C to avoid irreversible and catastrophic impacts. For this to occur, carbon dioxide emissions need to decline by about 50 percent by 2030 and reach net zero in 2050. While the goal is within reach, it requires urgent and unprecedented social and economic transformation, which will lead to a radical redesign of the way we live, travel and do business.

The energy industry, which is one of the largest components of global GDP, has undergone a revolution; decentralized, digitized energy systems based on renewable sources have displaced long-standing fossil fuels.

The transport industry energy and carbon footprint poses one of the worst challenges to the sustainability of our economies and societies. The demand for transport is anticipated to double up over the next two decades. However, the trajectory consistent with the Paris Accords 2015 would require that passengers and goods transport be halved over the same period.

Buildings make up one of the most resource-intensive segments of the global economy. Under the norms currently applying to the EU construction sector, all new buildings should be Positive Energy Buildings or Net Zero Energy Buildings as of 2020, while the building stock should be fully decarbonized by 2050.

The financial sector has a key role to play in supporting the transition towards a net zero emission economy. A major reallocation of capital flows and investments is taking place towards the necessary sustainable solutions while improving efficiency of processes and reducing the cost of capital.

Key solutions exist to mitigate the impact of climate change on business and societies: they include energy efficiency, circular economy, renewable energy systems, connected mobility, artificial intelligence and IoT devices for Smart Cities… The necessary transformations will take place against the unpromising background of a highly turbulent world. As fossil fuels are expected to contribute to the global energy mix for a few more decades, the long-standing geopolitical tensions, in the Middle East, the South China Sea or at the very borders of Europe, are certainly not to disappear any time soon and will continue casting doubts on the security of the global energy supply.

At the end of this module, participants can expect to have acquired a good command of the science behind the energy transition, climate and energy policies as well as geopolitics of climate and resources. They will have an in-depth understanding of the new energy price formation mechanisms, which are introduced by climate change and carbon pricing policies.

They will also have an understanding of how corporations are all affected by climate change and how their access to capital markets and their ratings are being impacted and challenged by new energy business models and socio-economic shifts.

The Summer School program includes interactive lectures, class exercises and tutoring sessions corresponding to case studies that participants address in groups and defend at the end of the course.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of the summer program, participants will be able to do the following:

• Internalize the science behind climate change and the implications for energy transition in diverse sectors.
• ​Command an understanding of global and regional resources/energy issues across the various segments of the value chain
• Understand international and national energy & climate policies, including carbon taxation and carbon trading systems
• Grasp the economics of new energy sources, including decentralization and digitization of energy systems, renewable capacity development, wind and solar energy contracts and regulations
• Appreciate the role of Positive Impact Finance, including new financing mechanisms and the new business model of the finance industry
• Recognize the importance of the new disclosure obligations from companies in the face of ESG Rating Agencies and the management of environmental and social risks

Assessment

Participants will be evaluated based on the following: 

• Group work exercises
• Case study pitch

Participants who successfully complete the program will earn 5 ECTS credits.

All students who are seeking credit are encouraged to consult their home academic institution to validate credit transfer.