GPI experts participated in the Harvard Climate Symposium

GPI experts participated in the Harvard Climate Symposium

On September 19-20, 2025, the Harvard Climate Symposium, organized by the Salata Institute for Climate & Sustainability as part of the Harvard Climate Action Week, was held at the Harvard Business School in Boston. This large-scale event brought together leading politicians, business leaders, scientists and practitioners to discuss what the future of international climate policy, energy and sustainable development will look like.

GPI Group was pleased to accept the invitation of the Salata Institute and became a part of this event to get acquainted with the latest global approaches and practices that are already shaping the global climate agenda.

One of the central focuses of the Symposium was a conversation about how business reacts to changes in climate policy. Despite the fact that some initiatives to combat climate change have been curtailed at the federal level in the United States, the corporate sector remains a steady driver of change.

In the discussions, much attention was paid to the role of the largest corporations Microsoft, Meta and others, which continue to conclude deals on the purchase of “clean” energy. It has become obvious to companies that climate risks are not something abstract, but a factor that directly affects strategy, investment, and competitiveness.

The topic of nuclear energy has also taken an unexpected turn. Until recently, it was viewed with caution, but today nuclear energy has become a compromise solution supported by representatives of different political camps. The Symposium discussed the possible “renaissance of the atom” as a technology that can play a key role in reducing emissions.

Another important topic was the training of personnel for the “green economy”. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, along with Social Finance CEO Tracy Palancian, presented a foundation that helps students overcome barriers to education, from transportation costs to childcare. It was not only about social support, but also about a strategic task: the state needs tens of thousands of specialists to implement climate initiatives. Thus, education and employment have become presented not as an auxiliary element, but as a key to the transition to new sustainable economic models.

The Symposium also discussed not only the opportunities and threats from AI. On the one hand, AI can analyze huge amounts of data and help manage complex energy systems by integrating millions of renewable energy sources.

On the other hand, the data centers themselves, where AI models are trained and operated, are becoming the largest consumers of electricity. Their growth is rapid, and the infrastructure of power grids is being updated much more slowly. This imbalance already creates risks, as short-term spikes in the load from AI training can be comparable to the consumption of an entire city.

Experts agreed that AI can become a key ally of the energy industry of the future, but only if it is strategically implemented and business, regulators and energy specialists work closely together.