Can Climate Goals Survive the AI Energy Boom?

The era of corporate climate pledges is giving way to the harder work of execution. As 2030 deadlines approach and AI drives demand for energy and infrastructure, companies are confronting difficult questions about which emissions they can control, what they can afford, and how their goals may need to evolve. In this episode of C-Suite Perspectives, Steve Odland, President and CEO of The Conference Board, is joined by Dr. Andrew Jones, Principal Researcher at the Governance & Sustainability Center of The Conference Board, to examine how companies set climate goals and the progress they are making across scope one, scope two, and scope three emissions. Together, they discuss why companies have made the greatest progress on emissions from purchased electricity, the financial and operational challenges putting climate commitments at risk, how AI is reshaping energy demand and corporate emissions—and why revising a target does not necessarily represent a retreat.