Episode 6 · Professor Cary Krosinsky
Can the Financial System Fix Itself?
An exploration of sustainable finance, divestment versus impact, rethinking GDP, China, India, AI's energy footprint, and the five levers of change.
Course designed by Akshat Bhaskar.
This classroom page expands on Episode 6, the second part of our Decoded × HERizon event: a conversation and live student Q&A with Professor Cary Krosinsky, hosted by Akshat Bhaskar and Amaira Akbar. Cary teaches at Yale, Brown, and NYU Stern, co-founded the Carbon Tracker Initiative, and has written eight books on sustainable finance.
The conversation opens with his seven tribes of sustainable finance and the question of whether the financial system can correct itself. It moves through why moral divestment underdelivered, how asset owners like the New York State Common Retirement Fund and Temasek move billions, rethinking GDP, cooperation with China, India's own path, and the energy footprint of AI, before closing with five levers of change and career advice for students. The resources below turn those threads into things you can learn from, think with, explore, or teach. Nothing here is investment advice.
START HERE · ACTIVITY
Move a Billion Dollars
You run a large pension fund. Do you divest, engage, or invest in solutions? A decision activity with real trade-offs.
Start the activityLEARN
Student-friendly explainers.
- LEARNEssay
Can the Financial System Fix Itself?
The core question of the conversation: the many 'tribes' of sustainable finance, why divestment underdelivered, and how asset owners actually move billions.
Intermediate11 min read
- LEARNExplainer
Rethinking GDP
Why the world's most famous economic number leaves out human and environmental costs, and what could replace or sit beside it.
Beginner8 min read
THINK
Questions, thought experiments, and challenges.
- THINKExplainer
Divest or Engage?
A side-by-side look at the two oldest strategies in sustainable investing, and what the evidence suggests about each.
Beginner7 min read
- THINKActivity
The Five Levers of Change
Cary's closing framework: corporations, investment, innovation, policy, and people. Split 100 points across them and defend your choice.
Beginner10 min activity
- THINKEssay
China, India, and the Energy Cost of AI
Three big global threads from the conversation: why cooperation with China is unavoidable, India's distinct path, and AI's growing energy footprint.
Intermediate10 min read
EXPLORE
Reading lists and further resources.
TEACH
Worksheets and classroom-friendly materials.
- TEACHActivity
Building a Career in Climate, Tech & Finance
A framework for students heading into climate, technology, and finance, built from the closing advice of the conversation.
Beginner8 min activity
- TEACHWorksheet
Episode 6 Discussion Worksheet
A printable worksheet for classrooms and study groups working through the conversation with Professor Cary Krosinsky.
All levelsPrintable worksheet