Stanford Graduate School of Business

Ep. 44, Preferred Futures: Climate and Environmental Justice Across Borders

Listen as professor William P. Barnett and Stanford student Milian Chen host a discussion with Rwaida Gharib, Ph.D. Student in Environment and Resources at Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, and Maxine Burkett, Emerson Collective Professor of Climate, Environment, and Society, to discuss the takeaways from an academic conference held at Stanford GSB on March 23-24, 2026. The 2026 Climate & Environmental Justice Across Borders Conference forms part of the inaugural year of programming for the Stanford Center for Just Environmental Futures, a new interdisciplinary hub dedicated to advancing community-rooted approaches to climate and environmental justice. Bringing together scholars, frontline leaders, legal experts, scientists, policymakers, and cultural practitioners, the conference explores how preferred futures—futures grounded in equity, dignity, and ecological integrity—can be actively shaped across local, transborder, and international contexts. Building on critical scholarship and lived experience, discussions will examine the historical and political-economic forces that have produced environmental harm and inequality, while centering pathways for repair, protection, and transformation emerging from Indigenous peoples and frontline communities. Across two days, the conference engages questions of climate reparations, environmental governance, Indigenous jurisprudence, climate mobility and the right to stay, and the responsibilities of institutions in advancing just futures. In addition to advancing shared understanding, the convening serves as a collaborative space to consider how universities can meaningfully support justice-centered climate action and how the Stanford Center for Just Environmental Futures can operate as a long-term partner to communities, civil society, and decision-makers working in service of the most vulnerable—and the living world. The Stanford Initiative on Business and Environmental Sustainability Research Conference Series is hosted by Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Season 2, episode 43, recorded March 23, 2026 #GSBsustainability #GSBpodcast #Doerrpodcast #podcast