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The Community Impact Challenge (CIC) is an INSEAD alumni-driven, long-term initiative, conceived in September 2019 and globally launched on December 1, 2019. The initiative is led by a group of volunteers from within the INSEAD community and supported by the Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society (HGIBS), INSEAD, the INSEAD Alumni Association (IAA) and INDEVOR - INSEAD’s Social Impact club. The aim of the CIC is to mobilise this community with concrete actions to create a positive impact, aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG). We intend to raise awareness, educate and trigger long-term habit changes towards greater sustainability. This comprises our use of plastics, food consumption, modes of transport, sources of energy, education... amongst others. The vision is to support the INSEAD community, with its 30,000 members who will have joined the challenge in the next ten years, to become carbon net zero by 2030 (i.e. to balance carbon emissions caused by carbon removals).

Yes, it includes staff, faculty, students and alumni. It will include B2B activities too. It’s the power of the individuals, the community and the organizations with which they are associated. Non-INSEAD people can join as a participant or volunteer. We are also connecting with other business schools and other communities, who share the same values and vision.

It started in 2019 with the single-used plastics challenge earlier. Since then we completed the Sustainable Food Habits Challenge in 2020.

We should take individual action because without it GHG emissions will not reduce. Taking individual action triggers other individuals to act, and the more individuals are acting, the more businesses will develop new solutions, and the more governments will feel confident to guide whole nations in the right direction. By bringing together the collective brainpower of the INSEAD community, we devise strategies that have a measurable effect on carbon reduction (and are not just done to feel good). It is for this reason that subject matter experts are evaluating the effectiveness of measurable actions proposed during creation process. The CIC activities related to CO2 reduction will be organized in a game-like, fun filled challenge environment, that will enhance global alumni networking, peer to peer reach-out, knowledge sharing and serve as a common platform for INSEAD community to get involved in Carbon footprint reduction.

INSEAD will follow the same steps as for the corporations taking part– such as that of SUP (Single Used Plastics) Challenge. Alumni can influence the society, communities, corporations they are directly or indirectly involved with. Measuring of carbon footprint is happening in schools - Hoffman institute is already doing that. We have a bottom-up approach. Removal of single use plastics was kick started and pushed by staff. This is how it started: https://www.insead.edu/centres/the-hoffmann-global-institute-for-business-and-society/st ories/single-use-plastic-bottles-on-campus

Yes, over the next 10 years there will be a different challenge each year as a facet of impact to curb climate change. Future challenge might include areas such as mobility/transport and energy to reach the 2030 goal. The intention is to keep leveraging on the collective intelligence of the INSEAD community and to co-create the new challenges together.

We are defining carbon net zero as balancing carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by carbon dioxide removals, in the same year. CO2 equivalent emissions includes those in Scope 1 (emissions you cause directly with your own resources, e.g. your own car, or a company's own factory burning oil), Scope 2 (emissions caused by suppliers to provide you with electricity and heat) and Scope 3 (all other emissions caused by suppliers to provide you services and by customers using your services). Carbon dioxide removals (CDRs) are physical removals of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and permanently sequestering them (such as direct air capture and storage in geological formations, or enhanced weathering of silicate rock, or inserting biochar in agricultural land). What does not count is 'offsetting' by paying others to reduce their emissions. Without removals, together we will not get to net zero emissions. We say 'in the same year' because what does not count as net zero is to emit in one year, and pay for removals spread out over many future years. That is like taking on more debt, and we have enough debt to the climate already. You cannot emit now, plant a tree, and count all removals by the tree over its multi-decade lifetime. Our motto is Individual Action. Collective Power. The School, NAAs, Alumni and extended networks, are all coming together to be a part of the change that they wish to see in the world.

The food challenge will define a set of actions such as reducing meat and dairy consumption, becoming aware of food origins , and reducing food waste. All of the actions related to the challenge will have a positive impact on climate change by reducing GHG emmisions. The corse challenge takes place from 15th Oct - 15th Nov but the impact and effrots will continue long after.

Of course. Check out our Food Habits Tips in our Resources Ssction.

When we eat less meat, we need to eat more nuts, legumes and vegetables. For example, the EAT Lancet commission recommends per day 300g vegetables, 200g fruit, 50 grams of nuts (=300 kcal), 75 grams of beans/lentils/soy, 40-50g of unsaturated oils. This will help meet your requirements.

Most of the research on ultra-processed food focuses on the health impact on humans. Such foods don’t necessarily have a higher carbon footprint than other food products, it depends nearly entirely on the ingredients of the ultra-processed food item, this is more important than the energy used in processing. For example, ultra-processed foods with meat in them (e.g. burgers, hotdogs) cause more GHG emissions than ultra-processed plant-based foods.

CIC will post interesting and relevant articles on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WeChat. We encourage you to hare/ like/ comment on the posts to engage with your network. Additionally, to participate in discussions and build a community of business leaders, who care for the planet, please join our LinkedIn group. Thank you for spreading the word!

The Engagement Team is happy to answer any questions or help find the right person to ask. Pls write to us at communitychallenge@insead.edu.

The material is the same for everyone. Follow our Linkedin Page and join our LinkedIn group to stay up-to-date.

Absolutely, everyone is welcome here. The spirit of the INSEAD community is of inclusiveness and through our valuable networks we can reach out to more people who share the same values.

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