Josh Henretig

Josh is a Managing Director at RMI, leading the Climate Intelligence Program, which focuses on applying data and technology to differentiate climate performance across material and energy industries and their associated value chains. Climate Intelligence works to enhance emissions visibility via open-source data platforms; advance carbon accounting systems that attribute emissions at various levels (corporate, facility, asset, product, etc.); establish and/or harmonize standards and marketplaces that allow us to differentiate the emissions intensity of raw materials, goods, and services; and advance the digital infrastructure and exchanges for tracing, valuing, and transacting these differentiated goods and services.

Background

Prior to joining RMI, Josh served as Vice President of Global Partnerships at Higg, an integrated platform for sustainability insights that helps consumer goods businesses take responsibility for their entire social and environmental impact, from materials to products, from factories to stores, and across energy, waste, water, and working conditions.

Before Higg, Josh spent more than 17 years at Microsoft, where he played a leading role in shaping the company’s sustainability agenda, from its very first public environmental commitments in 2008 to its announcement in January 2020 that it would become “carbon negative” by expanding its internal carbon tax, reducing and removing its emissions since its 1975 founding, and deploying $1 billion to stimulate and accelerate the development of carbon removal technology. Over the years, Josh has worked on all aspects of corporate sustainability design and execution, from product development and strategic partnerships to developing scalable programs and tools to drive innovation while decoupling environmental impacts from the company’s business growth.

In 2016, Josh led the development of Microsoft’s AI for Earth program, a $50 million initiative focused on deploying Microsoft’s artificial intelligence research and technology in four areas: climate change, agriculture, water, and biodiversity. He also oversaw the global sustainability team’s operational commitments around decarbonizing energy and fuel sources, increasing material and water reuse, tracking and reporting progress against goals, and managing climate-related risks and environmental compliance across the company’s entire value chain.

Education

B.A., Whitman College

Board of Advisors for Pachama

Distinguished Fellow at the University of Washington EarthLab

Former Board of Directors of Measurabl

First Mover Fellow at the Aspen Institute