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    Inside the transition: Bottlenecks and strategic choices

    December 1, 2025 • by Julia Binder, Knut Haanaes in I by IMD Podcasts • Podcast availablePodcast available

    In the second episode of IMD’s sustainability series, IMD's Julia Binder and Knut Haanaes welcome Kunal Chandra of RWE to discuss the energy transition....

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    In the second episode of IMD’s sustainability series, Julia Binder and Knut Haanaes welcome Kunal Chandra, the Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer at RWE AG, one of Europe’s largest energy companies.

     

    Chandra, an IMD alumnus, oversees one of Europe’s largest clean energy investment programs and offers a unique perspective from his career across Shell, Siemens, and now RWE, on the accelerating energy transition.

    Chandra’s career began with a desire to travel, and evolved into a deep understanding of energy’s fundamental role in human civilization. The discussion centers on the speed of the transition, the bottlenecks it creates, and the strategic choices executives must make in an increasingly electrified and contested energy world.

    Expert

    Kunal Chandra

    Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer, RWE AG

    Since 1 August 2022, Kunal Chandra serves as Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer at RWE AG, one of Europe’s largest Energy Companies. Since joining RWE he has led the integration of Con Edison’s Clean Energy Businesses into RWE Americas, forming RWE Clean Energy, the second largest solar and fourth largest renewables company in the US.

    Chandra joined RWE from Siemens and brings with him over 15 years of experience in the international energy industry. At Siemens, he built up the renewable energy business with a focus on hydrogen and power-to-X technologies, among others. As Program Manager he also played a key role in the successful carve-out of Siemens Energy.

    Chandra previously worked for Shell in Singapore, Nigeria, India and the Netherlands, managing projects in the field of LNG. He holds a Bachelor in Technology degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and an MBA (Honors) from IMD Business School, Switzerland.

    Authors

    Julia Binder

    Julia Binder

    Professor of Business Transformation at IMD

    Julia Katharina Binder, Professor of Business Transformation, is a renowned thought leader recognized on the 2022 Thinkers50 Radar list for her work at the intersection of sustainability and innovation. As Director of IMD’s Center for Sustainable and Inclusive Business, Binder is dedicated to leveraging IMD’s diverse expertise on sustainability topics to guide business leaders in discovering innovative solutions to contemporary challenges. At IMD, Binder serves as Program Director for Creating Value in the Circular Economy and teaches in key open programs including  Transition to Business Leadership (TBL), and Leading Sustainable Business Transformation (LSBT). She is involved in the school’s EMBA and MBA programs, and contributes to IMD’s custom programs, crafting transformative learning journeys for clients globally.

    Knut Haanaes

    Knut Haanaes

    Lundin Chair Professor of Sustainability at IMD

    Knut Haanaes is a former Dean of the Global Leadership Institute at the World Economic Forum. He was previously a Senior Partner at the Boston Consulting Group and founded their first sustainability practice. At IMD he teaches in many of the key programs, including the MBA, and is Co-Director of the Leading Sustainable Business Transformation program (LSBT) and the Driving Sustainability from the Boardroom (DSB) program. His research interests are related to strategy, digital transformation, and sustainability.

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