The New Corporate Climate Leadership

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the role of the private sector in accelerating the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient, and inclusive world. In the lead up to and since the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, more than 6,000 companies from 120 countries representing more than $36.5 trillion in revenue have made climate commitments. Examining this trend, The New Corporate Climate Leadership provides a clear synthesis of the relationship between the real economy and climate change and offers a state-of-the-art assessment of corporate initiatives that focus on greenhouse gas emissions reductions and the management of climate risk through enhanced resilience. It debates the relative merits of incremental and sequenced ambition versus radical systems change – including a critique of the prevailing capitalist approach to climate change – and provides an actionable guide to skills development for change-makers in the shift toward a low-carbon world. Drawing on perspectives from leading thinkers inside the private sector, across government, and within civil society to truly interrogate the scale, scope, and speed of progress, this book provides a clear vision for what the next generation of corporate climate leadership should look like. Optimistic in tone, this book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and practitioners of climate change and sustainable business.

Climate change is one of the greatest threats facing humanity, a definitive manifestation of the well-worn links between progress and devastation. This book explores the complex relationship that the corporate world has with climate change and examines the central role of corporations in shaping political and social responses to the climate crisis. The principal message of the book is that despite the need for dramatic economic and political change, corporate capitalism continues to rely on the maintenance of 'business as usual'. The authors explore the different processes through which corporations engage with climate change. Key discussion points include climate change as business risk, corporate climate politics, the role of justification and compromise, and managerial identity and emotional reactions to climate change. Written for researchers and graduate students, this book moves beyond descriptive and normative approaches to provide a sociologically and critically informed theory of corporate responses to climate change.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical—and accessible—plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide to certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. Drawing on his understanding of innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market, he describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions, where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively, where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete, practical plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions—suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers, and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but if we follow the plan he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.

This book provides a clear, critical, and timely analysis of the state of corporate sustainability within the context of the climate crisis. It offers not only a substantive critique of the current efforts but also clarity about the changes needed and how to implement them. The book goes beyond the more common debate on shareholder capitalism vs. stakeholder capitalism to explain the shortcomings of the current approach to sustainability in business, which the author describes as sustainability-as-usual. Using strategic design lenses, the author proposes a new model of awakened sustainability, which offers a transformational shift in corporate sustainability to ensure companies fairly and effectively address the climate crisis. The book presents the numerous changes needed in the environment in which companies operate to enable awakened sustainability and how these changes can be realized. Grounded in the scientific community’s calls for urgent action on climate change, this groundbreaking text provides scholars with an evaluation of current and future trends in corporate sustainability. It connects the dots between the progress made in the last five decades and the opportunities entailed in the work on a regenerative and just vision for companies in this decade and beyond.

Given the scale of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions that are seen as necessary to avert the worst effects of climate change, policy action is likely to result in a complete reshaping of the world economy. The consequences are not confined to 'obvious' sectors such as power generation, transport and heavy industry; virtually every company's activities, business models and strategies will need to be completely rethought. In addition, beyond their core business activities, companies have the potential to make important contributions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the allocation of capital, through innovation and the development of new technologies, and through their influence on the actions taken by governments on climate change. Corporate Responses to Climate Change has been written at a crucial point in the climate change debate, with the issue now central to economic and energy policy in many countries. The book analyses current business practice and performance on climate change, in the light of the dramatic changes in the regulatory and policy environment over the last five years. More specifically, it examines how climate change-related policy development and implementation have influenced corporate performance, with the objective of using this information to consider how the next stage of climate change policy – regulation, incentives, voluntary initiatives – may be designed and implemented in a manner that delivers the real and substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that will be required in a timely manner, while also addressing the inevitable dilemmas at the heart of climate change policy (e.g. how are concerns such as energy security to be squared with the need for drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions? Can economic growth be reconciled with greenhouse gas emissions? Can emissions reductions be delivered in an economically efficient manner?). The book focuses primarily on two areas. First, how have companies actually responded to the emerging regulatory framework and the growing political and broader public interest in climate change? Have companies reduced their greenhouse gas emissions and by how much? Have companies already started to position themselves for the transition to a low-carbon economy? Does corporate self-regulation – unilateral commitments and collective voluntary approaches – represent an appropriate response to the threat presented by climate change? What are the barriers to further action? Second, the book examines what the key drivers for corporate action on climate change have been: regulation, stakeholder pressure, investor pressure. Which policy instruments have been effective, which have not, and why? How have company actions influenced the strength of these pressures? Corporate Responses to Climate Change is a state-of-the-art analysis of corporate action on climate change and will be essential reading for businesses, policy-makers, academics, NGOs, investors and all those interested in how the business sector is and should be dealing with the most serious environmental threat faced by our planet.

This book will help business executives to (1) rethink their perceptions of climate risk (2) evaluate whether their company is effectively positioned, and (3) make informed and prudent business decisions about climate change risk in an environment rife with policy uncertainty.Business risk associated with climate change is commonly assumed to be primarily policy driven. Many companies internalize the current stalemate over global climate policy into a perception that climate risk is no longer a critical issue. Business climate risks, however, include: Operational and Supply Chain (Physical) Risk, Brand Risk, Market-driven Structural Risk, Liability Risk.As national and global policy to materially reduce climate change is delayed, it is business-prudent to assume that the level of climate risk is increasing. Even if policy risk might seem lower today than a few years ago, political will can change quickly. Should physical impacts of climate change manifest in dramatic ways, for example, draconian climate policy is likely to follow quickly. These conditions create a complex and shifting business risk environment, and most companies either overlook or substantially underestimate key climate risks. How many companies, for example, are positioned for material climate change outcomes, whether physical or regulatory? Companies with little climate change exposure may not face much downside risk from taking a wait-and-see approach. For those with greater exposure, being "too late" to respond will mean costs and competitive impacts that could have been avoided. Being "too early," however, can mean being penalized later for actions that reduce a company’s emissions today, or competitive disadvantage from getting too far out in front of competitors.

A climate catastrophe can be avoided, but only with a rapid and sustained investment in companies and projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To the surprise of many, this has already begun. Investors are abandoning fossil-fuel companies and other polluting industries and financing businesses offering climate solutions. Rising risks, evolving social norms, government policies, and technological innovation are all accelerating this movement of capital. Bruce Usher offers an indispensable guide to the risks and opportunities for investors as the world faces climate change. He explores the role that investment plays in reducing emissions to net zero by 2050, detailing how to finance the winners and avoid the losers in a transforming global economy. Usher argues that careful examination of climate solutions will offer investors a new and necessary lens on the future for their own financial benefit and for the greater good. Companies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions will create great wealth, and, more importantly, they will provide a lifeline for humanity. Grounded in academic and industry research, Usher’s insights bring clarity to a complex and controversial topic while illuminating the people behind the numbers. This book sets out a practical and actionable plan for investors that will alter the course of climate change.

"A guide into the "complex relationship between corporates and an increasingly regulatory and auditing environment which holds corporations accountable for their carbon footprint." The book provides an overview of factors big business needs to consider when formulating appropriate and effective responses to climate change"--Bookseller's website.

In recent years climate change has become a leading issue on both the business and political agenda. With the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change now ratified, business is bracing itself for the reality of serious regulation on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.The Business of Climate Change presents a state-of-the-art analysis of corporate responses to the climate change issue. The book describes and assesses a number of recent business approaches that will help to identify effective strategies and promote the dissemination of proactive corporate practices on climate change worldwide. By identifying the factors that cause companies to pursue low-carbon strategies and support the Kyoto process, the book will also be helpful to governments in formulating policy.Business and industry have a crucial role to play in the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. They are major emitters of greenhouse gases, and pressure is mounting for them to engage in a range of mitigation strategies, from emission inventorying and trading schemes to investments in low-carbon technologies. Behind the scenes a number of companies have started to develop strategies to curtail greenhouse gas emissions.These strategies can be very diverse in nature. At a political level, companies try to influence policy implementation and, more specifically, to test ideas in anticipation of possible regulation on the climate change issue. At a more practical level, there are a burgeoning number of initiatives to conserve energy use in production, transportation and buildings, to develop renewable sources of energy, to measure carbon emissions and sequestration at a detailed level, and to develop various markets for trading carbon credits among companies and countries. Some technologies, such as hybrid cars and compact fluorescent lighting, are now market realities.Common to all of these initiatives is that they operate in an environment of high complexity and uncertainty. The political implementation of the Kyoto Protocol remains uncertain and many details remain unspecified. Economic instruments such as emission trading are favoured, but their mechanisms are still hotly debated and the future price of credits is unknown. New markets for low-emission products and technologies are beginning to appear, but there are currently few regulatory drivers to assist their development. The impact of potential regulation on business will vary tremendously between companies and sectors. The fossil fuel and energy sectors fear the economics of action, while sectors such as insurance and agriculture fear the economics of inaction. Combined with the remaining uncertainties about what form climate change may take, corporate responses to reduce risks have to differentiate between sectors and have to be flexible. For individual companies, these big uncertainties demand new thinking and contingency planning.The Business of Climate Change is split into four sections: "Introduction and overview" presents a broad perspective on business and climate policies

Climate change represents the most important environmental challenge of our time. Organisations are responding by implementing governance processes and taking action to reduce their own emissions and the emissions from their supply chains and value chains. Yet very little is known about how these efforts contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions (if, indeed, they make any substantive contribution at all) or about how they might be harnessed to deliver more ambitious reductions in emissions. This book explains when and where particular forms of governance intervention – including internal governance processes and external governance pressures – are likely to impact climate change. From this analysis, it offers practical proposals on the climate policy frameworks that need to be in place to facilitate or accelerate changes in corporate behaviour. The book is truly global: it focuses on the world’s 25 largest retailers (including Walmart, Tesco, Carrefour, Sears and Aldi) and is based on detailed interviews with senior managers from these corporations, and with key global and national NGOs, corporate responsibility experts, politicians and regulators. These interviews provide clear insights into how external governance pressures and actions (public opinion, regulation, incentives) interact with internal governance conditions (management systems and processes, corporate policies, board/CEO leadership) to change and shape corporate actions on climate change and, in turn, the climate change impacts of these corporations. This book can be used as a core reference for any courses dealing with corporate governance and business strategy, in particular those relating to climate change and to environmental management more generally. It is also of relevance to business practitioners, public policy makers, investors and NGOs interested in ensuring that companies play a constructive role in the transition to a low-carbon economy.