Capturing climate: Tracking nascent transnational business governance interactions around the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative

Abstract

Studies of transnational business governance interactions (TBGI) have tended to focus on sectors with well-established schemes, often taking a retrospective approach. While this affords great possibilities for longitudinal studies, expanding the analytical timeline can also obfuscate the influence of governance schemes’ initial design and interactions on their ability to perform desired regulatory functions and, more widely, ratchet up standards. This chapter explores an attempt by the oil & gas industry to involve itself in climate governance – the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI). Composed of ten major companies, its stated goal is to develop strategies consistent with a two-degree future. By pairing the TBGI analytical framework with insights from Braithwaite and Drahos’ (2000) theory of global business regulation, the chapter considers how emergent interactions may shape the ability of the OGCI to influence the governance of climate change.