Firm commitments on climate change: Effects of science‐based targets on financial outcomes during the COVID‐19 crisis

IF 12.5 1区管理学 Q1 BUSINESS

Business Strategy and The Environment Pub Date : 2024-07-27 DOI:10.1002/bse.3890

Walid Ben‐Amar, Breeda Comyns, Isabelle Martinez

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can offer a protective buffer helping firms avoid the worst economic effects in times of crisis. We extend the extant literature by considering whether firm substantive climate commitments are effective at protecting the firm from financial losses during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We assess firm financial outcomes through (1) crash and post‐crash stock performance and (2) the severity of loss in the COVID‐19 stock market crash period. We identify substantive climate commitments as those carbon emission targets aligned with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which links firm's carbon targets to commitments made under the Paris Agreement. Using a sample of 336 US‐based companies, our findings show that science‐based targets are positively related to crash‐period returns and negatively related to severity of loss. Among firms with science‐based targets, only those externally verified and approved by the SBTi are influential in buffering financial losses during a crisis.

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对气候变化的坚定承诺：基于科学的目标对 COVID-19 危机期间财务结果的影响

企业社会责任（CSR）可以提供保护性缓冲，帮助企业在危机时期避免最坏的经济影响。我们对现有文献进行了扩展，考虑了在 COVID-19 大流行期间，企业的实质性气候承诺是否能有效保护企业免受经济损失。我们通过（1）股灾和股灾后的股票表现以及（2）COVID-19 股灾期间损失的严重程度来评估公司的财务结果。我们将实质性气候承诺确定为符合 "基于科学的目标倡议"（SBTi）的碳排放目标，该倡议将公司的碳排放目标与根据《巴黎协定》做出的承诺联系起来。利用 336 家美国公司的样本，我们的研究结果表明，基于科学的目标与股灾期间的回报呈正相关，而与损失的严重程度呈负相关。在具有科学目标的公司中，只有那些经过外部验证并获得 SBTi 批准的目标才能在危机期间对缓冲财务损失产生影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Business Strategy and The Environment Multiple-

CiteScore

22.50

自引率

19.40%

发文量

336

期刊介绍： Business Strategy and the Environment (BSE) is a leading academic journal focused on business strategies for improving the natural environment. It publishes peer-reviewed research on various topics such as systems and standards, environmental performance, disclosure, eco-innovation, corporate environmental management tools, organizations and management, supply chains, circular economy, governance, green finance, industry sectors, and responses to climate change and other contemporary environmental issues. The journal aims to provide original contributions that enhance the understanding of sustainability in business. Its target audience includes academics, practitioners, business managers, and consultants. However, BSE does not accept papers on corporate social responsibility (CSR), as this topic is covered by its sibling journal Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. The journal is indexed in several databases and collections such as ABI/INFORM Collection, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, BIOBASE, Emerald Management Reviews, GeoArchive, Environment Index, GEOBASE, INSPEC, Technology Collection, and Web of Science.