Corporations and climate change: An overview

Abstract

Corporations are primary emitters of greenhouse gases yet are also portrayed as key agents in responding to climate change. This overview article explains corporate responses to the climate crisis at three levels of analysis: (i) political (shaping the climate debate and influencing climate policy); (ii) organizational (enacting strategies and practices to address climate change); and (iii) individual (managers and employees caring about and acting on climate change in their personal and professional lives). Our synthesis of the burgeoning literature on corporations and climate change in the fields of management and organization studies, human geography, and political economy highlights how and why particular corporate responses have been enacted, encompassing managerial as well as more critical and radical understandings of business activities.This article is categorized under: Climate, History, Society, Culture > Disciplinary Perspectives Climate Economics > Economics and Climate Change The Carbon Economy and Climate Mitigation > Decarbonizing Energy and/or Reducing Demand Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change > Institutions for Adaptation