The Business of Climate Change: Corporate Responses to Kyoto

by Kathryn Begg (Editor), Frans van der Woerd (Editor), David Levy (Editor)

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781874719571
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/01/2005
Pages:	284
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Frans van der Woerd, Kathryn Begg, David Levy

Table of Contents

Foreword Irving Mintzer, Amber Leonard Introduction Frans van der Woerd, Vrije Universiteit, The Netherlands, Katie Begg, University of Surrey, UK, and David Levy, University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA Part 1: Introduction and overview 1. 2003: the end of the beginning? Jorund Buen, Atle Chr. Christiansen, Anders Skogen and Kristian Tangen 2. Down to business on climate change: an overview of corporate strategies Seth Dunn, Worldwatch Institute, USA 3. Organising business: industry NGOs in the climate debates Simone Pulver, University of California, Berkeley, USA 4. Best corporate responses to climate change: opportunities for converging climate and biodiversity protecting solutions Michael Totten and Sonal I. Pandya, Center for Environmental Leadership in Business, USA Part 2: Policy instruments 5. Early experiences with emissions trading in the UK Frauke Roeser, WSP Environmental, UK, and Tim Jackson, University of Surrey, UK 6. Building a greenhouse gas management programme: a framework based on real-world corporate responses The Partnership for Climate Action with Environmental Defense 7. Governmental and industrial responses to climate change: the case of Germany Axel Michaelowa, Sonja Butzengeiger and Sven Bode, Hamburg Institute of International Economics, Germany 8. Environmental management systems and their influence on corporate responses to climate change Rory Sullivan, Insight Investment, UK, and John M. Sullivan, Alcan Engineering (Australia) Part 3: Sector analysis 9. Three big Cs: climate, cement and China Joakim Nordqvist, Lund University, Sweden, Christopher Boyd, Lafarge, France, and Howard Klee, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Switzerland 10. Climate change and the insurance sector: its role in adaptation and mitigation Andrew Dlugolecki, University of East Anglia, UK, and Mojdeh Keykhah, University of Oxford, UK 11. An institutional comparison of two sectoral responses to the political economy of climate change Jesse Uzzell, DNV, Norway 12. The chemical industry’s response to climate change Frans van der Woerd, Vrije Universiteit, The Netherlands 13. Multinational responses to climate change in the automotive and oil industries David Levy, University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA, and Ans Kolk, Amsterdam Graduate Business School, The Netherlands Part 4: Case studies 14. Becoming a first mover in green electricity supply: corporate change driven by liberalisation and climate change Peter S. Hofman, Center for Clean Technology and Environmental Policy, The Netherlands 15. Corporate responses to climate change: the case of Fortum Hanne Siikavirta, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland, Pekka Järvinen and Arto Heikkinen, Enprima Ltd, Finland, and Heikki Niininen, Fortum Corporation, Finland 16. The Emissions/Biodiversity Exchange: a corporate sustainable development programme in New Zealand Bob Frame, Richard Gordon and Ian Turney, Landcare Research, New Zealand 17. Rent sharing in the Clean Development Mechanism: the case of the Tahumanu Hydroelectric Project in Bolivia Christophe de Gouvello, Centre International de Recherche en Environnement et Développement, France, Pierre Mollon, EDF-E7, France, and Sandrine Mathy, Centre International de Recherche en Environnement et Développement, France 18. An early corporate response to climate change: a review of a US Electric Company-sponsored joint implementation pilot project Naoko Kubo, Global Reporting Initiative, The Netherlands

Editorial Reviews

Formulating international climate change policy without analysing corporate responses would be a futile exercise. And that's precisely where this extensive and pithy textbook, based on contributions from academics and researchers across the world, takes aim. It describes and assesses business approaches that help identify effective strategies and promote the dissemination of proactive corporate practices on climate change. An indispensable guide for companies eager to find best practice and for policy-makers who want to drive change. - Corporate Citizen Briefing, July 2005 || This book takes a good look at what'some of the more forward-looking businesses are currently experimenting with in order to produce new responses to climate change ... there is a tremendous amount of material covered from a number of perspectives ... This book is an excellent buy for libraries with its wide spread being part of its charm – with lots of material to provide students with places to begin to explore this literature. - Social and Environmental Accounting Journal Vol. 25 Issue 1 || Identifies the factors that cause companies to pursue low carbon strategies and support Kyoto. Also useful for governments formulating policy ... - Long Range Planning Vol. 39 (2006)

From the Publisher

"Identifies the factors that cause companies to pursue low carbon strategies and support Kyoto. Also useful for governments formulating policy...."

Long Range Planning

"This book takes a good look at what some of the more forward-looking businesses are currently experimenting with in order to produce new responses to climate change...there is a tremendous amount of material covered from a number of perspectives....This book is an excellent buy for libraries with its wide spread being part of its charm — with lots of material to provide students with places to begin to explore this literature."

Social and Environmental Accounting

"An indispensable guide for companies eager to find best practice and for policy-makers who want to drive change."

Corporate Citizen Briefing