IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v60y2013icp733-740.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ten years of corporate action on climate change: What do we have to show for it?

Author

Listed:
  • Sullivan, Rory
  • Gouldson, Andy

Abstract

A significant proportion of the world's greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed, directly or indirectly, to corporate activities. An increasing number of companies have set targets and have adopted initiatives to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, raising the question of what sorts of outcomes can realistically be expected from corporate action on climate change? This paper aims to shed some light on this issue through an analysis of the climate change performance of the UK supermarket sector. This sector is directly responsible for around 1% of UK greenhouse gas emissions, but it has been estimated that indirectly it may be responsible for up to 10% of emissions. In the period between 2000 and 2010, the major UK supermarkets transformed their approach to climate change. This paper examines the outcomes that resulted from these actions. It finds that there have been significant and steady improvements in energy efficiency, but that these efficiency gains are often outstripped by the impacts of business growth. For most companies, short of a radical redesign of their business activities, or an expansion of the scope of their energy management initiatives to include their indirect emissions, total greenhouse gas emissions will tend to increase over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Sullivan, Rory & Gouldson, Andy, 2013. "Ten years of corporate action on climate change: What do we have to show for it?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 733-740.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:60:y:2013:i:c:p:733-740
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.05.025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421513003571
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.05.025?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rory Sullivan, 2009. "The management of greenhouse gas emissions in large European companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(6), pages 301-309, November.
    2. Busch, Timo & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2007. "Emerging carbon constraints for corporate risk management," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3-4), pages 518-528, May.
    3. Rory Sullivan, 2010. "An assessment of the climate change policies and performance of large European companies," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 38-50, January.
    4. Okereke, Chukwumerije, 2007. "An Exploration of Motivations, Drivers and Barriers to Carbon Management:: The UK FTSE 100," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 475-486, December.
    5. J.P. Gond & A. El Akremi & J. Igalens & V. Swaen, 2011. "A corporate social responsibility," Post-Print hal-00826426, HAL.
    6. Thomas Dyllick & Kai Hockerts, 2002. "Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 130-141, March.
    7. Andy Gouldson & Rory Sullivan, 2007. "Corporate environmentalism: tracing the links between policies and performance using corporate reports and public registers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, January.
    8. Unerman, Jeffrey & Bennett, Mark, 2004. "Increased stakeholder dialogue and the internet: towards greater corporate accountability or reinforcing capitalist hegemony?," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 685-707, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peter Newell, 2020. "The business of rapid transition," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(6), November.
    2. Rory Sullivan & Andy Gouldson, 2017. "The Governance of Corporate Responses to Climate Change: An International Comparison," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 413-425, May.
    3. Rory Sullivan & Andy Gouldson, 2016. "Comparing the Climate Change Actions, Targets and Performance of UK and US Retailers," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(3), pages 129-139, May.
    4. Andy Gouldson & Rory Sullivan, 2014. "Understanding the Governance of Corporations: An Examination of the Factors Shaping UK Supermarket Strategies on Climate Change," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(12), pages 2972-2990, December.
    5. Doda, Baran & Gennaioli, Caterina & Gouldson, Andy & Grover, David & Sullivan, Rory, 2015. "Are corporate carbon management practices reducing corporate carbon emissions?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 60816, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Ferreira, Ana & Pinheiro, Manuel Duarte & de Brito, Jorge & Mateus, Ricardo, 2018. "Combined carbon and energy intensity benchmarks for sustainable retail stores," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PB), pages 877-889.
    7. Kurniawan Kuriawan & Hery Subowo & Irman Firmansyah, 2022. "Bibliometric Analysis of Carbon Accounting Research," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(3), pages 482-489, May.
    8. Ozawa-Meida, Leticia & Wilson, Caroline & Fleming, Paul & Stuart, Graeme & Holland, Carl, 2017. "Institutional, social and individual behavioural effects of energy feedback in public buildings across eleven European cities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 222-233.
    9. Ruiqin Mou & Tao Ma, 2023. "A Study on the Quality and Determinants of Climate Information Disclosure of A-Share-Listed Banks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, May.
    10. Halil Emre Akbaş & Seda Canikli, 2018. "Determinants of Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Emission Disclosure: An Empirical Investigation on Turkish Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-24, December.
    11. Alessandro Franco & Giacomo Cillari, 2021. "Energy Sustainability of Food Stores and Supermarkets through the Installation of PV Integrated Plants," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-17, September.
    12. Yu, Yu & Wang, Derek D. & Li, Shanling & Shi, Qinfen, 2016. "Assessment of U.S. firm-level climate change performance and strategy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 432-443.
    13. Baran Doda & Caterina Gennaioli & Andy Gouldson & David Grover & Rory Sullivan, 2016. "Are Corporate Carbon Management Practices Reducing Corporate Carbon Emissions?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(5), pages 257-270, September.
    14. Ebiyon Idundun & Andrew S. Hursthouse & Iain McLellan, 2021. "Carbon Management in UK Higher Education Institutions: An Overview," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-16, September.
    15. Harmke Immink & Robbie Louw & Amy Garlick & Samuel Vosper & Alan Brent, 2022. "Country specific low carbon commitments versus equitable and practical company specific decarbonisation targets," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(8), pages 10005-10025, August.
    16. Heather Klemick & Elizabeth Kopits & Ann Wolverton, 2015. "The Energy Efficiency Paradox: A Case Study of Supermarket Refrigeration System Investment Decisions," NCEE Working Paper Series 201503, National Center for Environmental Economics, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, revised Jun 2015.
    17. Sunhee Suk, 2018. "Determinants and Characteristics of Korean Companies’ Carbon Management under the Carbon Pricing Scheme," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-23, April.
    18. Ana Ferreira & Manuel Duarte Pinheiro & Jorge Brito & Ricardo Mateus & Vitor Sousa, 2023. "Water Intensity Indicators in the Global Retail Sector," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 37(1), pages 219-234, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rory Sullivan & Andy Gouldson, 2016. "Comparing the Climate Change Actions, Targets and Performance of UK and US Retailers," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(3), pages 129-139, May.
    2. David Littlewood & Rachel Decelis & Carola Hillenbrand & Diane Holt, 2018. "Examining the drivers and outcomes of corporate commitment to climate change action in European high emitting industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1437-1449, December.
    3. Mousa Mohamed, 2018. "The Phenomenon of Climate Change in Organization and HR- Related Literature: A Conceptual Brief Analysis," HOLISTICA – Journal of Business and Public Administration, Sciendo, vol. 9(1), pages 113-121, May.
    4. Matthias Damert & Rupert J. Baumgartner, 2018. "Intra‐Sectoral Differences in Climate Change Strategies: Evidence from the Global Automotive Industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 265-281, March.
    5. Christian Felix Böttcher & Martin Müller, 2015. "Drivers, Practices and Outcomes of Low‐carbon Operations: Approaches of German Automotive Suppliers to Cutting Carbon Emissions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 477-498, September.
    6. Marileena Koskela & Jarmo Vehmas, 2012. "Defining Eco‐efficiency: A Case Study on the Finnish Forest Industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(8), pages 546-566, December.
    7. Tingko Lee & Wei‐Tsung Liu & Jun‐Xian Yu, 2021. "Does TMT composition matter to environmental policy and firm performance? The role of organizational slack," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 196-213, January.
    8. Lei Wang & Steven Li & Simon Gao, 2014. "Do Greenhouse Gas Emissions Affect Financial Performance? – an Empirical Examination of Australian Public Firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(8), pages 505-519, December.
    9. Matthew P. Johnson & Theresa S. Rötzel & Brigitte Frank, 2023. "Beyond conventional corporate responses to climate change towards deep decarbonization: a systematic literature review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(2), pages 921-954, June.
    10. Kathleen Herbohn & Ru Gao & Peter Clarkson, 2019. "Evidence on Whether Banks Consider Carbon Risk in Their Lending Decisions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 155-175, August.
    11. Mousa Mohamed, 2018. "The Phenomenon of Climate Change in Organization and HR-Related Literature: A Conceptual Brief Analysis," Valahian Journal of Economic Studies, Sciendo, vol. 9(1), pages 101-108, April.
    12. Zahra Borghei, 2021. "Carbon disclosure: a systematic literature review," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(4), pages 5255-5280, December.
    13. Muhammad Omair & Biswajit Sarkar & Leopoldo Eduardo Cárdenas-Barrón, 2017. "Minimum Quantity Lubrication and Carbon Footprint: A Step towards Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-18, April.
    14. Victor Caritte & Salvador Acha & Nilay Shah, 2015. "Enhancing Corporate Environmental Performance Through Reporting and Roadmaps," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 289-308, July.
    15. Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour & Diego Vazquez‐Brust & Charbel José Chiappetta Jabbour & Daniela Andriani Ribeiro, 2020. "The interplay between stakeholders, resources and capabilities in climate change strategy: converting barriers into cooperation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1362-1386, March.
    16. Marcus Adam & Jochen Strähle & Matthias Freise, 2017. "The Interaction of Product-Service Systems (PSS) and Corporate Environmental Management (CEM): Can PSS Drive Today’s Fashion Industry Toward More Environmental Sustainability?," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(3), pages 235-249, September.
    17. Azlan Amran & Say Keat Ooi & Cheng Yew Wong & Fathyah Hashim, 2016. "Business Strategy for Climate Change: An ASEAN Perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(4), pages 213-227, July.
    18. Bikki Jaggi & Alessandra Allini & Riccardo Macchioni & Annamaria Zampella, 2018. "Do investors find carbon information useful? Evidence from Italian firms," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 1031-1056, May.
    19. Maria Björklund & Helena Forslund, 2019. "Challenges Addressed by Swedish Third-Party Logistics Providers Conducting Sustainable Logistics Business Cases," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-15, May.
    20. Merriam Haffar & Cory Searcy, 2018. "Target‐setting for ecological resilience: Are companies setting environmental sustainability targets in line with planetary thresholds?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 1079-1092, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:60:y:2013:i:c:p:733-740. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.