IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v31y2013i5p822-840.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Novel Multisector Networks and Entrepreneurship: The Role of Small Businesses in the Multilevel Governance of Climate Change

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah Burch

    (Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada)

  • Heike Schroeder

    (School of International Development, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TJ, England)

  • Steve Rayner

    (Institute for Science, Innovation and Society, School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, 64 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6PN, England)

  • Jennifer Wilson

    (Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, England)

Abstract

While some jurisdictions are demonstrating leadership on climate change, it is clear that sufficient mitigation of climate change is not occurring. This highlights the importance of innovative approaches that bolster politically fraught international treaties and voluntary networks with strategies that exploit the strengths of a variety of traditional and nontraditional actors. With this paper we examine just such an innovation in the form of a multisector and multilevel network linking together the regional authority Metro Vancouver in the Canadian province of British Columbia, several municipal governments, a social enterprise, and a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises to act on climate change. This case demonstrates that while complementarity of actions across levels and sectors is not always achieved, it is nonetheless likely to contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emission reductions in the urban context. Interview and survey data also highlight that each sector and level of governance can provide what it is good at or capable of in order to enable others to contribute their share. Whether this is done on an ad hoc basis or in the form of partnerships, networks or agreements may vary from case to case, and further research is needed to understand what forms of multilevel and multisector partnerships, networks, and agreements are most conducive to achieving desired outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Burch & Heike Schroeder & Steve Rayner & Jennifer Wilson, 2013. "Novel Multisector Networks and Entrepreneurship: The Role of Small Businesses in the Multilevel Governance of Climate Change," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 31(5), pages 822-840, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:31:y:2013:i:5:p:822-840
    DOI: 10.1068/c1206
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/c1206
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/c1206?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heidi Weltzien Hoivik & Domènec Melé, 2009. "Can an SME Become a Global Corporate Citizen? Evidence from a Case Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 551-563, September.
    2. Stern,Nicholas, 2007. "The Economics of Climate Change," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521700801, January.
    3. Rigmar Osterkamp & Markus Eller, 2003. "How Decentralised Is Government Activity?," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 1(01), pages 32-35, February.
    4. repec:ces:ifodic:v:1:y:2003:i:3:p:14567926 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Rigmar Osterkamp & Markus Eller, 2003. "Functional Decentralisation of Government Activity," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 1(3), pages 36-42, 02.
    6. Andrea Revell & David Stokes & Hsin Chen, 2010. "Small businesses and the environment: turning over a new leaf?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(5), pages 273-288, July.
    7. Sarah Roberts & Rob Lawson & Jeremy Nicholls, 2006. "Generating Regional-Scale Improvements in SME Corporate Responsibility Performance: Lessons from Responsibility Northwest," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(3), pages 275-286, September.
    8. Alan Greenspan, 2002. "Corporate governance," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 3(03), pages 3-6, October.
    9. Barry G. Rabe, 2008. "States on Steroids: The Intergovernmental Odyssey of American Climate Policy," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 25(2), pages 105-128, March.
    10. Mike Simpson & Nick Taylor & Karen Barker, 2004. "Environmental responsibility in SMEs: does it deliver competitive advantage?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 156-171, May.
    11. Rigmar Osterkamp & Markus Eller, 2003. "Functional Decentralisation of Government Activity," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 1(03), pages 36-42, February.
    12. Andrew L. Friedman & Samantha Miles, 2002. "SMEs and the environment: evaluating dissemination routes and handholding levels," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(5), pages 324-341, September.
    13. Harriet Bulkeley & Susanne C. Moser, 2007. "Responding to Climate Change: Governance and Social Action beyond Kyoto," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 7(2), pages 1-10, May.
    14. Dean, Thomas J. & McMullen, Jeffery S., 2007. "Toward a theory of sustainable entrepreneurship: Reducing environmental degradation through entrepreneurial action," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 50-76, January.
    15. repec:ces:ifodic:v:1:y:2003:i:1:p:14567833 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Patricia Romero-Lankao & Daniel M. Gnatz & Olga Wilhelmi & Mary Hayden, 2016. "Urban Sustainability and Resilience: From Theory to Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-19, November.

    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. Istvan Rado & Mei-Fei Lu & I-Chen Lin & Ken Aoo, 2021. "Societal Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Asian Rural Societies: A Multi-Sectoral Social Capital Approach in Thailand, Taiwan, and Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-28, March.
    2. Stefan Greiving & Dietwald Gruehn & Christa Reicher, 2022. "The Rhenish Coal-Mining Area—Assessing the Transformational Talents and Challenges of a Region in Fundamental Structural Change," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-20, May.
    3. 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.
    4. Francesco Ramella, 2010. "Negotiating Local Development: The Italian Experience of ‘Territorial Pacts’," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 28(3), pages 512-527, June.
    5. Smith, Göran & Hensher, David A., 2020. "Towards a framework for Mobility-as-a-Service policies," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 54-65.
    6. Alejandro Lara & Felipe Bucci & Cristobal Palma & Juan Munizaga & Victor Montre-Águila, 2021. "Development, urban planning and political decisions. A triad that built territories at risk," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 109(2), pages 1935-1957, November.
    7. Harriet Bulkeley & Andy Jordan, 2012. "Guest Editorial," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 30(4), pages 556-570, August.
    8. Laura Ripoll González & Fred Gale, 2020. "Place Branding as Participatory Governance? An Interdisciplinary Case Study of Tasmania, Australia," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, May.
    9. van Oosten, Cora & Runhaar, Hens & Arts, Bas, 2021. "Capable to govern landscape restoration? Exploring landscape governance capabilities, based on literature and stakeholder perceptions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    10. Katharina Spraul & Annegret Höfert, 2021. "Governance for Sustainability: Patterns of Regulation and Self-Regulation in the German Wine Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-25, March.
    11. Jan Janosch Förster & Linda Downsborough & Lisa Biber-Freudenberger & Girma Kelboro Mensuro & Jan Börner, 2021. "Exploring criteria for transformative policy capacity in the context of South Africa’s biodiversity economy," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 54(1), pages 209-237, March.
    12. Len Fisher & Anders Sandberg, 2022. "A Safe Governance Space for Humanity: Necessary Conditions for the Governance of Global Catastrophic Risks," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 13(5), pages 792-807, November.
    13. Daria Gritsenko & Matthew Wood, 2022. "Algorithmic governance: A modes of governance approach," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(1), pages 45-62, January.
    14. Wiebren Kuindersma & Froukje G Boonstra, 2010. "The Changing Role of the State in Dutch Regional Partnerships," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 28(6), pages 1045-1062, December.
    15. Krzysztof Niedziałkowski & Renata Putkowska-Smoter, 2021. "What Is the Role of the Government in Wildlife Policy? Evolutionary Governance Perspective," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(2), pages 428-438.
    16. Most Asikha Aktar & Md Mahmudul Alam, 2021. "Cultural Inequality and Sustainable Development," Post-Print hal-03520087, HAL.
    17. Andrew Massey, 2022. "Sustainable Development Goals and their Fit with Good Governance," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 13(S1), pages 79-85, April.
    18. Habich-Sobiegalla, Sabrina & Rousseau, Jean-François, 2020. "Responsibility to choose: Governmentality in China’s participatory dam resettlement processes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    19. Jasminka Young & Aleksandar Macura, 2023. "Forging Local Energy Transition in the Most Carbon-Intensive European Region of the Western Balkans," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-29, February.
    20. Matthew Watson & Harriet Bulkeley & Ray Hudson, 2008. "Unpicking Environmental Policy Integration with Tales from Waste Management," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 26(3), pages 481-498, June.

    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:sae:envirc:v:31:y:2013:i:5:p:822-840. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.