Policies for an environmentally sustainable development in global value chains

Sustainable development and climate justice are at the forefront of policy discussions nowadays. Indeed, scientists warn that it is urgent to turn the current trajectory of over-consumption of resources and generation of negative emissions. In this context, this chapter discusses the role of international businesses, highlighting to what extent they are (i) part of the cause - generating a large part of those impacts; (ii) affected by the impacts - suffering rising costs and risks; but also, (iii) part of the solution - having the possibility to innovate and implement good practices to change the current situation. The author discusses and highlights how to develop good policies that can support IBs becoming more and more part of the solution rather than of the cause. In doing so, it will acknowledge for the fact that many IBs are organized across global value chains (GVCs), posing specific challenges in the development of policies, and list useful insights to guide policy makers activity.