International Business and Global Climate Change

Climate change has become an important topic on the business agenda with strong pressure being placed on companies to respond and contribute to finding solutions to this urgent problem. This text provides a comprehensive analysis of international business responses to global climate change and climate change policy. Embedded in relevant management literature, this book gives a concise treatment of developments in policy and business activity on global, regional and national levels, using examples and systematic data from a large number of international companies. The first part outlines the international climate policy landscape and voluntary initiatives taken by companies, both alone and together with others. The second part examines companies’ strategies, covering innovation for climate change, as well as compensation via emissions trading and carbon offsetting. Written by well-known experts in the field, International Business and Global Climate Change illustrates how an environmental topic becomes strategically important in a mainstream sense, affecting corporate decision-making, business processes, products, reputation, advertising, communication, accounting and finance. This is a must-read for academics as well as practitioners concerned with this issue.

1. Introduction Part 1: Between Regulation and Self-Regulation 2. From Rio to ‘Beyond Kyoto’: Synopsis of International Climate Policies 3. Beyond Regulation: Voluntary Agreements and Partnerships 4. Carbon Control: Emissions Measurement, Targets and Reporting Part 2: Strategic Options for Business 5. Business Strategies for Climate Change 6. Carbon Trading as (Compliance) Strategy 7. Innovation and Capabilities for Climate Change Conclusions 8. Dilemmas on the Way Forward

Jonatan Pinkse is Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam Business School, The Netherlands. His publications have focused on strategy and sustainability, especially business responses to climate change. Ans Kolk is Full Professor of Sustainable Management at the University of Amsterdam Business School, The Netherlands. She has published extensively on business and climate change, corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability.