The Greening of the Corporation

Abstract

The dawning realization of the global consequences of imminent climate change provides a series of inescapable challenges for business enterprises. Responding to these climate challenges involves the exploration and development of new paradigms of corporate purpose and activity. A series of international institutional initiatives are inspiring, facilitating, and guiding the progress of companies toward new conceptualizations of their responsibilities. These policy initiatives are increasingly reinforced by market indices which recognize and measure the performance of companies according to social and environmental criteria. This effort is endorsed by a wide array of business and civil society bodies that are researching and disseminating knowledge and practical analytical skills regarding sustainability. This amounts to a changing corporate landscape where risk, strategy, and investment are closely calibrated with social and environmental responsibility.