scholarly journals Regulatory Limits to Corporate Sustainability: How Climate Change Law and Energy Reforms in Mexico May Impair Sustainability Practices in Mexican Firms

Author(s):  
Antonio Lloret ◽  
Rogerio Domenge ◽  
Mildred Castro-Hernández

This paper challenges the assumption that “state-of-the-art” regulation aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by firms is the panacea that will force firms to face the impact of climate change and create conditions that promote sustainable corporations. We argue that, in fact, such regulation, when improperly implemented, may impair sustainability practices because it creates unintended consequences. This paper tackles the design and efficiency of the institutional framework chosen through the lenses of the analytical themes of fit, scale and interplay. Then, we model a systems dynamic approach to represent how public policy in the arenas of energy effi-ciency and GHG emissions reduction may interplay with competitive business outcomes and cor-porate sustainability schemes. We found, as a result of the institutional design chosen, that the sys-tem is dominated by negative feedback processes resulting in inefficient outcomes that would be better tackled by firms not being subject to the restrictions imposed by the new laws.

Systems ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Antonio Lloret ◽  
Rogerio Domenge ◽  
Mildred Castro-Hernández

This paper aims to show that sustainable behavior by firms may be impaired by regulatory restrictions. We challenge the assumption that regulation aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the form of a target to meet the Country’s GHG emissions commitments will promote sustainable corporations. We argue that, in fact, such regulation may impair sustainability practices because it creates unintended consequences. This paper tackles the efficiency of the institutional framework chosen through the lenses of the analytical themes of fit, scale, and interplay, then we use a systems dynamic approach to represent how regulation in the arenas of energy efficiency and GHG emissions reduction may withhold competitive business outcomes and corporate sustainability schemes. We exemplify and simulate a single regulation scheme: a clean energy target for firms; and found that as a result of such scheme, the system is dominated by negative feedback processes resulting in lesser outcomes that would be better tackled by firms not being subject to the restrictions imposed by the regulation.


Author(s):  
Antonio Lloret ◽  
Rogerio Domenge ◽  
Mildred Castro-Hernández

This paper aims to show that sustainable behavior by firms may be impaired by regulatory restrictions. We challenge the assumption that regulation aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) on the form of a target to meet the Country’s GHG emissions commitments will promote sustainable corporations. We argue that, in fact, such regulation may impair sustainability practices because it creates unintended consequences. This paper tackles the efficiency of the institutional framework chosen through the lenses of the analytical themes of fit, scale and interplay, then we use a systems dynamic approach to represent how regulation in the arenas of energy efficiency and GHG emissions reduction may withhold competitive business outcomes and corporate sustainability schemes. We exemplify and simulate a single regulation scheme and found that as a result of the institutional scheme chosen, the system is dominated by negative feedback processes resulting in lesser outcomes that would be better tackled by firms not being subject to the restrictions imposed by the regulation.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Binh Bui ◽  
Mohamed Chelli ◽  
Muhammad Nurul Houqe

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of climate change rating organisations on rated firms, to understand whether disclosure ratings can facilitate enhanced emissions performance. Design/methodology/approach This study uses 1,848 cross-country firm-year observations from organisations that responded to the carbon disclosure project (the rater) between 2011 and 2015 and, hence, were rated for their disclosure. Drawing on the ideology of numbers, this paper hypothesises that the disciplinary power of ratings will result in rated firms improving their subsequent disclosure scores. Following the environmentally-friendly ideology, this study hypothesises that poorly-rated firms will adopt decoupling behaviour, by improving their climate change disclosure scores without reducing the intensity of their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Findings The results indicate that climate change disclosure ratings pressure poorly-rated firms to improve their disclosure scores in subsequent years, yet these firms are not inclined to lower their GHG emissions. Further, the direct publication of firms’ GHG emissions intensity can exert some restricted disciplinary impact on rated firms, as the more polluting firms tend to improve their subsequent climate change performance compared with those having lower emissions levels. Practical implications This paper argues that the ability of corporate sustainability rating schemes to influence corporate behaviour comprehensively is limited and should be used with caution. Originality/value This paper sheds new light on the ideological dynamics at play between the rater and the rated, while highlighting new aspects of the power-rating nexus in the climate change arena.


Author(s):  
Ibrahim Yasar Gok ◽  
Ozan Ozdemir ◽  
Bugra Unlu

In this chapter, the impact of corporate sustainability practices (CSP) on corporate financial performance (CFP) is investigated in terms of Turkish manufacturing industry. In this context, 16 sustainable companies vs. 21 control companies in 2016 and 16 sustainable companies vs. 24 control companies in 2017 are examined. Thirty-seven financial performance variables within seven groups are used, and non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test is applied. In 2016, four out of seven significant variables point out that sustainable companies perform better than control sample; however, in 2017, three out of four significant variables indicate the opposite. Therefore, the results are mixed, and it is concluded that implementing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria do not have a noticeable positive effect on financial performances of manufacturing industry companies, at least in the short-term.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (9) ◽  
pp. 3431-3447
Author(s):  
Tobias Spiegl ◽  
Ulrike Langematz

AbstractSatellite measurements over the last three decades show a gradual decrease in solar output, which can be indicative as a precursor to a modern grand solar minimum (GSM). Using a chemistry–climate model, this study investigates the potential of two GSM scenarios with different magnitude to counteract the climate change by projected anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through the twenty-first century. To identify regions showing enhanced vulnerability to climate change (hot spots) and to estimate their response to a possible modern GSM, a multidimensional metric is applied that accounts for—in addition to changes in mean quantities—seasonal changes in the variability and occurrence of extreme events. We find that a future GSM in the middle of the twenty-first century would temporarily mitigate the global mean impact of anthropogenic climate change by 10%–23% depending on the GSM scenario. A future GSM would, however, not be able to stop anthropogenic global warming. For the GHG-only scenario, our hot-spot analysis suggests that the midlatitudes show a response to rising GHGs below global average, while in the tropics, climate change hot spots with more frequent extreme hot seasons will develop during the twenty-first century. A GSM would reduce the climate change warming in all regions. The GHG-induced warming in Arctic winter would be dampened in a GSM due to the impact of reduced solar irradiance on Arctic sea ice. However, even an extreme GSM could only mitigate a fraction of the tropical hot-spot pattern (up to 24%) in the long term.


2009 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 432-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina K. Linnenluecke ◽  
Sally V. Russell ◽  
Andrew Griffiths

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 861-875 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Hörisch ◽  
Roger Leonard Burritt ◽  
Katherine L. Christ ◽  
Stefan Schaltegger

Purpose This paper aims to compare the influence of different legal systems on corporate sustainability management practices. Against the background of growing internationalization of business activities, it additionally considers whether internationalization allows companies to circumvent the influence of national authorities. Design/methodology/approach Three legal systems are compared using regression analyses of more than 200 large corporations in five countries: common law (USA and Australia), German code law (Germany) and French code law (France and Spain). Findings The impact of national and international authorities is found to be strongest in French code law countries. In addition, the influence of international authorities is stronger for corporations with higher shares of international sales. For both national and international authorities, the degree of internationalization is found to moderate the influence of the legal system on corporate sustainability practices. Practical implications The legal system in place influences the relative effectiveness of national and international authorities over company sustainability practices and needs to be taken into account in policymaking. To be effective, international authorities need to work with or substitute for national authorities in promoting corporate sustainability practices in countries depending on their legal systems. Originality/value This research applies and quantitatively tests La Porta’s (1998) framework on legal systems in the new context of corporate sustainability.


2021 ◽  
pp. 32-35
Author(s):  
Amine Moulay Taj ◽  
Fouzi Belmir

In a global context increasingly concerned with climate change, understanding the impact of economic growth on the environment is becoming crucial, especially for developing countries. Morocco has been committed to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to achieve the objectives set for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 13% by 2030, with 2010 as the reference year. Such a target could reach 32% by the same horizon under certain technical, financial and capacity building support conditions.The main emitters of greenhouse gases (CH4 and CO2) are landfills because during the decomposition of solid waste CO2 is the most present gas pollutant is for this reason focuses this case study carried out in a landfill located in Fez, the development of a new calculation method or we could have a reduction in CO2 41261,69 teq CO2/year and with a yield of 85%.


Author(s):  
Viktoras Vorobjovas ◽  
Algirdas Motiejunas ◽  
Tomas Ratkevicius ◽  
Alvydas Zagorskis ◽  
Vaidotas Danila

Climate change is one of the main nowadays problem in the world. The politics and strategies for climate change and tools for reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and green technologies are created and implemented. Mainly it is focused on energy, transport and construction sectors, which are related and plays a significant role in the roads life cycle. Most of the carbon footprint emissions are generated by transport. The remaining emissions are generated during the road life cycle. Therefore, European and other countries use methods to calculate GHG emissions and evaluate the impact of road construction methods and technologies on the environment. Software tools for calculation GHG emissions are complicated, and it is not entirely clear what GHG emission amounts generate during different stages of road life cycle. Thus, the precision of the obtained results are often dependent on the sources and quantities of data, assumptions, and hypothesis. The use of more accurate and efficient calculation-evaluation methods could let to determine in which stages of road life cycle the largest carbon footprint emissions are generated, what advanced road construction methods and technologies could be used. Also, the road service life could be extended, the consumption of raw materials, repair, and maintenance costs could be reduced. Therefore the time-savings could be improved, and the impact on the environment could be reduced using these GHG calculation-evaluation methods.


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