Why Corporate Climate Efforts Will Not, In The Long Run, "Save" Us
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Over time, however, climate initiatives attracted renewed criticism from other business groups, shareholders, the media, and politicians. For instance, the increasingly heated political debate over carbon pricing forced many companies to rethink their public stance on climate change.
As a senior manager at one of the country’s major banks explained: "How we deal with sensitivities within the organisation about taking what can be seen as a partisan position in a highly political environment … that’s the challenge at the moment." And so, in the third phase we found that climate change initiatives were wound back and market concerns prioritised.
At this stage, the temporary compromise between market and social/environmental discourses was broken and corporate executives sought to realign climate initiatives with the goal of maximising shareholder value. For example, new chief executives were promoted who advocated “back to basics” strategies. Meanwhile, climate change initiatives were diluted and relegated to broader and less specific “sustainability” and “resilience” programs.
One of our case study companies is a large insurance company. While initially very progressive on the need for climate change action, this changed after a reversal in its financial situation and a change of leadership. As a senior manager explained: "Look, that was all a nice thing to have in good times but now we’re in hard times. We get back to core stuff."
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https://theconversation.com/why-we-cant-rely-on-corporations-to-save-us-from-climate-change-86309
