Business studies and the environment

The Paris Accord of December 2015 not only led to a global action plan to avoid dangerous climate change and limit warming to below 2°C with an aspiration to limit warming to below 1.5°, but was also a real game changer for business action on environmental issues, specifically climate change. At the conference, 195 countries adopted the first ever universally, legally binding climate deal to come into force in 2020; with a focus on mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage and support for developing countries. The Paris Accord follows scientific findings which have generated significant concern about the level of human induced global environmental change. The case for urgent and immediate business action is thereby not just based on the harmful effects that business and human endeavors are having on earth systems, but also on the recognition that the ongoing degradation of these systems will have impacts on corporate and industrial activities (Winn and Pogutz 2013, Pinkse and Kolk 2012, Linnenluecke, Griffiths, and Winn 2012, Busch 2011, Winn et al. 2011, Hahn, Kolk, and Winn 2010). There is now a high likelihood that environmental changes will significantly impair the assets, profits and human capital of businesses (Linnenluecke, Birt, et al. 2015).
In this short chapter, we summarize studies at the intersection of business and the environment, set out case for action to confront environmental threats, and also point out the many opportunities that arise. We believe that many future opportunities will come about as a result of the next technological breakthrough in clean tech. Hong et al. (2008) identify eight examples of technological breakthroughs in modern markets that have driven growth and wealth. These are: railways, electricity, automobiles, radio, microelectronics, personal computers, biotechnology, and the internet. Because of the Paris Accord, firms worldwide have started to commercialize their clean tech patents. China, Europe and the US hold the majority of the over half a million clean tech patents and are leading the way to a technological breakthrough in clean tech which will drive wealth and growth for decades to come.