This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the role of the private sector in accelerating the transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient, and inclusive world.
In the lead up to and since the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, more than 6,000 companies from 120 countries representing more than $36.5 trillion in revenue have made climate commitments. Examining this trend, The New Corporate Climate Leadership provides a clear synthesis of the relationship between the real economy and climate change and offers a state-of-the-art assessment of corporate initiatives that focus on greenhouse gas emissions reductions and the management of climate risk through enhanced resilience. It debates the relative merits of incremental and sequenced ambition versus radical systems change – including a critique of the prevailing capitalist approach to climate change – and provides an actionable guide to skills development for change-makers in the shift toward a low-carbon world. Drawing on perspectives from leading thinkers inside the private sector, across government, and within civil society to truly interrogate the scale, scope, and speed of progress, this book provides a clear vision for what the next generation of corporate climate leadership should look like.
Optimistic in tone, this book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and practitioners of climate change and sustainable business.
Introduction
PART I Climate risks, response, and rewards for the 21st-century company
1 Climate change: The highest impact risk for global business
2 Overcoming systemic barriers: Shifting to a new climate economy
3 The greatest economic opportunity in history: Building a new climate economy
PART II The current corporate climate leadership
4 Building the climate-compatible economy: Strategies for corporate decarbonization and resilience
5 Current corporate leadership: How commitments and inconsistencies shape the private sector response to climate crisis
PART III The new corporate climate leadership
6 The innovation agenda: Reimagining the climate-compatible business
7 Financial rewards: Rethinking assets and liabilities in the context of climate change
8 Corporate governance, purpose, and stakeholders: Transforming companies to transform the economy
9 From evolution to revolution: Civil society and rethinking business in a new climate economy
Conclusion: Vision 2030: building a low-carbon, climate-resilient, and inclusive world
Biography
Edward Cameron is an independent consultant serving governments, companies, philanthropies, international organizations, and non-profits.
Emilie Prattico holds a PhD in philosophy from Northwestern University, a Master’s degree from HEC Paris, and a BA degree in Philosophy and Theology from the University of Oxford. She has worked at the intersection of the public and private sector on sustainability and climate for ten years and currently focuses on consulting for private sector companies.
