Down to Business on Climate Change: An Overview of Corporate Strategies

The technological, economic, and policy dimensions of climate change are essential to understanding and formulating corporate strategic responses. Over the past decade, advances in greenhouse gas mitigation technologies, the refinement of economic models and their underlying assumptions, and the emergence of emissions trading and other market-based policy instruments have improved understanding of the potential of innovative technologies and policies to limit the costs of reducing emissions. These developments, accompanied by growing scientific evidence of climate risks and vulnerabilities and building political momentum toward binding emissions requirements, have prompted an increase in and diversification of corporate responses.

This 2003 report, by Seth Dunn of the Worldwatch Institute, provides an overview of emerging business strategies to address climate change, focusing on engagement with international negotiations and the design and implementation of Kyoto mechanisms. Responses are differentiated by sector and region, revealing evidence of divergence, prospects for convergence and the importance of leadership.