Sustainable Companies

Goal

The project will focus on mitigation of climate change as a specific case. Our vision is to contribute specifically and concretely to the tools available to realise the significant potential within companies to make independent, creative and active contribution to mitigate climate change. Climate change provides a powerful example to illustrate broader challenges in promoting corporate environmental responsibility through company law reform. In other words, if it is possible to induce a company to act more responsibly on climate change issues, then presumably it would extend its heightened environmental awareness and commitment to other environmental issues. Focusing on climate change can provide a catalyst for wider corporate engagement with the environment and also have a positive rub-off effect as regards the social dimension of sustainable development.
 

Background

Taking companies’ substantial contributions to climate change as a given fact, companies have to be addressed more effectively when designing strategies to mitigate climate change. A fundamental assumption is that traditional external regulation of companies, e.g. through environmental law, is not sufficient. Our hypothesis is that environmental sustainability in the operation of companies cannot be effectively achieved unless the objective is properly integrated into company law and thereby into the internal workings of the company.
 

Project period and financing

The kick-off workshop for the project was held in January 2010 and we aim to complete the project by the end of 2012. The Norwegian Research Council has provided vital financing for the project for the period July 2010 through to December 2012, including the financing of two postdoctoral research fellowships and several student fellows.