Title: The virtue of corporate carbon management

Authors: Timo Busch; Christoph Wolfensberger

Addresses: Department of Management, Technology and Economics, ETH Zurich, Kreuzplatz 5, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland. ' Hofackerstrasse 58, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland

Abstract: In management literature, many studies claim that there is a business case for companies to address climate change through adequate carbon management strategies. We argue that corporate carbon management is not limited to mitigation efforts internally but also comprises of supply chain optimisations, product-related improvements, and compensation activities. Taking a clear business standpoint, we ask whether such carbon management efforts in a life-cycle wide context are also relevant for corporate competitiveness. Drawing on the industrial organisation (IO) literature, we derive a framework of eight distinct carbon management strategies. For each strategy we elaborate on its potential contribution to generating a competitive advantage and illustrate this with empirical examples of companies already pursuing such strategies.

Keywords: climate change; life-cycle wide emissions; emission compensation; competitive advantage; carbon management; carbon emissions; CO2 emissions; supply chain optimisation; product improvement; industrial organisation; greenhouse gases.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSM.2011.044354

International Journal of Sustainable Strategic Management, 2011 Vol.3 No.2, pp.142 - 157

Published online: 21 Feb 2015 *

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