Title: Sustainable entrepreneurship: creating environmental solutions in light of planetary boundaries

Authors: Stefan Schaltegger; Markus Beckmann; Kai Hockerts

Addresses: Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM), Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Scharnhorststr. 1, D-21335 Lüneburg, Germany ' Corporate Sustainability Management, Friedrich Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Findelgasse 7/9, D-90402 Nuremberg, Germany ' Copenhagen Business School (CBS), Dalgas Have, DK-2000-Frederiksberg, Denmark

Abstract: This article discusses sustainable entrepreneurship in light of planetary boundaries and related aims to contribute to managing for and in a safe operating space for humanity. The rapidly developing research area of environmental, social and sustainable entrepreneurship has flourished for the last two decades and improved our understanding of the phenomenon. However, while a contribution to sustainable development is often stated in general terms or implied, most of the sustainable entrepreneurship literature focuses on classifications, motivations, processes and specific outcomes without explicit links to how planetary boundaries are addressed. This paper discusses links between sustainable entrepreneurship and the planetary boundaries concept by addressing both perspectives: how can the concept of planetary boundaries provide perspectives for designing and assessing sustainable entrepreneurship? And how can sustainable entrepreneurship contribute effectively to an economy and society operating in a safe operating space for humanity?

Keywords: sustainable entrepreneurship; environmental solutions; planetary boundaries; ecopreneurship; environmental entrepreneurship; safe operating space; transition; sustainability transformation; corporate sustainability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2018.090990

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 2018 Vol.10 No.1, pp.1 - 16

Received: 10 Jul 2017
Accepted: 10 Jul 2017
Published online: 05 Apr 2018 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article