Tackling Climate Change Requires Organizational Purpose

Rebecca   Henderson; George  Serafeim

Article | AEA Papers and Proceedings | May 2020

Tackling Climate Change Requires Organizational Purpose

by Rebecca Henderson and George Serafeim

Abstract

Unchecked climate change presents a profound threat to economic growth and political stability but despite widespread public concern about the issue, global emissions of greenhouse gases have not declined. Indeed current “business as usual” predictions imply that average global temperatures will rise by more than 4⁰C by 2100, with potentially catastrophic results. In this paper, we argue that while putting in place an effective regime for pricing GHG emissions is more essential than ever, it is unlikely to be sufficient. It is in this context that we hypothesize that increasing the fraction of commercial firms who are “authentically purpose-driven” might have a very significant effect on the problem of climate change.

Keywords: corporate purpose; purpose; sustainability; environment; Climate Change; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Environmental Sustainability; Strategy; Leadership;

Format: Print

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Citation:

Henderson, Rebecca, and George Serafeim. "Tackling Climate Change Requires Organizational Purpose." AEA Papers and Proceedings 110 (May 2020): 177–180.

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Tackling Climate Change Requires Organizational Purpose

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