Publications
Publications
- 2025
- Climate Change and Business
Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change
By: Ann-Kristin Bergquist and Geoffrey Jones
Abstract
This chapter explores when and why private regulatory governance systems became the primary form of global environmental governance. The chapter explores two different historical paths in such private regulaiton and how they came about. The first path involved certification and standards programs designed to facilitate the grwoth of green industries and the early stages of ESG investing. The second path, which developed from the 1970s, grew out of the interest of big business which sought an alternative route to governmental regulations they regarded as costly and as a threat to international trade. A key agent was the International Chamber of Commerce during the 1990s. The chapter argues that self-regulation proved an inadequate response to climate change, and resulted in confusing metrics, lack of transparency, and blatant greenwashing. Yet it is a not apparent that government regulation was practical or would have produced better results. The governments of democracies as a whole prioritize generating wealth over the environment, because it translates into votes.
Keywords
Citation
Bergquist, Ann-Kristin, and Geoffrey Jones. "Institutional Entrepreneurship and Climate Change." Chap. 1 in Climate Change and Business: Historical Perspectives, edited by Teresa da Silva Lopes, Paul Duguid, and Robert Fredona, 8–29. London, United Kingdom: Routledge, 2025.