Climate Change, Circularity and Competitive Advantage: How Corporate Strategic Choices Interact With Institutions In Business Responses To Sustainability Challenges

Data suggest that despite rising “green growth” concerns, humanity’s degradation of the natural environment has in fact accelerated. Beyond an increasing demand for raw materials, global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from burning fossil fuels rose by about 2.7 percent in 2018, after a 1.6 percent increase in 2017. Needless to say, corporations have been one of the main contributors to the process of climate change as major producers of greenhouse
gases. Despite regulatory pressure and new technologies, some estimates suggest that only 100 companies are responsible for 52% of global emissions since 1988. Hence the problem statement we seek to address: How do decarbonization and circular economy initiatives affect the formation of a competitive advantage, and what is the role of formal and informal institutions
in explaining the great variety of responses?