Corporate environmental responsibility

This chapter explores the concept of corporate environmental responsibility, locating its origins in the growing social critique of industrial pollution and the threat of government regulation. Through the idea of ‘corporate environmentalism’, corporations have promoted a positive vision of business as a responsible custodian of the environment and leader in technological responses to environmental crises such as climate change. The chapter details the discourse and practice of corporate environmental responsibility, and highlights the arguments of critics who contend that these corporate initiatives involve an ideological justification for corporate self-regulation and the maintenance of ‘business as usual’.