ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the outcomes that might be achieved if external governance pressures and/or internal governance processes were strengthened, if actors such as investors and NGOs made greater use of existing governance frameworks and mechanisms, and if governments were to adopt more interventionist approaches to regulation. The chapter considers companies’ performance in the context of the policies and expectations that existed in 2015, that is, at the end of the period covered by the research. It also consider both global trends in emissions and global policy developments in the subsequent five-year period, that is,. through to the beginning of 2020. Analysing historic and future carbon footprints is one way of analysing whether companies or retail sector as a whole are responding to the challenge of climate change. There were many examples of retailers engaging with their customers on climate change; examples included providing advice and guidance on environmentally responsible behaviour, and incentivising the purchase of products such as low-energy lightbulbs.
