IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i15p8144-d598618.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Implementation of General Sustainability Objectives as Tools to Improve the Environmental Performance of Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Richard Almgren

    (Department of Management and Engineering, Environmental Technology and Management, Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping, Sweden)

  • Olof Hjelm

    (Department of Management and Engineering, Environmental Technology and Management, Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping, Sweden)

Abstract

This article examines the implementation of the Swedish national environmental quality objectives and discusses what can be learned for the equivalent process for the set of global UN 2030 goals (SDGs), established in 2015. The empirical basis is a study on 50 large companies in Sweden and their use of these objectives in their policy formulation. The SDGs are crafted with a broader approach than the Swedish national environmental quality objectives. Therefore, the SDGs probably better reflect the agenda of the business community since they have a global character, cover the whole spectrum of important sustainability issues and provide a mutual agenda for the business community worldwide. More than 90 percent of the large companies in the study have explicitly committed themselves to the SDGs, only 1–2 years after they were published, whereas similar commitments hardly exist for the national environmental quality objectives, even 20 years after their establishment. A large majority of the large companies in this study know about the SDGs, have actively endorsed them, and started to adjust their activities accordingly. In the end, the results of these endorsements remain to be seen.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Almgren & Olof Hjelm, 2021. "Implementation of General Sustainability Objectives as Tools to Improve the Environmental Performance of Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:15:p:8144-:d:598618
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/15/8144/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/15/8144/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maarten Hajer & Måns Nilsson & Kate Raworth & Peter Bakker & Frans Berkhout & Yvo De Boer & Johan Rockström & Kathrin Ludwig & Marcel Kok, 2015. "Beyond Cockpit-ism: Four Insights to Enhance the Transformative Potential of the Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-10, February.
    2. Karin Eliasson & Victoria Wibeck & Tina-Simone Neset, 2019. "Opportunities and Challenges for Meeting the UN 2030 Agenda in the Light of Global Change—A Case Study of Swedish Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-17, September.
    3. Paul Lanoie & Jérémy Laurent‐Lucchetti & Nick Johnstone & Stefan Ambec, 2011. "Environmental Policy, Innovation and Performance: New Insights on the Porter Hypothesis," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 803-842, September.
    4. Cole, Matthew A. & Elliott, Robert J.R. & Shimamoto, Kenichi, 2005. "Industrial characteristics, environmental regulations and air pollution: an analysis of the UK manufacturing sector," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 121-143, July.
    5. David Popp, 2010. "Innovation and Climate Policy," NBER Working Papers 15673, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Jaffe, Adam B. & Newell, Richard G. & Stavins, Robert N., 2005. "A tale of two market failures: Technology and environmental policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2-3), pages 164-174, August.
    7. Kemp, René & Pontoglio, Serena, 2011. "The innovation effects of environmental policy instruments — A typical case of the blind men and the elephant?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 28-36.
    8. Krysiak, Frank C., 2011. "Environmental regulation, technological diversity, and the dynamics of technological change," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 528-544, April.
    9. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    10. Demirel, Pelin & Kesidou, Effie, 2011. "Stimulating different types of eco-innovation in the UK: Government policies and firm motivations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(8), pages 1546-1557, June.
    11. Bergek, Anna & Berggren, Christian, 2014. "The impact of environmental policy instruments on innovation: A review of energy and automotive industry studies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 112-123.
    12. United Nations UN, 2015. "Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," Working Papers id:7559, eSocialSciences.
    13. David Popp, 2010. "Innovation and Climate Policy," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 275-298, October.
    14. Maria Pettersson & Patrik Söderholm, 2014. "Industrial Pollution Control and Efficient Licensing Processes: The Case of Swedish Regulatory Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-22, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Beatriz Forés & José María Fernández-Yáñez & Alba Puig-Denia & Montserrat Boronat-Navarro, 2022. "Unveiling the Direct Effects of Family Firm Heterogeneity on Environmental Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-20, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yang, Fuxia & Yang, Mian, 2015. "Analysis on China's eco-innovations: Regulation context, intertemporal change and regional differences," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 247(3), pages 1003-1012.
    2. Tilmann Rave & Ursula Triebswetter & Johann Wackerbauer, 2013. "Koordination von Innovations-, Energie- und Umweltpolitik," ifo Forschungsberichte, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 61, October.
    3. Cameron Hepburn & Jacquelyn Pless & David Popp, 2018. "Policy Brief—Encouraging Innovation that Protects Environmental Systems: Five Policy Proposals," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 12(1), pages 154-169.
    4. Raphael Calel & Antoine Dechezleprêtre, 2016. "Environmental Policy and Directed Technological Change: Evidence from the European Carbon Market," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(1), pages 173-191, March.
    5. Costantini, Valeria & Crespi, Francesco & Palma, Alessandro, 2017. "Characterizing the policy mix and its impact on eco-innovation: A patent analysis of energy-efficient technologies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 799-819.
    6. Marin, Giovanni, 2014. "Do eco-innovations harm productivity growth through crowding out? Results of an extended CDM model for Italy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 301-317.
    7. Christoph P. Kiefer & Pablo Del Río González & Javier Carrillo‐Hermosilla, 2019. "Drivers and barriers of eco‐innovation types for sustainable transitions: A quantitative perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 155-172, January.
    8. Giovanni Marin & Francesca Lotti, 2017. "Productivity effects of eco-innovations using data on eco-patents," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 26(1), pages 125-148.
    9. Antonioli, Davide & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2017. "Towards a green economy through innovations: The role of trade union involvement," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 286-299.
    10. Martin Larsson, 2017. "EU Emissions Trading: Policy-Induced Innovation, or Business as Usual? Findings from Company Case Studies in the Republic of Croatia," Working Papers 1705, The Institute of Economics, Zagreb.
    11. Alessandra Colombelli & Jackie Krafft & Francesco Quatraro, 2021. "Firms’ growth, green gazelles and eco-innovation: evidence from a sample of European firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1721-1738, April.
    12. Jang-Hwan Jo & Tae Woo Roh & Seonghoon Kim & Yeo-Chang Youn & Mi Sun Park & Ki Joo Han & Eun Kyung Jang, 2015. "Eco-Innovation for Sustainability: Evidence from 49 Countries in Asia and Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-16, December.
    13. Christian Haas & Karol Kempa, 2023. "Low-Carbon Investment and Credit Rationing," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(1), pages 109-145, October.
    14. Valeria Costantini & Francesco Crespi & Alessandro Palma, 2015. "Characterizing the policy mix and its impact on eco-innovation in energy-efficient technologies," SEEDS Working Papers 1115, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Jun 2015.
    15. Demirel, Pelin & Kesidou, Effie, 2011. "Stimulating different types of eco-innovation in the UK: Government policies and firm motivations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(8), pages 1546-1557, June.
    16. Antonella Biscione & Dorothée Boccanfuso & Annunziata De Felice, 2021. "Regulations and Corporate Environmental Responsibility: evidence from a panel of firms in Transition economies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(54), pages 6286-6299, November.
    17. Skeete, Jean-Paul, 2017. "Examining the role of policy design and policy interaction in EU automotive emissions performance gaps," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 373-381.
    18. Greco, Marco & Germani, Francesca & Grimaldi, Michele & Radicic, Dragana, 2022. "Policy mix or policy mess? Effects of cross-instrumental policy mix on eco-innovation in German firms," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    19. Rogge, Karoline S. & Schleich, Joachim, 2018. "Do policy mix characteristics matter for low-carbon innovation? A survey-based exploration of renewable power generation technologies in Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1639-1654.
    20. Duch-Brown, Néstor & Costa-Campi, María Teresa, 2015. "The diffusion of patented oil and gas technology with environmental uses: A forward patent citation analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 267-276.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:15:p:8144-:d:598618. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.