IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v18y2025i14p3780-d1703385.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What Motivates Companies to Take the Decision to Decarbonise?

Author

Listed:
  • Stefan M. Buettner

    (EEP—Institute for Energy Efficiency in Production, University of Stuttgart, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany)

  • Werner König

    (REZ—Reutlingen Energy Center for Distributed Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency, Reutlingen University, 72762 Reutlingen, Germany)

  • Frederick Vierhub-Lorenz

    (EEP—Institute for Energy Efficiency in Production, University of Stuttgart, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany)

  • Marina Gilles

    (EEP—Institute for Energy Efficiency in Production, University of Stuttgart, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany)

Abstract

What motivates industrial companies to decarbonise? While climate policy has intensified, the specific factors driving corporate decisions remain underexplored. This article addresses that gap through a mixed-methods study combining qualitative insights from a leading automotive supplier with quantitative data from over 800 manufacturing companies in Germany. The study distinguishes between internal motivators—such as risk reduction, future-proofing, and competitive positioning—and external drivers like regulation, supply chain pressure, and investor expectations. Results show that internal economic logic is the strongest trigger: companies act more ambitiously when decarbonisation aligns with their strategic interests. Positive motivators outperform external drivers in both influence and impact on ambition levels. For instance, long-term cost risks were rated more relevant than reputational gains or regulatory compliance. The analysis also reveals how company size, energy intensity, and supply chain position shape motivation patterns. The findings suggest a new framing for climate policy: rather than relying solely on mandates, policies should strengthen intrinsic motivators. Aligning business interests with societal goals is not only possible—it is a pathway to more ambitious, resilient, and timely decarbonisation. By turning external pressure into internal logic, companies can move from compliance to leadership in the climate transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan M. Buettner & Werner König & Frederick Vierhub-Lorenz & Marina Gilles, 2025. "What Motivates Companies to Take the Decision to Decarbonise?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-40, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:14:p:3780-:d:1703385
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/14/3780/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/14/3780/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tobias Hahn & Mandy Scheermesser, 2006. "Approaches to corporate sustainability among German companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(3), pages 150-165, July.
    2. Okereke, Chukwumerije, 2007. "An Exploration of Motivations, Drivers and Barriers to Carbon Management:: The UK FTSE 100," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 475-486, December.
    3. Stefan M. Buettner, 2022. "Roadmap to Neutrality—What Foundational Questions Need Answering to Determine One’s Ideal Decarbonisation Strategy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-24, April.
    4. Stefan M. Buettner & Josefine Döpp & Liane Strauch & Marina Gilles & Werner König & Anna-Lena Klingler, 2025. "Increasing the Voltage—Sequencing Decarbonisation with Green Power and Efficiency," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-28, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Christian Felix Böttcher & Martin Müller, 2015. "Drivers, Practices and Outcomes of Low‐carbon Operations: Approaches of German Automotive Suppliers to Cutting Carbon Emissions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 477-498, September.
    2. Bikki Jaggi & Alessandra Allini & Riccardo Macchioni & Annamaria Zampella, 2018. "Do investors find carbon information useful? Evidence from Italian firms," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 1031-1056, May.
    3. Natalie Slawinski & Jonatan Pinkse & Timo Busch & Subhabrata Bobby Banerjeed, 2014. "The role of short-termism and uncertainty in organizational inaction on climate change: multilevel framework," Working Papers hal-00961226, HAL.
    4. Fernando, Yudi & Hor, Wei Lin, 2017. "Impacts of energy management practices on energy efficiency and carbon emissions reduction: A survey of malaysian manufacturing firms," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 62-73.
    5. Hörisch, Jacob & Ortas, Eduardo & Schaltegger, Stefan & Álvarez, Igor, 2015. "Environmental effects of sustainability management tools: An empirical analysis of large companies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 241-249.
    6. Viju Raghupathi & Jie Ren & Wullianallur Raghupathi, 2020. "Identifying Corporate Sustainability Issues by Analyzing Shareholder Resolutions: A Machine-Learning Text Analytics Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-24, June.
    7. Nadine Székely & Jan vom Brocke, 2017. "What can we learn from corporate sustainability reporting? Deriving propositions for research and practice from over 9,500 corporate sustainability reports published between 1999 and 2015 using topic ," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(4), pages 1-27, April.
    8. Marco A. Hernandez Vega & Eduardo Martínez González, 2025. "Do climate policies incentivize firms to commit to setting a GHG emissions target?," Working Papers 2025-08, Banco de México.
    9. Stefan Gold & Stefan Seuring & Philip Beske, 2010. "Sustainable supply chain management and inter‐organizational resources: a literature review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), pages 230-245, July.
    10. Tingko Lee & Wei‐Tsung Liu & Jun‐Xian Yu, 2021. "Does TMT composition matter to environmental policy and firm performance? The role of organizational slack," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 196-213, January.
    11. Scott Victor Valentine, 2010. "The Green Onion: a corporate environmental strategy framework," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(5), pages 284-298, September.
    12. Michaela Rankin & Carolyn Windsor & Dina Wahyuni, 2011. "An investigation of voluntary corporate greenhouse gas emissions reporting in a market governance system," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(8), pages 1037-1070, October.
    13. Mariëtte van Huijstee & Pieter Glasbergen, 2008. "The practice of stakeholder dialogue between multinationals and NGOs," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(5), pages 298-310, September.
    14. Ramme, Iris & Heimann, Ruth, 2015. "Green packaging from a company’s perspective: Determining factors for packaging solutions in the German fruit juice industry," MPRA Paper 65632, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. George Halkos & Antonis Skouloudis & Chrisovaladis Malesios & Konstantinos Evangelinos, 2018. "Bouncing Back from Extreme Weather Events: Some Preliminary Findings on Resilience Barriers Facing Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprises," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 547-559, May.
    16. Blanco, Christian C. & Caro, Felipe & Corbett, Charles J., 2020. "Do carbon abatement opportunities become less profitable over time? A global firm-level perspective using CDP data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    17. Robert Huber & Bernhard Hirsch, 2017. "Behavioral Effects of Sustainability‐Oriented Incentive Systems," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 163-181, February.
    18. Caroline D. Ditlev‐Simonsen & Atle Midttun, 2011. "What motivates managers to pursue corporate responsibility? a survey among key stakeholders," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(1), pages 25-38, January.
    19. Mehrnaz Ashrafi & Gregory M. Magnan & Michelle Adams & Tony R. Walker, 2020. "Understanding the Conceptual Evolutionary Path and Theoretical Underpinnings of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-17, January.
    20. Stefanie Einhorn & Bernhard Fietz & Thomas W. Guenther & Edeltraud Guenther, 2024. "The relationship of organizational culture with management control systems and environmental management control systems," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 18(8), pages 2321-2371, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:14:p:3780-:d:1703385. 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.