Climate change mitigation strategies in carbon-intensive firms

This study explores corporate strategies to mitigate climate change of large CO2 polluters. Unlike most prior studies in the area, which have attempted to identify configurations of firms pursuing similar strategies, this study appraises the relationships between nineteen carbon reduction practices and their underlying strategies. The findings are based on a sample of 158 carbon-intensive firms from three EU countries. Five main strategies in carbon-intensive firms are identified. The only relatively widely deployed strategy is emissions trading. The remaining strategies, including process emissions reduction, combustion emissions reduction, external measures, and lowering product output are not deployed extensively. Complementarity between the identified strategies is low firms focus on a single climate change mitigation strategy rather than deploying several simultaneously. Climate policy stringency appears to have a positive effect on corporate efforts to reduce emissions. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.