Environmental citizenship in multinational corporations: social responsibility and sustainable development

Abstract

Over the past decade the concept of sustainable development has expanded to include the simultaneous consideration of economic growth, environmental protection, and social equity in business planning and decision-making. Many multinational enterprises based in the United States and Europe engage in corporate citizenship programs to promote sustainable development. Corporate citizenship programs are often defined narrowly, however, as philanthropy or external relationships with stakeholders to address social problems. As important as these activities are, they do not adequately define the broad range of substantive internal environmental management practices that MNCs also use to pursue sustainable development objectives. A content analysis of 38 MNCs' environmental performance reports identifies and classifies their practices in the field of environmental citizenship and their contributions to sustainable development, assesses the means by which MNCs collaborate with stakeholders in solving environmental problems, and examines the factors that contribute to the success of corporate environmental citizenship for sustainable development.