Voluntary Sustainability Initiatives Research Articles

Potential for, and drivers of, private voluntary initiatives for the\xa0decarbonisation of short sea shipping: evidence from a Swedish ferry line

The aim of this paper is to analyse shipping firms’ reactions to environmental challenges and identify how significant reductions in energy consumption and air emissions can come about by implementing a variety of voluntary initiatives. The paper focuses on the various sustainability initiatives implemented by the Swedish short sea shipping operator, Stena Line, either on a purely voluntary basis as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy or as their chosen route for compliance with regulations. A conceptual model is developed based on stakeholder theory, the theory of planned behaviour and resource dependence theory to understand the main drivers of the firm’s adoption of sustainability initiatives and the factors affecting the integration of CSR in maritime companies. According to our findings, the company operates within a strongly enforced regulatory environmental framework and needs to exceed this framework to differentiate its service and strengthen its relationships with its customers by addressing their social and environmental concerns. As the firm’s competitive strategy focuses on service differentiation, a large pool of complementary resources is available for CSR and the implementation of sustainability practices. The results of this paper bring new insights to the potential of local private voluntary initiatives for the reduction of maritime air emissions. These include the provision of onshore power supply, the conversion of vessels to use methanol, ferry electrification, the construction of larger RoPax vessels and the implementation of an energy-saving program that focuses on crew involvement and continuous training. The environmental outcomes derived from a combination of local operational and technical energy efficiency measures are found to be significant and can contribute to the efforts for the achievement of sustainable maritime transport undertaken by international and regional organisations. The main barriers for the adoption of voluntary sustainability initiatives in the maritime sector are economic and technological. To encourage the wider adoption of these initiatives, the provision of economic incentives at national or regional level is crucial, as such initiatives usually imply high initial installation costs that should be somehow compensated for both vessels and terminals.

Comparing voluntary sustainability initiatives and product carbon footprinting in the food sector, with a particular focus on environmental impacts and developing countries

AbstractTwo types of private voluntary standards used in the food sector are analyzed in this article. Namely, sustainability initiatives that encourage best practice management on farms for environmental, social and economic gains, and also product carbon footprints (PCFs) that estimate the climate impact of products across entire supply chains. Concern is sometimes voiced about the potential negative impacts of both on exports from developing countries, especially related to outcome‐based PCF initiatives which involve complex calculations and could present particular burdens for small producers. It is argued here that both approaches have a role to play in the conservation of our environment, though both have advantages and disadvantages. The article concludes with recommendations for policy‐makers and standard setters.

Buyer-driven greening? Cargo-owners and environmental upgrading in maritime shipping

In this article, we examine the relations between global value chain governance and environmental upgrading in maritime shipping. Drawing from interviews with global shipping companies and major buyers of shipping services (cargo-owners), we reveal the key issues and challenges faced in improving the environmental performance of maritime transportation. Contributing to the Global Value Chain (GVC) literature, we compare and analyze the influence of three main external drivers on environmental upgrading in the tanker, bulk and container shipping segments: regulation, cooperation and buyer demands. Our findings suggest that environmental upgrading is more likely to occur when global value chains are characterized by unipolar governance and where the lead firms are consumer-facing companies with reputational risks. Furthermore, environmental upgrading in shipping is not likely to materialize without clear and enforceable global regulation and stronger alignment between regulation and voluntary sustainability initiatives.

Addressing Sustainability Risks of Bioenergy—Policy Strategies and Corporate Initiatives

This paper focuses on the sustainable use of solid and gaseous biomass for electricity, heating and cooling. It provides updated findings of policy analyses and corporate strategy analyses performed in the frame of BIOENERGY PROMOTION, one of the flagship projects under the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. In particular, the paper highlights policies and measures which have been adopted by the EU and EU Member States to address environmental and social sustainability risks of bioenergy. Taking into account the conclusions of BIOENERGY PROMOTION, the paper identifies promising policy developments, but also shortcomings. On the Member State level, the paper refers to the examples of Germany and Poland. It illustrates how problematic policy priorities and policy malfunctioning in two sub-sectors (biogas from energy crops in Germany, biomass co-firing in Poland) led to undesirable environmental and social developments and how policies have been re-adjusted to mitigate sustainability risks. The paper also portrays a number of voluntary corporate sustainability initiatives which emerged due to the lack of a binding European sustainability framework for solid and gaseous biomass. The authors conclude that without a binding sustainability framework at EU level there is a risk of having a patchwork of potentially diverging sustainability regimes and initiatives across Europe causing market intransparency and insecurity for investors.

The Complexity of Voluntary Sustainability Standards: An Emerging Economies Perspective

While firms have historically only faced pressures to comply with government regulations, recently various non-governmental bodies such as NGOs, industry groups, and individual firms have established voluntary initiatives and standards for acceptable social and environmental conduct of firms. Firms in emerging economies are frequently pressured by their customers from developed countries to adopt one or more of these voluntary sustainability standards. However, the complexity associated with voluntary standards reduces the value of these standards not only for emerging economy firms but for the entire voluntary regulatory system. We first present a framework that classifies the different types of complexity faced by firms in emerging economies that sell to foreign customers. Second, we analyze how complexity impacts the likelihood to adopt voluntary sustainability initiatives, using the empirical setting of food safety standards. Using both survey data and interview data from export- oriented agricultural...

Multicriteria mapping of stakeholder preferences for the sustainability of the Brazilian program for biodiesel production and use

The aim of this article is to prioritize the factors and alternatives relating to the reference conditions for the biodiesel production chain for the Brazilian Program for Biodiesel Use and Production. Multicriteria mapping of stakeholders' preferences was used to structure 20 interviews with specialists from Brazil representing three key areas (academy, industry, and regulatory bodies). The methodology started with a review of the literature on the sustainability of the biodiesel production chain based on market data, a review of 138 scientific articles indexed in the CAPES “Web of Science” database, which were searched using “biodiesel” and “sustainability” as keywords, and an analysis of the sustainability criteria used in related legislation and voluntary sustainability initiatives. Next, the reference conditions for the sustainability of the biodiesel production chain were structured, starting with the links and then the factors and their respective impacts and prioritizations given by the stakeholders. The results obtained from all the respondents indicate that the six most critical parameters are: improving the productive capacity of the land, non deforestation, production inputs, land access, engine problems, and land use for food production, which jointly accounted for 55.5% of the total priorities. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 32: 1262–1270, 2013

Institutional Work in the Design of Voluntary Sustainability Initiatives: Role of Key Resources

This study extends research on institutional work. We focus on the case of Voluntary Sustainability Initiatives (VSIs) and develop measures for assessing both the comprehensiveness of a VSI as well as its success. The study holds important implications for theory development and practititioners as we investigate which capabilities facilitate a comprehensive design of a VSI and how this design relates to the success of the VSI. Our findings indicate that certain principles from the resource-based for assessing successful competitive strategies may also improve our understanding on which capabilities can support effective institutional work.

Institutional entrepreneurship capabilities for interorganizational sustainable supply chain strategies

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address the implementation of proactive interorganizational sustainable supply chain strategies by empirically exploring the relationship between key (inter‐)organizational resources of the initiating company and the establishment of widely accepted voluntary sustainability initiatives.Design/methodology/approachThe study is built on comparative case studies as well as literature on institutional entrepreneurship and the resource‐based view.FindingsThe authors identify capabilities that enable the creation and establishment of company‐driven voluntary sustainability initiatives – namely external stakeholder integration, cross‐functional integration, the management of loosely coupled business units, supply chain implementation, process improvement and cultural framing.Originality/valueWith this study, the authors introduce institutional entrepreneurship theory to supply chain management literature and show that institutional entrepreneurship theory may contribute to the question of how organizations implement their interorganizational sustainable supply chain strategies. Specifically, the study derives propositions for key resources enabling the establishment of voluntary sustainability initiatives widely accepted by participants as well as initiative‐external stakeholders.

Manufacturing amnesia: Corporate Social Responsibility in South Africa

‘Manufacturing amnesia’ argues that the term ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ has been abandoned by most South African firms in favour of the term ‘corporate social investment’. This has been done in order to divert attention from calls on business to redress the results of its historical contribution to the apartheid system. The discourse of reconciliation has further served to erase memories of past corporate behaviour. It also masks continuing inequalities and unsustainable practices. Business has responded weakly to the pressures for CSR, of which five broad areas are identified and analysed. Voluntary sustainability initiatives have not succeeded and compliance with black economic empowerment charters and environmental standards have to be legislated and regulated. Firms need to reassess their legacies more honestly until which time their CSR contributions will be regarded as cosmetic and self-serving.