Corporate commitment to climate change: The effect of eco-innovation and climate governance

Climate change represents a significant problem to the planet which raises concerns from stakeholder groups about corporate commitment to climate change issues. In this paper, we explore the effect of eco-innovation and climate governance on corporate commitment to climate change. We develop a unique measure for climate change commitment by considering four components, viz. whether a company supports the Sustainable Development Goal 13 on climate action, whether a company is aware that climate change can represent commercial risks or opportunities, whether a company reports Scope 3 CO₂ emissions and whether a company sets a target for emission reduction. We measure eco-innovation by using a score collected from the Eikon database that reflects a company's capacity to reduce environmental costs, eco-innovation intensity measured as environmental expenditures over revenues. We also create an index computed as a composite score by totalling five eco-innovation proxies collected from the Eikon database that reflect companies' efforts to reduce environmental impact. Concerning climate governance, we focus on three proxies, namely the existence of an environmental committee, climate incentives and the existence of sustainability reports. Based on a sample of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange for the period of 2014–2020, we find that corporate eco-innovation is positively associated with climate change commitment. We argue that firms that adopt innovative approaches to efficiently control pollution and resource use and reduce their environmental impact are more committed to climate change. We also find that climate governance is positively associated with climate change commitment. We claim that companies that integrate climate change issues in governance can help address climate change risks and opportunities. Our empirical evidence provides recommendations for managers and policymakers to promote the adoption of eco-innovative technologies and integrate climate change issues in governance, which can contribute to corporate commitment to climate change.     

气候变化科学不确定性的伦理解析

一、气候变化的科学不确定性 全球变暖在一定程度上已成为气候变化的代名词,但近年来质疑全球变暖的声音也在增强。     

Emotional anchoring and objectification in the media reporting on climate change

Using the framework of social representations theory--more precisely the concepts of anchoring and objectification--this article analyses the emotions on which the media reporting on climate change draws. Emotions are thereby regarded as discursive phenomena. A qualitative analysis of two series in Swedish media on climate change, one in a tabloid newspaper and one in public service television news, is presented showing how the verbal and visual representations are attached to emotions of fear, hope, guilt, compassion and nostalgia. It is further argued that emotional representations of climate change may on the one hand enhance public engagement in the issue, but on the other hand may draw attention away from climate change as the abstract, long-term phenomenon of a statistical character that it is.     

Bacteria in ice may record climate change

To many people, bacteria and climate change are like chalk and cheese： the smallestcreature versus one of the biggestphenomena on Earth. Not really. Scientists with the CAS Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research （ITP） and coworkers recently reported thatsmall bugs deposited in ice and snow might tell how our climate has been changing.     

全球季风与气候的长期变化

<正>当前关于"全球变暖"的争论,实质问题在于如何区分人类活动的影响和自然界本身的变化。只要认识了气候变化的自然趋势,问题也就迎刃而解,但是这方面科学界的意见分歧太大。如,下次冰期什么时候到来,有的认为远在5万     

Patterns of polarization: Transnational dynamics in climate change online networks in the US and Switzerland

Research into hyperlink interaction patterns has been particularly interested in whether they integrate the online space or segregate it into “echo chambers.” Concentrating on contentious politics in national settings, the existing studies have mainly examined the relationships between domestic actors, mostly bloggers. This study seeks to expand the focus by including several actor types, allowing their connective actions to reach beyond national borders, and employing a comparative approach that contrasts high- with low-contentious contexts. Analyzing climate change hyperlink networks originating in the US and Switzerland, the results show that their transnational dimension plays a crucial role in polarizing the discourse, regardless of the specific political context. We find similar patterns that segregate climate advocates from skeptics and lead to distinct transnational relationships within the camps. The results demonstrate that countermovement actors in particular are able to forge strong transnational alliances.     

The energy and water cycles under climate change

Energy and water cycles have been a hot research topic in the global scientific community. The global climate change observed over the last century is having a profound impact on global and regional energy and water cycles, leading to more frequent extreme climatic events and affecting water security, ecosystem and socioeconomic development around the world. The impact is especially obvious over the highland regions such as the Tibetan Plateau. Here we have an interview with one of world''s most renowned experts in hydroclimatology, Professor Soroosh Sorooshian from the University of California at Irvine, to share his insights on the subject of energy and water cycles.     

Understanding human influence on climate change in China

China''s climate has been warming since the 1950s, with surface air temperature increasing at a rate higher than the global average. Changes in climate have exerted substantial impacts on water resources, agriculture, ecosystems and human health. Attributing past changes to causes provides a scientific foundation for national and international climate policies. Here, we review recent progress in attributing the observed climate changes over past decades in China. Anthropogenic forcings, dominated by greenhouse gas emissions, are the main drivers for observed increases in mean and extreme temperatures. Evidence of the effect of anthropogenic forcings on precipitation is emerging. Human influence has increased the probability of extreme heat events, and has likely changed the occurrence probabilities for some heavy precipitation events. The way a specific attribution question is posed and the conditions under which the question is addressed present persistent challenges for appropriately communicating attribution results to non-specialists.     

Joint science academies'' statement:Global response to climate change

Climate change is real There will always be uncertainty in understanding a system as complex as the world's climate. However there is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring1.     

Mt. Qomolangma: A barometer for global climate change

After 34-year-long studies,scientists have further justified the Mt. Qomolongma (Mt. Everest) region is sensitive to the global climate change.     

Materiality and sustainability transitions: integrating climate change in transport infrastructure in Ontario,Canada

Infrastructure threatens to lock-in societies to fossil fuels unless something is done now. This is because infrastructure lasts for such a long time, meaning that any infrastructure built or rebuilt now will last well into the twenty-first century – until the end of the century, in some cases. Consequently, there is a need to integrate climate change into infrastructure now or societies will be left with infrastructure designed around unsustainable socio-technical systems (such as combustion engines, roads, and suburbanization). Such change is conceptualized in the literature as a sustainability transition. However, any attempts at such transitions have to address the ‘materialities’ of infrastructure systems (physical form, environmental context, and so on). In this paper, I develop the concept of ‘socio-material systems’ and apply it to transport infrastructure in Ontario, Canada.     

大学生应对气候变化的伦理取向探讨

近年来,气候变化作为热点议题不断升温。大量的文献对气候变化形成的原因、气候变化所可能带来的危害作出了多方面的分析（如OECD 1996,编委会2007,Stern 2007．UNDP2007）,也出现了大量针对适应气候变化所产生成本和效益的有价值研究（如潘家华等2007,stern 2007）。然而,应对气候变化不仅是一个环境问题和经济问题,     

“丝绸之路经济带”沿线主要国家气候变化特征

基于美国国家气候中心发布的全球气象站点日数据,利用克里金插值、线性趋势法、累计距平曲线法、Mann-Kendall显著性检验和多尺度区域统计等方法,系统阐述了“丝绸之路经济带”主要国家1980-2014年气温和降水的变化趋势和空间分布特征。结果表明,研究区近35 年以0.4℃/10a的速率呈现明显升温态势,30.1%的区域升温显著,0.03%的区域降温显著。各国普遍在20世纪末进入偏暖阶段。降水以减少为主,却仅有0.19%的区域减少显著,零星分布于沙特阿拉伯和中国的西部。南亚1991年后进入降水偏多阶段,其余地区多在1999年后进入降水偏少阶段。该成果能够为相关国家在“一带一路”战略的统领下解决和应对气候变化问题提供科学依据和有益参考。     

Resolving the patents paradox in the era of COVID-19 and climate change: Towards a patents taxonomy

This paper revisits the patents debate and considers the role of intellectual property rights and their impact on society in the context of inventions designed to protect global common pool resources (CPRs) such as public health and the environment. A review of the theoretical and empirical literature suggests that there has never been a clear consensus among researchers on the benefits of the patent system and intellectual property rights. As Robinson notes, “The patent system introduces some of the greatest of the complexities in the capitalist rules of the game and leads to many anomalies.” We explore these anomalies by specifying a taxonomy of patents for different classes of inventions, including inventions to protect CPRs. This includes vaccines and inventions that reduce externalities, such as, CFC gases and greenhouse gas emissions. In these instances, the effectiveness of innovations depends critically on rapid global diffusion. Our theoretical analysis utilises Ostrom's CPR dilemma to analyse the complexities surrounding innovation and CPRs.We find that the effectiveness of innovations to protect CPRs depends on industrial characteristics and the wider regulatory environment. Empirical evidence is brought to bear on these conclusions via 2 case studies that each embodies a natural experiment; one on vaccines pre- and post-TRIPS and one on environmental technologies to reduce CFC gases and CO₂ emissions with and without an agreed UN Protocol. The insights gained are explored in our policy section. Our analysis suggests the need for a more nuanced approach to patent policy that is embedded in the wider context of innovation systems and takes account of the anomalies raised by CPRs. For CPR protecting innovations subject to positive network externalities, we advocate that policy should prioritise diffusion over private incentives for R&D and use alternative policies to patents to stimulate investment in R&D.     

气候变化的事实、影响及对策

前言 近百年来,地球气候正经历一次以全球变暖为主要特征的显著变化.我国气候变化趋势与全球基本一致.近50年的气候变暖主要由人类使用化石燃料排放的大量CO2等温室气体的增温效应造成的.现有预测表明,未来50-100年全球和我国气候将继续向变暖的方向发展,全球变暖已对全球的生态系统以及社会经济系统产生明显影响,并将继续造成长远而巨大的影响.其中许多影响是负面的或不利的,在国际上,<联合国气候变化框架公约>缔约方正在就如何减缓这种气候变暖趋势和控制温室气体排放进行谈判.     

应对气候变化,发展低碳经济

<正>尊敬的甬祥院长、韩启德主席、尊敬的邓楠书记、鸿举市长、尊敬的杨振宁先生,尊敬的各位专家、各位学者,同志们:刚才路甬祥院长做了一个非常好的全面的报