Author(s)

Yunqiao Wang ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Corresponding Author

Yunqiao Wang

ABSTRACT

This essay examines the uneven rise of corporate environmentalism in global business. It argues that corporate environmentalism has developed less from a moral transformation within firms than from regulation, capital-market pressure and legitimacy demands that have made environmental inaction more costly. These pressures have pushed environmental issues into corporate governance, strategic planning and investment decisions. However, this development remains selective and contested. For leading multinational firms, green technologies and advanced compliance systems can become sources of competitive advantage. For less capable firms, the same environmental requirements may appear mainly as cost pressures. The essay also shows that sustainability reporting and net-zero commitments do not always lead to deep operational change, leaving space for greenwashing and symbolic compliance. In global value chains, environmental harm may also be shifted to places with weaker regulation. The German case further illustrates the difficult trade-offs between decarbonisation, affordability and competitiveness.

KEYWORDS

Corporate environmentalism; Global business; Sustainability reporting; Greenwashing; Institutional pressure; Market incentives; Global value chains; Energy transition

CITE THIS PAPER

Yunqiao Wang. The uneven rise of corporate environmentalism in global business. Information Systems and Economics (2026). Vol. 7, No.1, 85-90. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/infse.2026.070110.

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