Corporate voluntary action: A valuable but incomplete solution to climate change and energy security challenges

In recent decades, regulators and policymakers have grappled with the emergence of two global phenomena: globalization of the world marketplace and global climate change caused by increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While the scale of each is staggering, the interests behind them are by and large considered to lie on opposing fronts in the battle between economic development and environmental protection. Although corporations fueled by fossil fuel dependent industries are thought to be largely responsible for both the recent global expansion of the market and increased GHG emissions, they have been operating in the absence of uniform regulations and mandatory controls. This paper looks at voluntary corporate GHG emissions reporting and reduction measures as in the context of what some critics describe as a moral vacuum, and reaches the conclusion that voluntary measures are a useful, but insufficient, mechanism for addressing the related problems of climate change and energy security.