Climate change and corporate Africa: assessing responses to climate change risks and opportunities by SMEs and MNCS in some parts of Africa

Abstract

Despite growing proliferation in awareness of climate change issues, there is little indication about whether companies operating across Africa are taking a strategic view of climate change risk, given the continent’s vulnerability and exposure to the direct and indirect impacts of climate change. While utilizing the Carbon Disclosure Project dataset, the paper concludes with a summary of four findings; (1) Policy and appropriate legislation are critical drivers of climate change action by private companies in Africa; (2) Integrating relevant knowledge into local climate change policies with regards to size, geography and industry will likely increase the validity of implemented regulation and give consistency to sustainable practices; (3) Impacts that directly affect the bottom line for most businesses can be targeted for nudging businesses towards sustainable practices; (4) Although perceptions are not a replacement for overall environmental principles, they are useful in realizing behavioural intentions that can influence sustainable climate action