Evaluating the climate SWOT as a tool for defining climate strategies for business

Abstract Climate change is often referred to as the next major force shaping the business environment in which companies operate. This study aims at contributing to the needs of businesses for quicker and cost-efficient ways to strategically plan for the future uncertainty of climate change. When structuring the intertextual field around the underlying study, there are two main fields of contribution: (1) the systematical approach to the complex uncertainty related to climate change and its communication from a strategic perspective; and (2) developing novel approaches to life-cycle-based methodologies. The study includes the life-cycle perspective through a new, simplified method of repres…

Trends in EU Energy Policy 1995–2007

Today, climate change and a significant increase in energy consumption are considered to be the two greatest global challenges facing the energy world (e.g., Hasselmann et al. 2003: 1923; IPCC 2007; Kara 2007: 5; Karl and Trenberth 2003: 1719). In addition to the scientific community having a common understanding about these two issues relating to each other, the political decision makers also need to acknowledge it and start building a framework around it – with the same longterm targets. On the EU-level, climate change concerns were already manifested in the White Paper on Energy Policy for the European Union in 1995. The development of the EU’s common energy policy is also the result of …

Sustainability strategies for business : an integrated approach with a life cycle perspective

A case study of the motives and effects of the UBS and Nordea mergers

Environmental sustainability – aspects and criteria in forest biorefineries

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine what the most significant aspects of environmental sustainability in the forest biorefinery sector are and what kind of criteria should be applied to an evaluation of environmental sustainability in the forest biorefinery context.Design/methodology/approachThe topic is approached by themed interviews in Scandinavia and North America with 23 representatives from the forest and bioproducts sectors. The interviews were examined using the thematic analysis method.FindingsThe study indicates that environmental sustainability may be an important driver for the forest biorefinery business. From the perspective of environmental sustainability, harvesti…