Examines the underlying symbolic dimensions of corporate environmentalism, helping readers to separate useful environmental information from empty corporate spin.

Businesses promote their environmental awareness through green buildings, eco-labels, sustainability reports, industry pledges and clean technologies. When are these symbols wasteful corporate spin, and when do they signal authentic environmental improvements? Based on twenty years of research, three rich case studies, a strong theoretical model and a range of practical applications, this book provides the first systematic analysis of the drivers and consequences of symbolic corporate environmentalism. It addresses the indirect cost of companies' symbolic actions and develops a new concept of the 'social energy penalty' - the cost to society when powerful corporate actors limit the social conversation on environmental problems and their solutions. This thoughtful book develops a set of tools for researchers, regulators and managers to separate useful environmental information from empty corporate spin, and will appeal to researchers and students of corporate responsibility, corporate environmental strategy and sustainable business, as well as environmental practitioners.

Greenwashing Culture examines the complicity of culture with our environmental crisis. Through its own carbon footprint, the promotion of image-friendly environmental credentials for celebrities, and the mutually beneficial engagement with big industry polluters, Toby Miller argues that culture has become an enabler of environmental criminals to win over local, national, and international communities. Topics include: the environmental liabilities involved in digital and print technologies used by cultural institutions and their consumers; Hollywood's 'green celebrities' and the immense ecological impact of their jet-setting lifestyles and filmmaking itself; high profile sponsorship deals between museums and oil and gas companies, such as BP's sponsorship of Tate Britain; radical environmental reform, via citizenship and public policy, illustrated by the actions of Greenpeace against Shell's sponsorship of Lego. This is a thought-provoking introduction to the harmful impact of greenwashing. It is essential reading for students of cultural studies and environmental studies, and those with an interest in environmental activism.

The message that the environment is in peril has filtered from environmental groups to society's consciousness to shopping trolleys. The green consumer movement is everywhere, yet few are asking whether this is actually any better for the planet. By examining the major economic sectors of society, Green Washed explains that consumers cannot simply buy their way to sustainability. A new and unique take on green consumption, readers are shown that buying better is only the first step towards obtaining a truly green lifestyle.

Professional sports promote their green credentials and yet remain complicit in our global environmental crisis Sports are responsible for significant carbon footprints through stadium construction and energy use, player and spectator travel, and media coverage. The impact of sports on climate change is further compounded by sponsorship deals with the gas and petroleum industries—imbuing those extractive corporations with a positive image by embedding them within the everyday pleasure of sport. Toby Miller argues that such activities amount to "greenwashing". Scrutinizing motor racing, association football, and the Olympics, Miller weighs up their environmental policies, their rhetoric of conservation and sustainability, and their green credentials. The book concludes with the role of green citizenship and organic fan activism in promoting pro-environmental sports. This is a must-read for students and researchers in media, communications, sociology, cultural studies, and environmental studies.

Going green is the new black. In recent years, McDonalds have painted their famous golden arches green, while Richard Branson has funneled money into renewable energy. But are these newly 'climate-friendly' companies and brands really as green as they claim to be?

This book provides a clear, critical, and timely analysis of the state of corporate sustainability within the context of the climate crisis. It offers not only a substantive critique of the current efforts but also clarity about the changes needed and how to implement them. The book goes beyond the more common debate on shareholder capitalism vs. stakeholder capitalism to explain the shortcomings of the current approach to sustainability in business, which the author describes as sustainability-as-usual. Using strategic design lenses, the author proposes a new model of awakened sustainability, which offers a transformational shift in corporate sustainability to ensure companies fairly and effectively address the climate crisis. The book presents the numerous changes needed in the environment in which companies operate to enable awakened sustainability and how these changes can be realized. Grounded in the scientific community’s calls for urgent action on climate change, this groundbreaking text provides scholars with an evaluation of current and future trends in corporate sustainability. It connects the dots between the progress made in the last five decades and the opportunities entailed in the work on a regenerative and just vision for companies in this decade and beyond.

This encyclopedia, edited by the past editors and founder of the Journal of Business Ethics, is the only reference work dedicated entirely to business and professional ethics. Containing over 2000 entries, this multi-volume, major research reference work provides a broad-based disciplinary and interdisciplinary approach to all of the key topics in the field. The encyclopedia draws on three interdisciplinary and over-lapping fields: business ethics, professional ethics and applied ethics although the main focus is on business ethics. The breadth of scope of this work draws upon the expertise of human and social scientists, as well as that of professionals and scientists in varying fields. This work has come to fruition by making use of the expert academic input from the extraordinarily rich population of current and past editorial board members and section editors of and contributors to the Journal of Business Ethics.

An exploration of some of the most high profile environmental and sustainability challenges facing businesses and consumers, and 101 of the most practical solutions from the world of marketing. In our fast-moving and consumer-driven world – in which more than 10 million people are Marketers – social and environmental issues are increasingly being moved to the top of boardroom agendas. Each and every company, and therefore every marketer, has a responsibility to learn about the changing landscape in which they operate, and to adapt their skills, creativity and influence accordingly. From the authors of Sustainable Marketing, awarded Highly Commended at the Business Book Awards 2022, Can Marketing Save the Planet? is the ultimate guidebook for this journey, taking a deep dive into some of the most high profile subjects and solutions that every marketer needs to know about. It details the main priorities that companies should consider, and provides a 101-topic directory of the practical and realistic ways in which marketers can drive positive impact, showing that, even in the age of consumerism, marketing CAN be a force for good.