The debate over anthropogenic climate change or the idea that human activities are altering the physical climate of the planet continues to rage amid seemingly irreconcilable differences, both within the developed world and between developed and less developed countries. With high uncertainty, rival worldviews, and wide diversity of meaning attached to the expression, climate change has become a key narrative within which local and transnational issues – economic, social, and political – are framed and contested. The field is fraught with controversies regarding causes and consequences, as well as different attitudes toward risks, technologies, and economic and social well-being for different groups. Parties also dispute how to share responsibility for reducing emissions – whether the issue primarily needs market, regulatory, technological, or behavioral solutions. Climate change is many things to many people. Competing interests negotiate over its interpretation and utilize various strategies to promote practices that advance their own understandings regarding climate change and its governance.

doi.org/10.1177/1476127010395525, hdl.handle.net/1765/25830
ERIM Article Series (EAS)
Strategic Organization
Erasmus Research Institute of Management

Ansari, S., Gray, B., & Wijen, F. (2011). Fiddling while the ice melts? How organizational scholars can take a more active role in the climate change debate. Strategic Organization, 9(1), 70–76. doi:10.1177/1476127010395525