Transnational corporations and the challenge of biosphere stewardship

Folke, Carl [Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden] Österblom, Henrik [Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden] Jouffray, Jean-Baptiste [Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden] Lambin, Eric [UCL] Adger, W. Neil [Geography, College of Life and Environmental Science, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK] Scheffer, Marten [Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Netherlands] Crona, Beatrice I. [Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden] Nyström, Magnus [Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden] Levin, Simon A. [Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA] Carpenter, Stephen R. [Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA] Anderies, John M. [Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden] Chapin, Stuart [Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA] Crépin, Anne-Sophie [Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden] Dauriach, Alice [Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere Academy Program, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden] Galaz, Victor [Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden] Gordon, Line J. [Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden] Kautsky, Nils [Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden] Walker, Brian H. [CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia] Watson, James R. [Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere Academy Program, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden] Wilen, James [Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA] de Zeeuw, Aart [Department of Economics, CentER and TSC, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands] et al.[show all]

Sustainability within planetary boundaries requires concerted action by individuals, governments, civil society and private actors. For the private sector, there is concern that the power exercised by transnational corporations generates, and is even central to, global environmental change. Here, we ask under which conditions transnational corporations could either hinder or promote a global shift towards sustainability. We show that a handful of transnational corporations have become a major force shaping the global intertwined system of people and planet. Transnational corporations in agriculture, forestry, seafood, cement, minerals and fossil energy cause environmental impacts and possess the ability to influence critical functions of the biosphere. We review evidence of current practices and identify six observed features of change towards ‘corporate biosphere stewardship’, with significant potential for upscaling. Actions by transnational corporations, if combined with effective public policies and improved governmental regulations, could substantially accelerate sustainability efforts.