Grön olja? - En fallstudie av ett oljebolags miljöprofilering
OilBPPetroleum IndustryCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR)Climate ChangePolitical and administrative sciencesStatsvetenskapFörvaltningskunskapLaw and Political Science
While the call for regulations against greenhouse gas emissions are louder then ever before, demand for oil is also at an all time high. Oil companies face the dilemma of making sound business without being perceived as environmental villains. In this essay I will examine how BP, one of the largest companies in the world, broke rank with the industry and devoted itself to being an environmental friendly oil company. The actions and motives of this change will be evaluated through up-to-date theories about company motivation to environmental adaptation. We see that BP:s transformation can be well explained through Simone Pulvers theory about the socially embedded company. Additionally BP:s environmental actions will be evaluated through the principles of the UN CSR-initiative Global Compact. While BP can be said to fulfill commitments to these principles, it has also received criticism saying their environmental work is merely a cover-up for the fact that their main business still lies within the extraction and production of fossil fuels. This essay concludes that BP:s environmental work can neither be classified as simply ?Greenwash? nor genuine ecological responsiveness, but primarily as a business strategy that has some positive outcomes for the environment.