Environmental Development: Marcin Zemigala

Environmental Development xxx (xxxx) xxx
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Environmental Development
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envdev
Business and climate change - Research tendencies1

Marcin Zemigala
Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw, ul, Szturmowa 1/3, 02-678, Warsaw, Poland
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: The aim of the article is to analyze the tendencies in scientific research on business and climate
Climate change change. The main research question (what tendencies can be identified in scientific research on
Business and climate change business and climate change over the years) allowed to formulate three specific research ques
Management and climate change
tions. The Analyses of dynamics over time, research centers and content were carried out using
Bibliometric analysis
Research tendencies
bibliometric methods. The dataset was obtained from Scopus and consisted of 1546 records
related to scientific publications from 1989 to 2018. A clear upward trend emerged over time in
business and climate change research. University of Waterloo, Griffith University, and ETH Zurich
were identified as the most important research centers for thought development. Furthermore,
climate change, greenhouse gases, and global warming emerged as the three very well explored
thematic areas in the business context. Additionally, three research gaps were identified, i.e.,
adaptive management, tourism management, and waste management. The results of the analyses
can be useful to researchers when planning, designing, and conducting own research. Political
decision-makers who seek support and advice could also take advantage of the findings, as they
may assist in the development of new political instruments. Last but not least, the presented
research outcomes may serve the business community by providing solutions, and references to
appropriate experts and analysts.
1. Introduction
The world is facing increasing climate change. Research on these phenomena is carried out in various scientific disciplines: natural
sciences, engineering, history, law and sociology (Haunschild et al., 2016). Business and management researchers are also not
indifferent to climate issues (Canevari-Luzardo, 2020). For example, strategic management-related issues in various market sectors
(Kolk and Pinkse, 2005; Kolk and Levy, 2003). Much research is conducted on the basis of the Kyoto Protocol (Lidskog and Elander,
2010), COP reports or the Paris Agreement (Broberg, 2020). There also were many studies on trends in climate change research
(Pasgaard et al., 2015). However, there was a shortage of analyses dedicated to research trends strictly related to business and climate
change (Linnenluecke and Griffiths, 2013; Pais Seles et al., 2018). Thus, the following research gap was identified: the analyses of
tendencies in climate change research did not provide an exhaustive overview of the business context so far. The aim of the article was
to analyze tendencies in scientific research on business and climate change. The main research question was formulated as follows:
what major tendencies can be identified in scientific research on business and climate change over the years? In order to establish
answers for the aforementioned question, bibliometric analysis method was adapted. The following analysis fills the research gap,
provides knowledge about trends in research related to business and climate change, identifies main research centers dealing with this
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The research was financed by: Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw, Poland.
E-mail address: mzemigala@wz.uw.edu.pl.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2021.100696
Received 16 February 2021; Received in revised form 21 December 2021; Accepted 25 December 2021
Available online 30 December 2021
2211-4645/© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article as: Marcin Zemigala, Environmental Development, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2021.100696
M. Zemigala Environmental Development xxx (xxxx) xxx
topic, indicates the most frequently undertaken research themes and identifies those worth addressing. As for the practical implica
tions, it is worth pointing to the possibility of applying the results of such studies by researchers, political decision-makers and business
community representatives. They can use them to conduct their own research, solve political and practical business problems,
respectively.
The introduction provides the purpose of the research and the main research question. To justify the research, a discussion was
carried out on other studies in the field of climate change, business and management, as well as on the basis of other bibliometric
analyses on climate change. Additionally, analyses of the Conferences of the Parties (COP) documents were conducted in terms of
business and management-related issues. This made it possible to state that the business and climate change field is important and at
the same time poorly explored, and as the tendency analysis indicated it constitutes a research gap. Next, the adopted research
procedure was defined and a set of detailed research questions was presented. According to these, the research was conducted, results
were analyzed and discussed, and conclusions were drawn upon. The most important limitations and future research directions were
also presented. The results of the conducted analyses can be used by other researchers, policymakers and business representatives.
2. Literature review
2.1. Business and climate change research
Business and management and their relationship with climate issues have been the subject of research interest (Canevari-Luzardo,
2020; Biagini and Miller, 2013). The Kyoto Protocol and issues related to emissions (mainly greenhouse gases), often laid the foun
dation for analysis (Lidskog and Elander, 2010; Kumar et al., 2020). Corporate strategy issues were analyzed from the perspective of
climate change (Van den Hove et al., 2002; Kolk and Pinkse, 2005), especially in oil (Garcia-Rodriguez et al., 2013; Gasbarro and
Pinkse, 2016; Kolk and Levy, 2001; Le Menestrel et al., 2002), automotive (Kolk and Levy, 2003) and construction (Gunawansa and
Kua, 2014) industries. Oil industry and economic growth progress conjointly. Unfortunately, oil extraction and consumption cause
major negative environmental impacts, including climate change. Environmental Management Systems can play a positive role in this
aspect. As evidenced by Garcia-Rodriguez et al., implementation, maintenance and continuous improvement of such a systems may be
an opportunity to reduce negative environmental impacts for enterprises, especially those from developing countries (Garcia-Ro
driguez et al., 2013). The adaptive behavior of companies in the field of climate change depends on such factors as vulnerability and
awareness of changes (Gasbarro and Pinkse, 2016). Some of the oil companies are moving towards supporting the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions or investing in renewable energy sources. Various factors may have an impact on the adoption of specific,
pro-climate behaviors, including, e.g., historical conditions, location, level of profits and resources, issues related to corporate
structure and the degree of centralization/decentralization (Kolk and Levy, 2001). It is essential for enterprises to finally achieve a
compromise between their negative social and environmental impacts, and potential financial gains (Le Menestrel et al., 2002).
The strategic approach to climate change was also studied among North American (Hoffman, 2005; Jones and Levy, 2007),
Australian (Markey et al., 2020), and Asian (Amran et al., 2014, 2016) corporations in connection to issues caused by greenhouse gas
emissions. Topics related to corporate social responsibility and climate change, e.g. in Latin American enterprises which mainly
operated in energy and waste handling and disposal sectors (Benites-Lazaro et al., 2018) were also addressed. The aforementioned
studies revealed that there still were no sufficient solutions in company strategies aimed at the reduction of greenhouse gases.
Similarly, at an initial level, climate change mitigation measures were present in the strategies of African companies. The analyses on
the canvas of the Kyoto Protocol concerning business responses to climate issues were conducted, e.g., in Canada and in Germany,
where research was performed on the areas concerning regulations, business ethics, and organizational behavior (Eberlein and Matten,
2009). Similar studies were conducted in developing countries (Pauw, 2015). Longitudinal studies which were carried out among
Australian companies (a total of 5 corporations involved in climate issues in the following sectors: energy, financial services,
manufacturing, insurance, and media) allowed to formulate a model of business response to climate change including the following
three stages: framing, localizing and normalizing (Wright and Nyberg, 2017). Accounting aspects were also studied, e.g. carbon
management accounting (Bui and Villiers, 2017) or climate change accounting methods (Evangelinos et al., 2015). Additionally,
research conducted on American companies listed on Standard & Poor’s 500 showed that large companies, especially those involved in
export, were more likely to voluntarily disclose climate-related issues. There was no evidence found to support the statement that
carbon intensive industries were more likely to disclose climate issues (Stanny and Ely, 2008). It is conspicuous that climate change
should not be ignored by the companies and that they should undertake activities in this area and take advantage of various types of
channels and media to communicate with their stakeholders (Lee et al., 2015). Furthermore, workforce diversification turned out to be
an important factor. Companies that placed greater emphasis on gender diversity and inclusion exhibited a stronger presence in
European countries that were most committed to climate issues (Ciocirlan and Pettersson, 2012).
Companies from sectors directly dependent on climate change and weather conditions like tourism (Hall et al., 2013; Witting et al.,
2021) were also the subject of separate studies (Linnenluecke and Griffiths, 2010; Romar, 2009). For instance, research conducted on
winter tourism in Sweden (Brouder and Lundmark, 2011) and in Norway (Rauke and Kelman, 2012) revealed that entrepreneurs did
not consider climate change to be a threat to their business operations. New Zealand research results were consistent with this
conclusion, showing that tourism enterprises attempted to adapt to climate change in the short term, however, their strategic response
was less pronounced (Becken and Wilson, 2016). Indonesian research showed that social commitment and CSR activities of tourism
enterprises strengthened local communities and helped to cope with climate change (Rahmawati et al., 2019). Social ties and cultural
values turned out to be especially important, as confirmed by Samoan research (Parsons et al., 2018).
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2.2. Climate change research tendency analyses
Various analyses of trends in scientific research on climate change were conducted so far (bibliometric methods were usually
employed for such analyses). Among them, we can identify research that was related to climate change in general, without direct
analyses of or references to business, management or enterprises. They mainly focused on geographical, biological or climatological
issues. Such research was carried out by Haunschild, Bornmann and Marx who conducted classical analyses according to such pa
rameters as time dynamics, journals, authors, countries, quotations or topics. The authors focused on such climate-related areas as
atmosphere, ice and snow, water, oceans, biomass, climate modelling or adaptation and vulnerability. Moreover, they stated that
research on climate change was not only undertaken in natural sciences, but also in such fields as engineering, history, law, sociology,
and management (Haunschild et al., 2016). Further research of this team, with A. Thor as the additional researcher, examined the
history of climate change research (Marx et al., 2017).
The research of Pasgaard et al. was of general character and concerned the geographical distribution of research on climate change.
The authors analyzed publications using such geographical indicators as mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation
(Pasgaard et al., 2015). The authors emphasized that business and enterprises ought to consider the issues of climate change and its
long-term consequences (Pasgaard and Strange, 2013).
More detailed and thematically narrowed research was also undertaken. Bibliometric analyses of climate policy modelling proved
that this topic was addressed, among others, by the management sciences. A special focus was placed on enterprise-related risks. Wei
et al. claimed that those risks should be included in climate policy models (Wei et al., 2015).
Climate change adaptation and vulnerability issues raised in Haunschild et al. studies were later developed in more detail in
research that followed. Wang et al. research on the leading regions, authors, academic centers and keywords proved that adaptation to
climate change as a research topic entered the phase of rapid development (Wang et al., 2018). The authors emphasized that in
research on adaptation one of the most frequently undertaken analytical areas was adaptive management, while in research on
vulnerability the focus shifted to risk management. It turned out that the research area which was called “business and economics” by
the authors, entered the list of 15 most productive subjects (Wang et al., 2018). Both adaptation and vulnerability, as well as resilience
issues in the aspect of networking in global environmental change were analyzed by Janssen et al. Among the analyzed journals there
were titles directly related to management, e.g. „Environmental Management”, „Journal of Environmental Management” or „Journal
of Range Management”. Additionally, it was found that resilience research was mainly published in ecology- and ecosystem
management-oriented journals, while adaptation research was concentrated in anthropological and climatic journals, whereas
vulnerability-focused research was mostly released in geographical and natural hazards journals. Furthermore, collaborative networks
which analyzed technical aspects related to water management, management of forest or lakes or ecosystem management were also
identified (Janssen et al., 2006; Janssen, 2007). Studies on climate change vulnerability assessment also appeared. As far as man
agement and organizations were concerned, a cluster which included this type of research was identified, and was more of a meth
odological and tool-oriented nature (Di Matteo et al., 2018). Issues concerning assessments were still analyzed from the perspective of
Life Cycle Assessment by Hou et al. The LCA analysis itself is used in management. Moreover, the research revealed that among leading
journals were those related to management: „Waste Management”, „Journal of Environmental Management” or „Waste Management &
Research”. In general, research on LCA mainly focuses on environmental sciences and various engineering fields. One of the main areas
of focus in the past was climate change (Hou et al., 2015). A similar outcome was presented in the research by Li and Zhao who
conducted an environmental assessment study. Apart from the earlier mentioned climate change, other main areas of research
included risk assessment, strategic environmental assessment, and life cycle assessment, which indicated to be linked management.
Additionally, „Journal of Environmental Management” and „Environmental Management” once again appeared as discussion plat
forms (Li and Zhao, 2015). Landauer et al. studied climate change adaptation and mitigation inter-relationships. The main link to
management concerned land management and planning as one of the key areas for climate change (Landauer et al., 2015).
Research on the assessment of technological innovations in the aspect of climate change was also undertaken, and the issues of
adaptation and mitigation were addressed. Studies by Adenle et al. focused on agriculture in developing countries. One of the most
important technological aspects identified in their research was soil management (Adenle et al., 2015).
The bibliometric analyses that mostly focused on climate change and management concerned sustainability – to be more precise:
the concepts of corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Based on their research Linnenluecke and Griffiths proved
that greening management was one of the four key areas of academic discussion on corporate sustainability (the other three being:
corporate social performance theory, stakeholder theory, and corporate social performance versus economic performance). These
studies established a connection between the environment, the society and corporate activity. It turned out that the research on
corporate social responsibility had barely any links to current climate change issues. Instead, more attention was paid to more classic
areas such as the institutional theory, resource-based view or strategy in general. Climate change was proven to be underrepresented in
corporate sustainability research (Linnenluecke and Griffiths, 2013).
The research also explored the opportunities and challenges that organizations faced in the context of climate crisis, and how such
issues were resolved. The main opportunities for organizations resulting from the climate crisis included improvements in environ
mental, financial, operational and stakeholder performance and new business opportunities. In terms of challenges, it was revealed
that the climate crisis generated additional costs and pressure from the market and stakeholders. Challenges regarding the quality and
effectiveness of low-carbon operations management were also proven to be important. The most common solutions for such challenges
were investments in R&D, internal policy development, voluntary actions in the field of low-carbon operations management, coop
eration, cost control, benefits of climate crisis mitigation measure implementation and disclosure (Pais Seles et al., 2018).
3
2.3. Business and management in COP documents
As indicated in section 2.1, much of the research took the Kyoto Protocol as the foundation (Najam et al., 2003; Micheaelowa et al.,
2003; Stadelmann et al., 2011). Other documents of international importance in the field of climate change included recurrent COP
reports or the Paris Agreement (Höhne et al., 2017; Broberg and Romera, 2020; Broberg, 2020; Hilton and Kerr, 2017). In the hereby
presented article the content of the aforementioned documents was analyzed in the context of threads related to business, management
and enterprises. The texts of COP reports (from COP1 to COP24. COP25 was not included due to report’s incompleteness), the Kyoto
Protocol and the Paris Agreement underwent an analysis. Data for the analyses were downloaded from COP websites and then browsed
with the use of the following phrases: [„busi*“, „manag*“, „corpora*“, „compan*“, „enterpr*“, „entrepren*“]. The analysis included
PDF files with reports and post-session documents, and excluded short reports and corrections. In the analyzed documents,
business-related matters were of a rather general nature and were mainly mentioned in participant statements. They were connected to
declarations or postulates of positive business involvement in climate issues and underlined the importance of the role and the re
sponsibility in the business community in respect to climate change. There were also threads related to sustainable management,
sustainable forest management, sustainable resource management, environmental management, waste management, water resource
management, risk management, climate management and technologies, and corporate social responsibility. There were also narrower,
more specialized thematic references to management, e.g. coastal zone management, landscape management, land management,
grazing land management, cropland management, management of disasters, natural disaster management, information and knowl
edge management as well as financial management. Further in-depth analyses would require a very specific determination of the
relationships among those fields. The relationship between business and various management concepts may be particularly significant.
Some of them, such as coastal zone management or grazing land management may be applicable in various business-related areas, as
links in supply or value chains. Such notions are raised in the hereby presented study, however they are not further elaborated upon.
It is notable that threads related to business, management or enterprises and entrepreneurship were present in the formal inter
national debate on climate and climate change. One can argue whether referring to those subject areas every 11 pages on average in all
of the analyzed documents (over 3.5 thousand pages in total) was a low or a high result (Fig. 1). It is noteworthy that management was
considered significant in documents of such importance. Even if sometimes it only had a general or a declarative aspect, it indicated
that this field was not excluded from the ongoing global debate. References made to specialized terms indicated an in-depth approach
towards the role and the importance of business and management in climate change-related processes. It should also be noted that the
analyzed documents were of a general nature and the issues raised in them were further detailed in the lower-ranked executive
documents.
It turned out that climate change research from the management and business perspective was conducted in different contexts and
in various market sectors. It also appeared that no comprehensive analysis of tendencies in scientific research related to business and
climate change was carried out so far. This research area was indeed visible in the cited studies, however it constituted only a smaller
portion of the broader context. Moreover it revealed itself in individual observations or conclusions, or was limited to specific concepts
and management approaches. Therefore, it could be considered an emerging area which needs to be explored in further detail. This
provides some basis to conclude that there is a research gap in the analysis of tendencies in business and climate change research. It can
be formulated as follows: the analyses of tendencies in climate change research did not provide an exhaustive overview of the business
context so far. Furthermore, it is justified to assume that this area is relevant and worthy of further analysis, since it emerged from
many studies and could also be seen in important documents dedicated to climate change issues.
It appears to be important to focus on research trying to fill the identified gap and to analyze tendencies in scientific research
strictly in the field of business and climate change, and not to consider business and business research as only one element of a larger
research concept, but as its main field of analysis. Climate change is progressing and the business world (including researchers dealing
with it, representatives of enterprises and policymakers who create the frameworks for the operation of business organizations) should
have a better outlook on current tendencies in research in this area (business and climate change). Such analyses show how scientific
research on business and climate change progressed over the years. They also allow to locate the results of research on the timeline,
which in turn can help to avoid replication in the future research, business and/or political activities. Thus, it will be possible to
Fig. 1. Number of business and management-related phrases in searched documents.
4
supplement the knowledge base more efficiently based on what was already analyzed, tested and proven. In particular, it is important
to show the relevance of research by approaching the dynamics of research over time. The analysis of research centers dealing with
topics related to business and climate change, and the pursuit for the main research themes can provide not only a solid knowledge
base, information on important and advanced research centers, and most-explored themes, but also indicate those that can be a support
platform and a knowledge base for researchers, business representatives and policymakers in the future.
Fig. 2. Research procedure scheme.
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3. Research methods
Bibliometric methods are usually used to analyze tendencies in scientific research (Ball, 2018; De Bellis, 2009), which allow to
identify trends regarding e.g., important research centers, journals or regions, based on publication data (Gingras, 2016). In order to
perform analyses aligned with the goal and the main research question, a three-stage research procedure was established (see Fig. 2).
The first stage (S1) involved identifying an appropriate data source to perform bibliometric analyses. In the second stage (S2) phrases
used for the data search were defined and applied to the source that was obtained in S1, which allowed to generate the original dataset.
In the third stage (S3) the original dataset was cleaned and the final dataset for further analysis was determined.
In bibliometric analyses, data can be downloaded from global bibliographic databases. The two most thematically extensive and
representative global databases which aggregate data from other, narrower and profiled databases are the Web of Science (WoS) and
Scopus (Zemigala, 2012). The two aforementioned databases index data from exact sciences, humanities, social and medical sciences,
and arts. Hence in S1 an initial data search was conducted in order to determine which of the two aforementioned databases would
return more results. In the initial search a basic phrase [climat* AND busi*] was entered. This phrase was supposed to reflect the scope
of the analysis and was not limited further, since that was supposed to occur in the next stages of the research procedure. In both
databases no exclusions and restrictions were applied in the regard to e.g., year of publication, discipline or type of documents. The
default base setting was used and the phrase was entered in the widest search box. WoS returned 7172 documents, whereas Scopus
delivered 27,832 documents, which was 20,660 records more. Percentage-wise, the dataset obtained from WoS accounted for 26% of
the one from Scopus. The Scopus database was selected for further analysis, as it provided a larger number of records (Linner and
Wibeck, 2015; Pais Seles et al., 2018; Zemigala, 2019).
In the following step (S2) proper search phrases and options had to be determined, so that the most accurate and optimal dataset for
the analyzed topic could be acquired. The goal was to obtain a set which would be both ample and minimally polluted, with the
smallest possible number of omissions at the very beginning (Haunschild et al., 2016; Quental and Lourenco, 2012). After considering
the analyses conducted in section 2 of the hereby presented paper a range of test searches were conducted (Haunschild et al., 2016).
Search phrases included the following: climate, climate change, global warming, business, corporation, company, entrepreneurship,
enterprise, entrepreneur, management, corporate social responsibility, corporate sustainability, business social responsibility,
corporate responsibility, business responsibility, and business sustainability. Several variants were tested within the search box (see
Table 1). The widest search box (Article title, Abstract, Keywords) returned a highly polluted dataset, because it included records that
had a vague connection to the main research area (Linnenluecke and Griffiths, 2013). For instance, “climate change” was mentioned
once in the abstract, while the article itself included no analysis on the topic. In order to avoid such data pollution it was decided that
the search should be carried out further only with the use of “Title” and “Keywords” boxes and a set of specific words, along with their
various forms. For example, when searching “climate”, the dataset also included records which concerned “moral climate”. Similar
data pollution occurred when the term “warming” was used. In order to guarantee that different forms of the words were included in
the dataset, special characters (*), quotation marks and logical operators were used (Di Matteo et al., 2018; Pasgaard and Strange,
2013; Wang et al., 2018). Finally, the following phrase was used to obtain the dataset: [TITLE ((„climat* chang*” OR „global warm*“)
AND (busi* OR manag* OR corpora* OR compan* OR enterpr* OR entrepren*)) OR KEY ((„climat* chang*” OR „global warm*“) AND
(busi* OR manag* OR corpora* OR compan* OR enterpr* OR entrepren*))]. Using the identified phrase, an uncleaned dataset of 33,
Table 1
Testing different phrases in different search box (S2).
No. Phrase Results
Highly polluted results. High number of results.

1 [TITLE-ABS-KEY ((climat* OR „global warm*“) AND (busi* OR manag* OR corpora* OR compan* OR enterpr* OR entrepren*))] n=
147,561
2 [TITLE-ABS-KEY ((„climat* chang*” OR „global warm*“) AND (busi* OR manag* OR corpora* OR compan* OR enterpr* OR entrepren*))] n = 77,889
3 (TITLE ((climat* OR “global warm*") AND (busi* OR manag* OR corpora* OR compa* OR enterpr* OR entrepren*)) OR KEY ((climat* OR n = 60,198
“global warm*") AND (busi* OR manag* OR corpora* OR compa* OR enterpr* OR entrepren*)))
4 (TITLE ((climat* OR “global warm*") AND (busi* OR manag* OR corpora* OR compan* OR enterpr* OR entrepren*)) OR KEY ((climat* OR n = 48,481
“global warm*") AND (busi* OR manag* OR corpora* OR compan* OR enterpr* OR entrepren*)))
Highly polluted results. Low number of results.
5 (TITLE-ABS-KEY(climat* AND (“corpora* soci* responsib*" OR “busi* soci* responsib*" OR “corpora* responsib*" OR “busi* responsib*" OR n = 489
“corpora* sustainab*" OR “busi* sustainab*") )
6 ( TITLE-ABS-KEY (climat* AND (“corpora* soci* responsib*" OR “corpora* sustainab*") ) n = 392
7 ( TITLE ( ( climat* OR “global warm*") AND ( “corpora* soci* responsib*" OR “busi* soci* responsib*" OR “corpora* responsib*" OR “busi* n = 187
responsib*" OR “corpora* sustainab*" OR “busi* sustainab*") ) OR KEY ( ( climat* OR “global warm*") AND ( “corpora* soci* responsib*" OR
“busi* soci* responsib*" OR “corpora* responsib*" OR “busi* responsib*" OR “corpora* sustainab*" OR “busi* sustainab*") ))
8 ( TITLE ( climat* AND ( “corpora* soci* responsib*" OR “busi* soci* responsib*" OR “corpora* responsib*" OR “busi* responsib*" OR n = 163
“corpora* sustainab*" OR “busi* sustainab*") ) OR KEY ( climat* AND ( “corpora* soci* responsib*" OR “busi* soci* responsib*" OR
“corpora* responsib*" OR “busi* responsib*" OR “corpora* sustainab*" OR “busi* sustainab*") ))
Relatively low polluted results. High number of results.
9 (TITLE ((“climat* chang*" OR “global warm*") AND (busi* OR manag* OR corpora* OR compa* OR enterpr* OR entrepren*)) OR KEY n = 37,698
((“climat* chang*" OR “global warm*") AND (busi* OR manag* OR corpora* OR compa* OR enterpr* OR entrepren*)))
10 (TITLE ((“climat* chang*" OR “global warm*") AND (busi* OR manag* OR corpora* OR compan* OR enterpr* OR entrepren*)) OR KEY n = 33,602
((“climat* chang*" OR “global warm*") AND (busi* OR manag* OR corpora* OR compan* OR enterpr* OR entrepren*)))
6
602 records was obtained. When cleaning (Janssen et al., 2006) this set (S3), the focus was placed on: date range (Di Matteo et al.,
2018; Wang et al., 2014), research field (Yarime et al., 2010) and document type (Pasgaard and Strange, 2013). In bibliographic
databases, the years which are most up-to-date take a lot of time to be completed. The incoming data are often added to the databases
even when the calendar year has already ended. Because data from the most recent years are incomplete and their quantity changes,
the datasets could be deemed unstable. Furthermore, some years may encounter a variety of changes due to e.g., adding and indexing
of an additional journal or algorithm changes of the very database (Belter and Seidel, 2013; Di Matteo et al., 2018; Zemigala, 2019). In
order to ensure that the dataset was as stable as possible, the aforementioned search phrase (which was originally defined in March
2019) was once again used one year later, in January 2020. Because the years of 2019 and 2020 were unstable they were excluded from
the set. The year 2018 was considered relatively stable, hence it was included in the dataset (upper limit of the set). In the first years of
the dataset (1980–1988) single or no records appeared. It was not until 1989 when a larger number of records (minimum 10) began to
appear in the years that followed. Therefore, 1989 was recognized as the lower limit of the dataset. The noted changes in the numbers
of individual years between 1989 and 2018 were small and did not affect the stability of the entire dataset. The set of records (33,220 in
total) from 1989 to 2018 that was obtained in the search process in January 2020 underwent further analysis (see Table 2).
As for the field of research, the taxonomy built into Scopus was used, according to which records in the dataset were assigned to 27
different research fields, including business, management, and accounting (Pasgaard and Strange, 2013; Zemigala, 2019). It was
decided to include these records in further analyses due to low probability of dataset pollution. The records assigned to this group were
Table 2
Search results in S3 (specifying the limits of the set).
No. Year [A] [B] [C] [D]
1 2020 0 257 257 –

2 2019 825 3930 3105 376.36%
3 2018 3785 4035 250 6.61%
4 2017 3500 3569 69 1.97%
5 2016 3246 3274 28 0.86%
6 2015 2954 2986 32 1.08%
7 2014 2549 2559 10 0.39%
8 2013 2617 2637 20 0.76%
9 2012 2378 2390 12 0.50%
10 2011 2523 2560 37 1.47%
11 2010 2296 2293 − 3 − 0.13%
12 2009 1896 1891 − 5 − 0.26%
13 2008 1178 1177 − 1 − 0.08%
14 2007 850 840 − 10 − 1.18%
15 2006 494 510 16 3.24%
16 2005 543 542 − 1 − 0.18%
17 2004 441 444 3 0.68%
18 2003 319 320 1 0.31%
19 2002 213 211 − 2 − 0.94%
20 2001 129 130 1 0.78%
21 2000 149 148 − 1 − 0.67%
22 1999 147 147 0 0.00%
23 1998 87 88 1 1.15%
24 1997 114 114 0 0.00%
25 1996 75 75 0 0.00%
26 1995 59 59 0 0.00%
27 1994 54 55 1 1.85%
28 1993 30 30 0 0.00%
29 1992 47 47 0 0.00%
30 1991 45 45 0 0.00%
31 1990 24 24 0 0.00%
32 1989 19 20 1 5.26%
33 1988 8 8 0 0.00%
34 1987 0 0 0 –
35 1986 1 1 0 0.00%
36 1985 1 1 0 0.00%
37 1984 1 1 0 0.00%
38 1983 1 1 0 0.00%
39 1982 0 0 0 –
40 1981 2 2 0 0.00%
41 1980 2 2 0 0.00%
Total 33,602 37,423 3821 11.37%
Explanation.
Column [A] = Search results retrieved in March 2019.
Column [B] = Search results retrieved in January 2020.
Column [C] = The difference between search results retrieved in January 2020 and March 2019 = [B]-[A].
Column [D] = The difference between search results retrieved in January 2020 and March 2019 in % = [C]/[A].
7
directly connected to the theme of the hereby conducted analysis. As a result of this clean-up, 1712 records were left. They consisted of
various types of documents, including those that were underrepresented in the database (e.g., books or chapters in books), as well as
those of a more unscientific character (e.g., editorial notes or conference reviews). From the research point of view scientific articles
are the most valuable records, at the same time they are the most numerous documents. Therefore, it was decided that the analytical
data set should be limited to scientific articles (including conference proceedings) (Hou et al., 2015; Li and Zhao, 2015; Pasgaard and
Strange, 2013). This way, a cleaned dataset was obtained. The dataset for further analysis consisted of scientific articles which were
listed in the Scopus database in the years 1989–2018, in the field of business, management and accounting, and included 1546 records.
A set of three specific research questions (RQ) was also formulated accordingly to the objective and the main research question:
• RQ1. How did the dynamics of scientific research on business and climate change develop over the years?
• RQ2. Which research and development centers are the leading ones in the area of business and climate change research?
• RQ3. What are the themes of scientific research on business and climate change which received the greatest attention of the sci
entific communities?
4. Results
4.1. Chronological analysis
When exploring the dataset in search for answers to RQ1, there was a clearly visible upward trend in the entire 28-year period. It
was noted that in the period from 1989 to 2007 (subset 1) the number of articles per year was small (1–25), with the average number of
articles per year being slightly above 7. In the first five years one article appeared each year. That was the initial period when research
on business and climate change just started to emerge. The average number of articles per year in the entire dataset was 55.21. Until
2007 this number was not exceeded. The period from 2008 to 2018 (subset 2) was a timeframe of stronger growth with higher numbers
(above average) of articles per year. The average number of articles per year in subset 2 was above 128. There was a substantial
increase in scientific research on business and climate change during this period. The upward trend was already distinct. In each year,
there was a large number of studies, with the most numerous appearing in the latest years. There were no indications that this trend
may change radically. On the contrary, there was a growing interest of management-related sciences in climate issues. There were
some temporary declines (like in the 2012–2014 period), but they did not impact the overall trend (Fig. 3). Comparing these two
subsets in terms of their size, the first subset recorded slightly more than 8% of articles (130 records), while the second subset con
tained over 91% (1416 records) of the total. When analyzing these subsets in terms of citations of articles, subset 1 was once again
much weaker. The sum of citations of articles in this subset was less than 14% of the total sum of citations in the entire analyzed
dataset. The remaining citations, slightly more than 86%, were the citations already assigned to subset 2.
4.2. Center analysis
In order to find answers to RQ2, only those centers that generated at least 10 articles, with a minimum of 1 article cited at least 100
times were taken into account. After the application of these criteria, a classification of 13 significant scientific and research centers
was created (Table 3). Given the quantitative classification (based on the number of affiliated articles), the top three were: Griffith
University, University of Waterloo, and University of Queensland. However, this classification changed slightly when considering the
data in terms of quality (total index of citations of affiliated articles). From the three aforementioned universities (quantitative
leaders), remained the University of Waterloo which ranked first with the highest citation index and Griffith University, which came in
third. The second position was taken by the center which was not too productive quantitatively, but proved to be significant quali
tatively, i.e. ETH Zurich. These centers should be considered the most important ones in research on business and climate change. It is
worth mentioning that the vast majority of studies affiliated by the centers in Table 3 were assigned to subset 2, which represented
more recent studies. Another observation made was in the regard to the University of Massachusetts, which was unable to make it to
the list of the most important centers due to the relatively low number of affiliated articles (a total of 7, where 4 were cited more than
100 times), although its total citation index (885) was significant. These analyses were also mainly included in subset 2. It was noted
that the research conducted at this university had barely any continuity, but it generated an influence on other researchers who
managed to achieve a high amount of citations. When analyzing the research themes of the three most important centers, the vast
Fig. 3. Dynamics of scientific research on business and climate change.
8
Table 3
Leading centers in research on business and climate change.
Centers Articles Citations [C] [D] [E] [F]
Griffith University 29 879 0 29 0.00% 100.00%

University of Waterloo 26 1241 2 24 18.53% 81.47%
University of Queensland 19 545 0 19 0.00% 100.00%
Royal Institute of Technology KTH 17 630 3 14 59.21% 40.79%
Chinese Academy of Sciences 16 809 0 16 0.00% 100.00%
Lund University 15 750 2 13 7.87% 92.13%
University of Leeds 15 678 0 15 0.00% 100.00%
University of New South Wales 12 509 1 11 34.38% 65.62%
Erasmus University Rotterdam 11 441 3 8 35.37% 64.63%
ETH Zurich 11 939 2 9 3.41% 96.59%
University of Amsterdam 11 870 5 6 61.03% 38.97%
University of Canterbury 11 582 1 10 10.14% 89.86%
Western Norway Research Institute 10 583 0 10 0.00% 100.00%
Explanation: in column [C]: articles in subset 1; [D]: articles in subset 2; [E]: citations in subset 1, in percentage; [F]: citations in subset 2, in
percentage.
majority was directly related to climate change, which was the central concept. Other common threads that stood out were: tourism
management (also referred to as ecotourism), adaptive management and environmental management. Additionally, there was an
interest in issues related to carbon, carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases emissions.
4.3. Content analysis
While analyzing the dataset in the context of RQ3 a keyword analysis was performed. It was assumed that the most important
keywords were those that obtained at least a three-digit result in terms of occurrence in the set. This way 18 keywords representing the
most important thematic areas covered in research on business and climate change (explanation under Table 4) were identified. It
turned out that there were 3 central areas (above 30% of articles): climate change, greenhouse gases and global warming. Each of them
covered a variety of contexts, e.g. climate change research applied to climate change mitigation, adaptation, impacts, assessment,
modelling, strategies, scenarios, policies or technologies.
In terms of greenhouse gases, the research covered such aspects as various emissions, their control, reduction, effects, management
or mitigation, as well as low carbon issues in the context of such areas as economy, technology, energy, logistics or urbanization. As far
as global warming was concerned, the researchers’ attention was focused on a variety of problems, impacts and potentials. Other
leading and more advanced thematic areas were mainly related to energy-related issues (e.g. energy efficiency, management, policy,
conservation, renewable energy, solar, bio or clean and green energy), LCA analyses (in different versions and approaches, e.g., life
cycle inventory, impact or costing) or sustainable development and sustainability (in aspects of e.g., business, management, corpo
ration or reporting) and environmental management (different systems, programs or strategies). Research on planning and economic
(e.g., impacts, development, growth, instruments, sectors, values, environmental economics or circular and green economies) and
social issues (e.g., corporate social responsibility, social values, civil society) have also appeared frequently.
The constructed matrix of co-occurrence of the most important research themes (Table 4) revealed that many co-occurring themes
were addressed by researchers relatively often and in great detail (three-digit results). This mainly concerned 3 central areas that had
links to other themes. The topic of climate change was discussed in the most diverse way, the highest number of well or relatively well
studied co-occurring themes were observed in its context. The other 2 central areas had slightly weaker results, with a fewer amount of
co-occurring thematic areas. It is noteworthy that in the case of global warming a poorly studied area was identified: global warming in
the tourism sector. Additionally, global warming and adaptive management were identified as a research gap, which are yet to be
explored. Two more research gaps were identified. There was a lack of research on adaptive management in the scope of supply chain
management, as well as on tourism management in the context of agriculture. Tourism management and waste management were the
two co-occurring areas in which research was conducted to a lesser extent. In the former, there was little research on contexts such as
the global warming, energy, LCA, environmental management, social issues, and waste management. As far as the latter was con
cerned, areas such as adaptive, risk, tourism, information, supply chain management, and agriculture were not sufficiently explored.
An area which stood out in the analysis was environmental management, where on the one hand aspects such as climate change,
greenhouse gases, global warming, energy and LCA were very well studied (three-digit results), while on the other hand it included
three areas with a small amount of research, i.e. adaptive, risk and information management.
An analysis on the citation metrics of the article set was also carried out. It turned out that more than half of the articles were barely
cited or not cited at all. The largest citation indices were recorded for a small group of articles. Slightly more than 4% of the articles
obtained a citation index of at least 100 (62 articles), including 17 articles (with at least 200 citations), which had a direct and strong
connection to business and climate change. A big part of them concerned strategic management in the context of climate change or
greenhouse gases emissions. They also made references to such research topics as LCA, waste management, supply chain management
or energy and energy efficiency.
9
M. Zemigala
Table 4
Matrix of co-occurrence of the most important thematic areas.
Themes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
1 842
2 314 567
3 49 274 444
4 200 247 214 401
5 186 211 224 186 394
6 230 156 113 109 120 333
7 151 157 156 126 217 86 296
8 220 122 80 68 44 103 39 283
9 196 136 70 94 68 89 62 78 259
10 120 72 59 48 47 55 40 46 67 170
11 107 62 39 41 49 44 41 29 37 23 144
12 64 72 79 68 93 38 50 20 18 18 13 137
13 124 14 5 4 17 5 40 17 16 14 2 125
14 103 32 18 21 18 22 7 27 22 18 17 5 20 121
15 103 28 9 6 8 25 3 18 27 5 13 4 38 11 114
16 77 43 40 30 18 42 17 33 42 21 15 8 4 18 2 112
17 65 55 44 33 61 34 34 11 23 9 12 9 5 7 10 106
18 51 56 50 24 49 34 30 21 21 14 22 6 9 1 9 15 100
Explanation: column and row [Themes].

1.Climate change.
10
2.Greenhouse gases & CO2.

3.Global warming.
4.Energy.
5.LCA.
6.Sustainable development/sustainability.
7.Environmental management.
8.Planning.
9.Economic issues.
10.Social issues.
11.Decision making.
12.Waste management.
13.Adaptive management.
Environmental Development xxx (xxxx) xxx

14.Risk management.
15.Tourism management.
16.Information management.
17.Agriculture.
18.Supply chain management.
Numbers in cells: number of articles with co-occurring themes.
Three-digit results: well-explored themes.
Double-digit results: relatively well-explored themes.
Single-digit results: poorly explored themes.
Empty cells: research gaps.
5. Discussion
An analysis of research tendencies on business and climate change showed that researchers were increasingly interested in issues
related to the subject area as time progressed. This may be confirmed by partial conclusions from previous analyses that revealed
noticeable interest in this topic (Haunschild et al., 2016; Wei et al., 2015; Wang et al., 2018). The clearly increasing trend in the
number of articles per year in subset 2 gave grounds to the assertion that these themes will be addressed more frequently in the future.
Therefore, it can be expected that researchers from the field of management will continually pay greater attention to climate-related
issues. Thus, not only themes such as adaptation to climate change (Wang et al., 2018) but also those closely related to business and
climate change showed a positive upward trend that is very likely to continue in the future. The increasing amount of research on
business and climate change will certainly allow academics to better understand the interactions occurring between climate phe
nomena and business entity activities. Furthermore, it will make the entire research area more detailed and accurate. There is a chance
that as the academic and scientific debate on those topics progresses the changes in the global business activities will follow. Scientific
progress will implicate the development of solutions for climate challenges, as far as business units are concerned. There is also a
chance that more intense discussion in the scientific field will cause changes in the approach of political circles, since the importance of
policy issues was already highlighted in previous studies (Wei et al., 2015; Broberg and Romera, 2020; Broberg, 2020). The emerging
new threads will oblige political decision-makers to use research results in order to prevent and respond to climate change.
During the analysis, three leading centers emerged in research on business and climate change: University of Waterloo, Griffith
University in the context of number of records and ETH Zurich in the context of number of citations. Studies conducted by researchers
from these universities attracted the greatest attention of the scientific community and they could be treated as centers for the
development of research thought related to business and climate change. Therefore, researchers who plan, design and conduct their
own research may seek substantial assistance from or inspiration by those centers. When looking for project partners or co-authors, it is
also worth considering leading centers, especially if the undertaken themes are in line with selected research thematic areas of interest.
However, when conducting own studies, it is also worth monitoring the results of research from other centers. There were universities
which had no continuity of research, but published individual articles that turned out to be significant, as it was in the case of the
University of Massachusetts. Political decision-makers and business communities can seek best practice and advice in leading academic
centers in order to solve climate problems related to their own activities, especially if they are connected to climate change and/or a
variety of issues and fields relating to thereof, such as, greenhouse gases, adaptive management, tourism management, and envi
ronmental management.
Three central thematic areas were identified with the highest number of studies researching climate change, greenhouse gases, and
global warming. These areas were explored in many different ways and the conducted analyses were carried out in a variety of contexts
and from various perspectives. This may constitute a very good resource of knowledge for other researchers who would like to start
exploring the field of business and climate change. A large number of studies on central areas could also constitute a potential
knowledge base for solving practical problems in enterprises, and may be additionally used by policymakers in the designing process of
development or investment plans. Moreover, the analysis allowed the identification of three research gaps, co-occurring themes that
were researched insufficiently. Researchers who are looking for topics connected to business and climate change may consider
studying those gaps. There definitely is a deficit of studies on adaptive management (from the global warming and supply chain
management perspective) and tourism management (from the agricultural perspective, where the impact of tourism-based businesses
on local agricultural crops or food production and consumption with the inclusion of climate-related factors could be analyzed in
greater depth). Each of aforementioned areas should be viewed as important in itself, however their combination was not yet been
reflected in previous analyses. This complements the analyses of adaptive management (Wang et al., 2018; Adenle et al., 2015; Levy
and Egan, 2003) or previous studies on tourism (Witting et al., 2021; Romar, 2009; Becken and Wilson, 2016). Thematic areas such as
waste management (Hou et al., 2015; Gutowski et al., 2005; Eriksson et al., 2005) and tourism management (Hall et al., 2013; Witting
et al., 2021; Becken and Wilson, 2016) belong to the group that was analyzed on a relatively small scale in a variety of contexts. This is
another chance to take on interesting studies in research fields that are still not fully developed.
The most cited research concerned first of all strategic management in different contexts of climate change. Kolk and Pinkse studied
the attitude of companies towards climate change. Based on their analysis of 136 large companies from the Global 500 list they
formulated 6 strategic profiles. The most frequently-occurring one was the profile of the so-called Emergent Planners (36%) who
undertook some initial strategic steps (e.g., towards energy saving or greenhouse gas emissions), but did not manage to complete those
goals yet. In their case, the development of a climate strategy was still at an early stage. The next identified group was named Cautious
Planners (31%). Companies fulfilling this profile only were preparing for action, whereas their actual activities in the area of climate
change strategy were low. However, they viewed such steps as the reduction of greenhouse gases as a potential for the future. Internal
Explorers (14%) implemented truly existing internal measures, e.g., they improved their energy efficiency or reduced greenhouse gas
emissions in their production processes. The climate change strategy in the case of Vertical Explorers (10%) went beyond the changes
performed within their company structures as they already supported actions within their supply chains. This means that they both
reduced their own greenhouse gas emissions and cooperated with suppliers in this aspect. Companies with a Horizontal Explorers
profile (5%) were exploring opportunities in markets outside their current scope and Emissions Traders (4%) were reducing their own
emissions and were also active in the emissions trade market (Kolk and Pinkse, 2005). A similar picture emerged from the analyses of
Hoffman who emphasized that companies nowadays tended to treat climate change and greenhouse gas emissions as a scientific or an
academic problem, rather than an issue that should be implemented in their management strategies. Meanwhile, the challenges of
greenhouse gas emission reductions represented a significant market shift that could divide companies into winners and losers, and this
definitely challenges companies to integrate climate issues into their strategies. However, in many cases, the answers to climate-related
11
questions about the energy efficiency of operations, carbon emissions, the possibilities of their reductions, and the emissions trading
mechanism were not addressed yet (Hoffman, 2005). The issues of winners and losers have also emerged in the analysis of the strategic
concept of ecological modernization which combined economy and ecology and the use of eco-innovation. The implementation of this
concept was supported by the so-called smart environmental regulations and the growing business risks for polluters, which in turn
caused an increasing pressure on eco-innovations. The analyses also allowed to determine the main factors inhibiting the application of
ecological modernization. It turned out that there may be trends that could actually neutralize the results of environmental im
provements, e.g., when environmental innovation is limited to niche markets. The resistance of the so-called “modernization losers”,
companies or sectors that have lost out on ecological modernization, e.g., mining, some of the raw material industries or energy
companies, also turned out to be an important aspect (Janicke, 2008). Resistance towards change in management in light of climate
change, treating it as a threat to one’s own good or even dominant market position, autonomy and political influence emerged from the
analyses of Levy and Egan who used Gramsci’s political thought. In such a situation, civil societies and climate regime have an
important role to play, since they have the capability of placing pressure on such companies to implement adaptation strategies (Levy
and Egan, 2003). The pressure in the form of direct appeals to management by shareholders is also important in terms of a positive
attitude towards environmental and climate issues and their disclosure, as it was demonstrated by Reid and Toffel. Whenever com
panies feel the political and legal pressures to deal with environmental and climate issues, they are more willing to engage in them
through the implementation of the demands made by the stakeholders (e.g., social groups or movements) (Reid and Toffel, 2009). In
terms of disclosure, the significant importance of sustainability reporting was thoroughly analyzed by Lozano and Huisingh. In
addition to the traditional set of economic, social and environmental dimensions, they incorporated inter-linking issues and di
mensions that would help better understand the impacts, reduce conflicts between different categories and provide a fuller, more
integrated approach from a sustainability perspective (Lozano and Huisingh, 2011). The strategic approach towards environmental
issues varies among countries. Gutowski et al. have performed analyses in this area in companies from Europe, USA and Japan. Ac
cording to the authors large companies see and understand environmental problems, but their actions to tackle those issues depend on
the countries which they operate in. Japanese companies take advantage of environmental solutions in product development, and
implement ISO 14000 standards in order to gain competitive advantage and underline traditional Japanese focus on quality. Pro
tectionist attitudes were observed in various European companies, which are supposed to facilitate their actions, but can be an obstacle
for actors from outside Europe or the European Union. It was also noted that the EU-based companies use LCA and take advantage of
cooperation between businesses, governments and universities much more often than those which operate in Japan and the USA.
Among the companies from the USA there was a high environmental awareness mixed with a skeptical approach. Additionally, it
turned out that American companies may be at a disadvantage due to inconsistent national targets in such area as waste management,
global warming, energy efficiency or recycling (Gutowski et al., 2005). The next group of themes in the most cited research with
references made to climate change concerned LCA, waste management, supply chain management and energy. Eriksson et al., who
used LCA, analyzed different methods of municipal solid waste management, i.e. recycling, incineration, biological treatment, and
compared them with landfilling. When considering the use of energy resources, environmental impacts and costs, landfilling generated
the worst results. It is recommended to avoid landfilling of energy-rich waste (Eriksson et al., 2005). Finnveden et al. also analyzed
different methods of municipal solid waste treatment (landfilling, incineration, recycling, digestion and composting) with the use of
LCA. The general principles of waste hierarchy from recycling through incineration to landfill were found to be environmentally
beneficial, since they lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions and lower energy consumption. However, they indicated some limita
tions of such sequences, e.g. if incineration involved long distance transportation and individual transportation (i.e. cars), then
landfilling might have had been a better environmental option. In case of storage for shorter periods of time, e.g. 100 years, with an
appropriate approach to landfill modelling, storage might have had also yielded better results than incineration (Finnveden et al.,
2005). The LCA analyses conducted by Borjesson and Tufvesson concerned different types of biofuels from agricultural crops in terms
of land use, energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, and eutrophication. It turned out that depending on the land (traditional
cropland or unfertilized grasslands), greenhouse gas emissions and eutrophication could significantly differ (Borjesson and Tufvesson,
2011). The research related to LCA was sometimes more technical or mathematical in nature than the ones mentioned earlier.
Chaabane et al. developed a mathematical model using the LCA methodology that could be a useful in the process of designing and
planning a sustainable supply chain. Their model considered legal conditions for emissions trading (such as recycling obligations or the
reduction of greenhouse gases). The model was validated and empirically tested on an example of an aluminum supply chain, showing
its utility value as a decision support tool. The analysis revealed that incorporating the LCA methodology into supply chain design had
the potential to maximize long term sustainability (Chaabane et al., 2012). Hua et al. developed a numerical model for carbon footprint
management in stock management, mainly in logistics and inventory management, including the carbon emission trading mechanism.
It turned out that with the assistance of this model it was possible to optimize the order size according to the generated costs and carbon
emissions (Hua et al., 2011). Research on supply management was also conducted by Gunasekaran and Spalanzani, who identified key
research areas in sustainable business development in manufacturing and services. Their analyses allowed to identify 7 major areas:
sustainable challenges, their problems and sources, advances in sustainable business development in manufacturing and services,
sustainable product and process design, sustainability in supply operations, production operations, distribution chain operations,
sustainability through reverse logistics (closing of the supply chain loop) (Gunasekaran and Spalanzani, 2012). More technical studies
also concerned energy and energy efficiency, such as those that focused on the industrial processes of Bunse et al. (2011) and Dovi et al.
(2009) which presented the technical aspects of sustainable energy. Cleaner production technologies, electricity transmission and
delivery (including energy from waste), carbon/CO2 issues and emissions reduction, advanced solutions in thermal power generation
were presented as the main themes which were then developed in further research and analysis. Furthermore, not only energy effi
ciency, but also environmental efficiency in general was analyzed in the context of water consumption in the tourism industry.
12
Through the inclusion of direct and indirect water consumption in their research, Gossling et al. proved that the development of
tourism, raising tourism industry standards and changing tourist activities could influence global warming and climate change
through, inter alia, water management (Gossling et al., 2012). Environmental efficiency combined with cost effectiveness is an
analytical area that Robichaud and Anantatmula took into account when developing the concept of green project management which
was meant to enable the implementation of sustainable construction projects, which would be both cost effective and
environmentally-friendly (Robichaud and Anantatmula, 2011).
Research focused on strategic management, LCA, supply chain management, and energy not only generated the highest number of
citations, but also turned out to be most inspiring for other researchers. These are very specific guidelines for researchers who are
planning, designing and conducting their own research as to which aspects are worth paying attention to. The combination of extensive
knowledge from central areas, research gaps or still under-explored areas, as well as issues analyzed in the most-valued articles seems
to be a good recommendation for researchers.
6. Conclusions
After analyses were conducted according to the main research question and the set of three specific research questions it can be
stated that research on business and climate change was carried out in many different contexts. Due to the clear over time upward
trend, these studies turned out to be interesting and inspiring for researchers. This rising trend is expected to continue in the future.
Researchers, political decision-makers, and business community representatives can take advantage of the knowledge resources in the
business and climate change field. They can use them to conduct their own research, solve political issues, and practical business
problems. All of the aforementioned parties can seek help, support and partnerships among the centers which were recognized as the
main hubs for business and climate change research development and thought. The central themes were already widely examined.
There is a high degree of probability that the research, political, and business problems related to those central themes could be solved
with the use of existing studies. It is noteworthy that more detailed research contexts are being developed, and that some of them are
not fully explored yet. This might be an opportunity for future innovative research which could potentially make a significant
contribution to the discussion and the body of knowledge related to business and climate change. Three main directions of future
research could be identified: adaptive management (global warming and supply chain management perspective), tourism management
(in general and in the context of agriculture) and waste management. It seems justified to undertake further detailed bibliometric
analyses in these areas. Further exploration of topics connected to the adoption of tendencies in scientific research on business and
climate change appears to be a scientifically-compelling direction for future analyses. Verification and confrontation of various
research outcomes and perspectives, and the introduction of theory into practice can be very useful, especially for the following three
groups of stakeholders: researchers, representatives of the business world, and political groups.
Finally, the limitations of the analyses should be emphasized. These are the typical limitations of research based on bibliometric
analyses. The analyses and their results refer to data taken from a specific database and are time-specific. Therefore, analyses based on
data obtained from other databases or at a different time may yield different results and conclusions. The analyses include scientific
articles and conference proceedings, and exclude other types of documents. Therefore, analyses based on other types of documents,
including non-scientific ones, may lead to different conclusions. A specific phrase was used, consisting of a set of terms, logical op
erators and special characters. If different phrases were used, disparate results would be generated by the search engine. In order to
ensure the stability, size and level of pollution of the data set, certain exclusion criteria were applied. Last, but not least, it is worth
mentioning that the Scopus database has limitations of its own. For instance, it does not contain numerous publications that appear in
local journals. Other technical limitations of Scopus include, e.g., extended time periods to complete the missing data in the database,
affiliation errors, or mistakes in the authors’ surnames that were not noticed and thus not corrected by database administrators.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.
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15

Environmental Development: Marcin Zemigala

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Business and climate change - Research tendencies1

2.1. Business and climate change research

2.2. Climate change research tendency analyses

2.3. Business and management in COP documents

Fig. 1. Number of business and management-related phrases in searched documents.

Fig. 2. Research procedure scheme.

Highly polluted results. High number of results.

1 2020 0 257 257 –

4.1. Chronological analysis

4.2. Center analysis

Fig. 3. Dynamics of scientific research on business and climate change.

Griffith University 29 879 0 29 0.00% 100.00%

4.3. Content analysis

Explanation: column and row [Themes].

2.Greenhouse gases & CO2.

Environmental Development xxx (xxxx) xxx

Declaration of competing interest

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