Will Big Business Destroy Our Planet?
by Peter Dauvergne  (Author)

About the Author
Peter Dauvergne is a professor of international relations at the University of British Columbia

About this book
Walmart. Coca-Cola. BP. Toyota. The world economy runs on the profits of transnational corporations. Politicians need their backing. Non-profit organizations rely on their philanthropy. People look to their brands for meaning. And their power continues to rise.
Can these companies, as so many are now hoping, provide the solutions to end the mounting global environmental crisis? Absolutely, the CEOs of big business are telling us: the commitment to corporate social responsibility will ensure it happens voluntarily.
Peter Dauvergne challenges this claim, arguing instead that corporations are still doing far more to destroy than protect our planet. Trusting big business to lead sustainability is, he cautions, unwise — perhaps even catastrophic. Planetary sustainability will require reining in the power of big business, starting now.

Table of contents
1 Total Destruction?  
    Pledging sustainability
    Big-business sustainability
    Better than nothing?
    Big business
    The chapters ahead
    Notes
2 The Rising Power of Big Business  
    The emergence of TNCs
    The post World War II explosion
    Re-engineering consumer cultures
    The concentration of wealth and power
    Notes
3 The Business of CSR  
    CSR as a public relations strategy
    CSR as a business strategy
    Walmart: “Save Money. Live Better”
    Taking over responsibility
    Notes
4 The Dark Side of Big Business  
    Evading taxes
    Breaking the law
    Obfuscation and obstruction
    In the shadows
    Notes
5 The Consumption Problem  
    Manufacturing overconsumption
    The shadows of consumption
    The plastic crisis
    Defining our age
    Notes
6 Less Destruction  
    The power of environmentalism
    The failures of environmentalism
    Doing less damage
    Notes
Further Reading
End User License Agreement

Length: 160 pages
Publisher: Polity; 1 edition (May 29, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1509524010
ISBN-13: 978-1509524013