Is Environmental Sustainability Taking a Backseat in China after COVID-19? The Perspective of Business Managers

Zhang, Dongyong; Hao, Mengge; Morse, Stephen

doi:10.3390/su122410369

Cited by 24 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Preliminary evidence shows that, despite short-term reductions in CO 2 emissions, the COVID-19 pandemic has undermined progress in 12 of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) [32,33]. Moreover, it may reduce the support for environmental policies [34] and, as recent empirical studies suggest, has put environmental sustainability in a backseat [35].…”

Section: Crises Generally Open Up For Societal Change Towards Environmental Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Sustainability Post-COVID-19: Scrutinizing Popular Hypotheses from a Social Science Perspective

et al. 2021

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There is an increasingly vocal debate on potential long-term changes in environmental sustainability spurred by the global COVID-19 pandemic. This article scrutinizes the social science basis of selected popular hypotheses regarding the nexus between the COVID-19 pandemic and the societal transitions towards environmental sustainability. It presents results that were derived through an interdisciplinary dialogue among social scientists. First, it is confirmed that the COVID-19 crisis has likely created a potential window of opportunity for societal change. Yet, to ensure that societal change is enduring and actually supporting the transition towards environmental sustainability, a clear and well-targeted political framework guiding private investments and behavior is required. Second, it is emphasized that there are important structural differences between the COVID-19 crisis and environmental crises, like time scales. Consequently, many strategies used to address the COVID-19 crisis are hardly suitable for long-term transitions towards environmental sustainability. Third, it is argued that transitions towards environmental sustainability—building both on reducing environmental degradation and building socio-techno-ecological resilience—may create co-benefits in terms of preventing and coping with potential future pandemics. However, research still needs to explore how big these synergies are (and whether trade-offs are also possible), and what type of governance framework they require to materialize.

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Section: Crises Generally Open Up For Societal Change Towards Environmental Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Sustainability Post-COVID-19: Scrutinizing Popular Hypotheses from a Social Science Perspective

et al. 2021

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“…The impact of COVID-19 on sustainability and CSR has been explored by scholars in Asia. Zhang et al (2020) undertook an empirical study and found that sustainability priorities of Chinese companies have shifted toward the social dimension both during COVID-19 and into the post-pandemic period regardless of the ownership, size and market focus of the companies. However, all types of company prioritize the need for economic sustainability in the post-pandemic period and in relative terms environmental sustainability has declined in importance.…”

Section: Impact Of Covid-19 On Sustainability and Csrmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of COVID-19 on business perspectives of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility in China

Zhang

Morse

et al. 2021

Environ Dev Sustain

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The new coronavirus has generated an unprecedented degree of social and economic impact on the planet, but few researchers have explored the repercussion of COVID-19 for sustainable development (SD) and corporate social responsibility (CSR), especially from the perspective of Chinese businesses. This paper is the first to outline the priority changes of both SD and CSR over the period of COVID-19 incidence in China. An online questionnaire survey of 1161 owners and managers of Chinese companies was conducted, and respondents were asked to score the priorities of their company over the pre, during and post COVID-19 periods. The research was carried out at the end of the first COVID-19 wave in China but during the period of lockdown in some parts of the country. It was found that there was a priority change regarding three dimensions of sustainable development and 13 aspects of CSR. While the social dimension of SD was prioritized during and post COVID-19, the environmental dimension was the only one deemed to be less important and less prioritized over the longer term after the pandemic. The top three short-term CSR priorities were having in place a workplace health and safety plan, engaging in philanthropic activities and protecting biodiversity, and the top three longerterm CSR priorities were job creation, protecting biodiversity and having in place a workplace health and safety plan. Environmental protection and using clean energy were not reported as a CSR priority. The paper concludes that China's recovery mode cannot be called 'green' and suggests ways this could be changed.

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“…China's economic growth since 1978 was accompanied with the huge consumption of natural resources and high environmental costs [15]. China's quick economic recovery from COVID-19 has provided a vast yet narrow opportunity to build a clean, safe, and fair economy [16]. In addressing climate change, Li et al [17] argued that Chinese manufacturing has undertaken the responsibility of energy conservation and emission reduction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Manufacturing Practices, Competitive Capabilities, and Sustainable Performance: Moderating Role of Environmental Regulations

2021

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Research highlights the increasing engagement of SMEs in adopting sustainable practices to enhance their sustainable performance. This paper extends the current literature on sustainable manufacturing practices (SMPs) and SMEs’ sustainable performance by examining the mediating effect of competitive capabilities and the moderating impact of environmental regulation. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 288 manufacturing SMEs in China. Research findings using structural equation modeling with partial least squares (PLS-SEM) revealed that adopting SMPs enables SMEs to gain competitive capabilities and to positively influence their sustainable performance. In addition, gaining competitive capabilities have a positive mediating impact on the relationship between SMPs and SMEs’ sustainable performance. Further, the interaction between SMPs and environmental regulation strengthens SMEs’ sustainable performance. At the end of this paper, a set of concluding remarks and implications is drawn.

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Is Environmental Sustainability Taking a Backseat in China after COVID-19? The Perspective of Business Managers

Cited by 24 publications

References 40 publications

Environmental Sustainability Post-COVID-19: Scrutinizing Popular Hypotheses from a Social Science Perspective

Environmental Sustainability Post-COVID-19: Scrutinizing Popular Hypotheses from a Social Science Perspective

The impact of COVID-19 on business perspectives of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility in China

Sustainable Manufacturing Practices, Competitive Capabilities, and Sustainable Performance: Moderating Role of Environmental Regulations

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