Corporate Participation in Climate Change Mitigation in Developing Countries: ‘Green Capitalism’ as a Tool for Sustainable Development

The chapter shows that one way of tackling the problem of weak regulatory systems that allow corporations to ignore environmental sustainability in their business activities is to make corporate investments in environmental sustainability in developing countries economically attractive to the corporations. And in the process enable them to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in these developing countries, while reaping economic rewards for doing so. ‘Green capitalism’ as a concept merges economic capitalism with green objectives and when appropriately utilised, can be an effective tool for achieving the SDGs in developing countries. This chapter analyses the application of green capitalism in developing countries and how it merges the profit-focus of capitalism with environmental sustainability. Utilising the ‘environment contestation approach’, the chapter examines how ‘green capitalism’ reconciles the notions of free-market enterprise and the sustainable development desired by developing countries. It discusses the regulatory steps needed to prevent potential ‘greenwashing’ by corporations while incentivising increased investments in SDGs-related projects within these jurisdictions. Using available statistics, the chapter examines the success of ‘green bonds’ issuance for environmental projects as a reflection of the increasing reliance on green capitalist tools for achieving the SDGs in developing countries.