Andrea Reyes Hernández

The impact of the renewable energy transition on corporate sustainability

The environmental crisis has reinforced the importance of sustainable development (Park and Allaby, 2017). The UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement have strengthen the need to keep the global temperature raise well below 2º C (WMO and UNEP, 2017) (UNECE, 2009). To achieve the goal the renewable energy transition s essential and requires governmental, societal and business engagement.

Corporate sustainability should be use to shape company’s strategies. By aligning companies to pursue the provision of clean and affordable energy, the balance of environmental, social and economic factors should be advanced. The literature review has indicated a gap in academic research about the relationship of the renewable energy transition and corporate sustainability.

In this dissertation the intersection between the renewable energy transition and corporate sustainability has been explored. In- depth analysis has been developed through case studies and interviews. The findings of case studies indicated the presence of renewable energy transition projects across business areas and sustainability strategies, giving a strong reason for using interviews as a method to understand the mentioned relationship.

Due to the wide scope of the transition a sub-area, ‘flexibility options’, was selected for the interviews. The interviews pointed out the challenges faced in the development and implementation of ‘flexibility options’. Corporate sustainability tools and methods were suggested as an attractive method to solve current challenges.