Abstract

The threat of climate change on businesses and economies is becoming more evident by the day. Businesses, especially in developing countries, have been accused of not doing enough toward adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change. In this study, we investigate corporate response to climate change in the context of emerging markets in Africa. Using survey data collected from self-administered questionnaires and descriptive analysis, results indicated, among other things, that most African companies have used proactive climate change adaptation strategy. In addition, the choice of climate change strategy is determined by regulatory requirements, competitive pressure, stakeholder pressure, and the surge in best practices. These findings shed light on climate change adaptation strategies in the context of African emerging markets and provide a basis for understanding the motivation behind their implementation. The result should be of interest to governments and regulators in the legislation and administration of country-specific standards regarding climate change response by firms.