Abstract
Despite the collective international efforts made in the last twenty years to address the challenge of climate change, progress has been underwhelming (IPCC, 2022). Notably, the average worldwide temperatures during this timeframe have attained unparalleled levels, with 2023 being identified as the hottest year on record (Copernicus, 2024).
In this context, there have been increasing efforts to understand the significance of involving businesses in addressing this challenge, where entrepreneurs are key players as they have the capacity to develop highly innovative solutions and implement financially viable business models (Gregori & Holzmann, 2020). Furthermore, it is expected that digitalisation and the transformation of existing traditional businesses will have a major role in the search for a more sustainable planet (Bican & Brem, 2020, Gregori and Holzmann, 2020). Although this dominance of sustainability and digitalisation, as drivers for societal changes and the increasing overlap between them, academic research on their interconnectedness is still scarce (Feroz et al., 2021; Kraus et al., 2019, Lenz, 2021, Stuermer et al., 2017, Vilchez, 2023), therefore providing a fertile ground for research on this topic.
This research presents Business Models (BM) developed by entrepreneurial and pioneering firms that use digital technologies (Digital Climate Start-ups or DCS) as a core element of their environmental value proposition (EVP) to tackle climate change (CC). It seeks to contribute to the literature on Stakeholder Theory, as it provides new insights on the natural environment as a key stakeholder, extending the stakeholder value creation (SVC) framework proposed by Freudenreich et al. (2020).
The research question (RQ) addressed in this paper is: How can digital climate start-ups improve their value proposition for the natural environment as a key stakeholder?
In this context, there have been increasing efforts to understand the significance of involving businesses in addressing this challenge, where entrepreneurs are key players as they have the capacity to develop highly innovative solutions and implement financially viable business models (Gregori & Holzmann, 2020). Furthermore, it is expected that digitalisation and the transformation of existing traditional businesses will have a major role in the search for a more sustainable planet (Bican & Brem, 2020, Gregori and Holzmann, 2020). Although this dominance of sustainability and digitalisation, as drivers for societal changes and the increasing overlap between them, academic research on their interconnectedness is still scarce (Feroz et al., 2021; Kraus et al., 2019, Lenz, 2021, Stuermer et al., 2017, Vilchez, 2023), therefore providing a fertile ground for research on this topic.
This research presents Business Models (BM) developed by entrepreneurial and pioneering firms that use digital technologies (Digital Climate Start-ups or DCS) as a core element of their environmental value proposition (EVP) to tackle climate change (CC). It seeks to contribute to the literature on Stakeholder Theory, as it provides new insights on the natural environment as a key stakeholder, extending the stakeholder value creation (SVC) framework proposed by Freudenreich et al. (2020).
The research question (RQ) addressed in this paper is: How can digital climate start-ups improve their value proposition for the natural environment as a key stakeholder?
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 2024 |
| Event | New Business Models conference - Mondragon University, San Sebastian, Spain Duration: 4 Jul 2024 → 5 Jul 2024 https://www.newbusinessmodels.org/ |
Conference
| Conference | New Business Models conference |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Spain |
| City | San Sebastian |
| Period | 4/07/24 → 5/07/24 |
| Internet address |