Business Motives in Global Multi‐Stakeholder Initiatives: Exploring Corporate Participation in Sustainable Energy for All
| Date | 01 November 2017 |
| Author | Erik Lundsgaarde |
| Published date | 01 November 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12473 |
Business Motives in Global Multi-Stakeholder
Initiatives: Exploring Corporate Participation in
Sustainable Energy for All
Erik Lundsgaarde
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract
Public sector actors express rising interest in multi-stakeholder initiatives as a means of expanding private sector contributions
to address sustainable development goals. Private sector interests in participating in such initiatives have however received
limited attention. This article examines business motives for associating with global multi-stakeholder initiatives by analyzing
corporate engagement with the Energy Efficiency Accelerator Platform of the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) initiative.
The analysis of the characteristics of participating firms highlights that the platform has mainly attracted companies based in
Europe and those with a broad geographical reach. The article identifies clear economic rationales for companies to partici-
pate. The analysis emphasizes that indirect gains to firms through activities designed to shape the market for the uptake of
energy efficient technologies and direct gains related to connecting with potential customers through networking activities
are key motives for business participation. This case indicates that multi-stakeholder initiatives can provide a platform for
transforming markets by facilitating interactions between private sector actors and national and subnational governments.
Policy Implications
•Private sector outreach activities can emphasize the unique roles of governmental actors in supporting changes in policy
frameworks and in facilitating contacts to relevant governmental actors.
•UN conveners should consider expanding the geographical scope of outreach with business.
•Conveners should recognize that the prospect of direct and exclusive returns from participation are not the only motive
for firm participation as firms are willing to contribute to market development goals that benefit competitors as well as
themselves.
•Initiative conveners should clarify how to achieve a balance between the benefits that corporations reap from the initia-
tives and the resources that firms invest in supporting governmental facilitation functions.
Multi-stakeholder initiatives and the search for
stakeholders
Multi-stakeholder initiatives –partnerships designed to build
on the complementary strengths of participants from
diverse sectors –have gained visibility as a form of collabo-
rative governance that can marshal financing and knowl-
edge from beyond the public sector to address major global
challenges. Global multi-stakeholder initiatives provide vehi-
cles for expanding private sector engagement with political
agendas endorsed by governments in a United Nations (UN)
framework in particular. The heightened interest of UN
actors in outreach with private sector actors reflects a
response to UN funding shortfalls as well as the embrace of
business discourse associated with a neoliberal agenda,
indicating a shift from a historically adversarial relationship
between the UN system and corporate actors (Bull et al.,
2004; Th
erien and Pouliot, 2006). Although the rise in
UN-business partnerships can be interpreted as an institu-
tional survival strategy linked to stabilizing resources and
extending the UN’s legitimacy, partnerships have also been
regarded controversially by some UN member states in light
of their departure from an inter-governmental decision-mak-
ing logic (Pingeot, 2016). Business-oriented initiatives have
been criticized as a way for the UN to convey the relevance
of its work in a world where market-oriented discourse
holds heavy sway without significantly affecting the
contribution of corporations to addressing global challenges
(Pingeot, 2016; Soederberg, 2007). The limited impact of
UN-backed initiatives in stimulating business participation or
changes in corporate practices has fostered skepticism
among some UN member states and civil society organiza-
tions, pointing to the need for more systematic assessment
of partnership effectiveness (Utting and Zammit, 2006).
A growing body of scholarship assesses multi-stakeholder
partnerships as an innovative governance form to address
sustainable development goals. This literature has drawn
attention to the motives of state participation in partner-
ships (Andonova, 2014) and factors contributing to partner-
ship effectiveness (Beisheim et al., 2014; Pattberg and
©2017 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Global Policy (2017) 8:4 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12473
Global Policy Volume 8 . Issue 4 . November 2017
464
Research Article
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